Driving to and from Napflio - places to see
 

We'll arrive in Athens from Naxos at 2 in the afternoon, pick up a car and head for Nafplio for 2 nights. I assume that first day, we'll just head straight there - unless there's somewhere interesting worth stopping for a short while. The next day, we'll have a full day - should we stay in Napflio or do a short day trip elsewhere? The last day, we're booked at a B&B in Athens, close to the airport for our flight home the next day. So we basically have ALL day to get back to Athens. Any suggestions on a leisurely route, with stops at interesting places?

I've looked myself, but EVERYTHING looks interesting, and I haven't really measured distances yet.

Thanks.
Alice

There are LOTS of things to see on the way!

Ancient Corinth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrocorinth

Mycenae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae

Nemea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemea

Tiryns
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiryns

Epidaurus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidaurus

...are all along your route... you'll need to decide which ones are of interest to you as it will be hard to fit them all in.

Last May a friend and I left Athens by car about 8:30 AM and visited Mycenae and Tiryns, had lunch at Nafplion, then on to Epidaurus, the Corinth Canal and back to Athens by early evening.

Have fun!

Rob

Hi Alice,
Rob has listed all the sites worth seeing on the way to/around Nafplion, but do spend some time exploring Nafplion itself, the old town & Palamidi castle.
Look on this site for info & pictures, under Peloponnese, Corinth & the next section Argolid.
http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.co...land-index.htm
It clearly marks all the places on the map so you can get an idea of which you want to/can do in the time you have.

Nafplion and Mycenae deserve extra time as they are quite interesting. Nafplion is a cute town with lots of great views,good shopping and delightful restaurants.My daughter and I stayed there three days and did daytrips to various areas such as Epidaurus,etc.and it was a wonderful vacation!

Agree with Rob's list but also agree to definitely enjoy Nafplion. Wonderful historic town and very pedestrian friendly. Take advantage of the free audio tour which provides directions and history on about 50 site around town. Can rent from the kiosk located at the harbor, near the church (will need to leave an ID for security purposes).

We were too pressed for time to do anything more than eat in Nafplion. ;^( Got some nice pictures though.

On your way back, if you take the coast road up toward Corinth find the canal at Isthmia... you'll see the most bizarre bridge there you'll ever see... it sinks! After lots of ancient ruins it was a cool thing to see on our way back to Athens!

Rob

With an early start I would check out Mycenae first thing in the am on your "full day", then head back to Nafplio as it has lots to amuse - the palace is wonderful and huge - you can while away hours taking it in (the views are memorable), and I think the little island fortress of the coast is a great little stop. There is a wonderful promenade that heads out of Nafplio past several swimming spots - do take a gelato and go for a stroll. Great town, great views.

Alice. all the elements have been suggested ... it's only left to put them in sequence. My thoughts would be; don't try to do ALL the ancient sites ... then u can't enjoy Nafplio enuff.

Day One -- as u say, head straight for Nafplio. If the traffic is light, when u get to the Corinth Canal area, stop at the Canal just to see it ... takes 10 minutes (you may have to take an exit ramp then an on-ramp; no biggie). Just get to hotel, shower & nap & make it to the paralia for sunset. Oooh what a nice start to a holiday. Elas in the square is an easy simple dinner choice & Antica Roma after dinner; just off the square toward the water for THE best gelati in Greece.

Day Two -- because of factors like closing times (3pm??) u might want to head out to an ancient site after breakfast. I would choose Epidaurus (reasons below). Then come back and enjoy Nafplio -- that audio walking tour. If it's mid-may or later, the town beach is a great kick... u can walk OVER the top of town & down, or walkl around the "Point" a fab walk for pictures!! Late in the day u can go up Palamidi (but u can drive up the back way; no need to walk UP 999 steps).

Day Three -- NOw you can do the on-way-back site-seeing; in sequence is Tiryns (just outside town...actually my fave Mycenaen fortress) then Mycenae... then when you get back to the BIG highway, Nemea is just a 1/2 mile off it on the N side. U can stop for lunch around there in a llittle village... even find a winery. Nemea is famous for wine. If you aren't "ruined-out" u may stop at ancient Corinth too. Then off to your B & B -- if it's St. Thomas, no restaurant but they'll provide diinner if you phone ahead.

You certainly have received good suggestions.
I have just finished an album of our Eastern Peloponnese trip.
The first two pages include Corinth, Nemia, Mycenae, Tiryns and Nafplion.
Be sure to spend time in Nafplion, it is a delightful town and you can easily spend a day or two exploring there.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/570747214TsFWOw

WOW stanbr! What an elegant re-mix of Your Nafplio album/slideshow with the add ons of Mystra, Monomvasia, and I think Gythio and ???. Are you eventually going to add captions to the shots toward the end?? I especially want to know the name of that dreamy "calendar shot" at the end of some sublime unnamed beach!

You guys are GREAT, this gives me everything I need to plan our itinerary. And yes, travelerjan, we ARE staying at the St Thomas (at your suggestion!), so I probably will ask them to provide dinner.

I will check out all the links and definitely look at your slide slow, stanbr, thank you for that.

I think traveling in this area will be the perfect end to our trip (Santorini, Naxos, Athens, Napflio).

Alice

Actually, in looking at this again, I realize that I FORGOT that we spend 3 days in Athens after Naxos before heading out to Nafplio (duh!) - so we'll have more time that first day than I thought - we can leave as early as we like, not late afternoon. Does that change anything?

Alice

Keeping Jan's itinerary in mind, by leaving Athens early you can stop at Corinth, Nemea or Mycenae en route to Nafplion and still arrive with time to check in, relax, explore the town etc and still follow her always excellent
advice!

Rob

Hey Jan, yes I am gong to caption the album. It takes an unbelievable amount of and memory power to get this task done and we are waiting for a rainy day to get working on it.
In the meantime I am hoping the pictures will speak for themselves about the Eastern Peloponnese.