Greece in March - Itinerary Assistance
 

I am planning a short trip to Greece the end of March and am looking for some advice with my itinerary. I will be spending three days in Athens, and with the other four of five days I am also interested in a day trip to Delphi, a two day trip to Nafplio and Ancient Mycenae and a one or two day trip by ferry to Crete, mainly to see Knossos. However I hear wonderful things about Santorini and would prefer to go there if possible at that time of year, or otherwise take a day trip to Hydra as has been recommended to me instead of Crete. Is it useless to travel to Crete just to see Knossos and return? Should I take a day trip to Hydra or just stay on another day in Nafplio? Is Delphi worth it? Or should I just scrap everything outside of Athens and head to Santorini for the other days? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi Jennifer,
You might want to check into the dates for Orthodox Easter this year. I know western Easter is March 21-23 but I'm not sure of the dates for Orthodox Easter. If your visit falls over Orthodox Easter, you better get a big hustle on booking accomodations, transportation, etc.

Personally, after 3 days in Athens I'd rent a car and drive to ancient Corinth. It's about 90 minutes from Athens and you can see the ancient site, the musuem, and drive up to Acrocorinth fortress to explore. I'd allow anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours depending on how long you linger at historical sites and in museums. Proceeding closer to Nafplio, you could stop at either ancient Argos or ancient Mycenae. Save the one you don't visit for the following day. Both are within an hour's pretty drive from Nafplio. Also within an hour are ancient Tyrins, ancient Epidavros (also called Epidaurus), and ancient Isthmia. Tolo is a closeby beach town (not sure about the beach weather in late March however). Nafplio itself is also worth a day. Hike up to the Palamidi fortress, amble around the old town, check out the small museums and shops in town.

After 2 - 2.5 days in the area, you could either drive across the peninsula to Ancient Olympia and see that site and then return to Athens, or you could drive up to Delphi and see it before returning to Athens. I believe the surrounds of Ancient Olympia were damaged by the fires this summer, just as an FYI. If you opt for Delphi, you can circle by the site of the Battle of Marathon and see the stoa and the museum on your way back to Athens.

I'm envious... I love Greece :-)

P.S. I left out mention of the islands because I truly have no idea what the weather is like in late March. My mom visited the Greek Islands in mid-March 2005 and she said the weather was windy and cool (most days in the 60s F). It was sunny most days though, and she said the crowds were much lower than she had expected.

Instead of trekking all the way across the Pelopponnese to get to Olympia, Jennifer, you might consider popping in instead on Nemea. This was second only to Olympia as a famous Sacred Games site -- and it's right off the highway on the way to Nafplio! (see map). It is free, unvisited, well preserved (theatre, stadium, temple columns) - only thing Olympia has that Nemea doesn't is a museum... and you can see it in an hour, on the way to/from Nafplio.

I too would say, save Santorini for your next trip -- I can tell from the places you've chosen to visit that you already are half in love with Greece... and after this trip, you may succumb to the Greece addiction that so many of us happily suffer from.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I believe Greek Easter falls at the end of April this year, so I shouldn't have to worry too much about the crowds. I'm a bit apprehensive about driving in a foreign country, however, and was assuming I'd be relying on public transportation. I'll look into Cornith too.

Driving in Greece was really, really easy. We were completely pleasantly surprised! The signs are in both Greek and English and the Michelin map we bought worked wonderfully well. There are also signs pointing the route to major archaeological sites in the area so often, we just followed them. I believe they were brown in color.

Great suggestion from the poster who suggested Nemea. I knew I'd left something out!

One more thing about driving in Greece.
We took the metro from the center of Athens (Monastiraki station near the Plaka where we stayed) to the airport and rented and dropped off the car there. From the airport, we didn't have to deal with any Athens traffic and the route to Corinth was so simple and straightforward.

Greek Independence Day is during the last week of March (the 25th), so you might want to check how that affects openings, transportation, etc., and plan accordingly. We'll be there at the same time, and some of the information I have indicates certain sites may be closed that day. Also, when I was booking hotels, I found some that included the day of or days around Independence Day as part of "high season."

Jennifer, about driving, Texas Aggie gives good advice IF you want to drive all the way to the Nafplio area... her plan does give you the option of stopping at Ancient Corinth.

However,if that route still makes you hesitant, there is a VERY easy option -- take BUS to/from Nafplio, and rent a car there ONLY for the day you plan to tootle around to the various ruins. That is what we've done, successfully and economically.

Here's how: taxi from Plaka hotel to KTEL bus Terminal A (about 10-12€). Go to Argolid window for ticket (11.5E). Ask for seat on LH side to get good view of Water as u ride. Bus leaves hourly on half-hour, takes just 2.5 hours. I stay at Hotel Leto; may be hard to book due to Mar.25 holiday, but try; they have only 1 single. Hotelier will advise re car rental:off-season about 30-35 for stick-shift.

If u want Hydra,ask helpful hotelier about this route: take a bus to a SEA-port on Pelopponese (Ermioni?) where u can get a ferry ride of 30 mins to Hydra, and then take one of the frequent ferries back to the Athens port (Piraeus). Look at a Map & you'll see how easy this is.

PS: I don't know what that weird face is all about; I didn't put it there!

TJ, that was a : followed by an o. Thus :o

Good one, though - I will have to remember it.

Thanks for all your help and your detailed instructions on getting a bus ticket. I will look into renting a car in Nafplio. I was planning of staying at Dimitris Bekas - has anyone heard of it? - but I will call Hotel Ledo as well and ask about availability. As to the holiday, I may rearrange my schedule so that I'm visiting Hydra that day - surely the city won't be closed down! Any advice on days to go or not go to Nafplio? I was planning on the Sunday and Monday before Independence Day; I thought the crowds won't be bad any day since it's off season as long as I can get a room. Thanks again for your help.

Jennifer, Bekas can be fine off=season ... check it out before you unpack. I stayed there my first visit to Nafplio and got a small room with a double (3/4?) bed, the window framed a view of Palamidi in the moonlight.

However, the bathroom is shared. It was OK with me because there was only one other tenant at the time -- but there are about 5 rooms and if you get a bunch of college kids it could get grungy. Certainly it's cheaper than Leto. H. Leto is about 45 for its only single.

Hi Jennifer--

From what I understand from your post, you have 7-8 days in Greece.
If that is correct. I would recommend spending 2 days in Athens, at the beginning of your trip. Then travel, by bus, (which is easy) to Nafplio and vacinity (so much to see). And then I would spend the last day in Athens, before your return home.

There is so much to see in Greece. Believe me, if you just limit your time to those two areas, you will have a great trip. And in the future you will be excited to plan your next trip to Greece, to visit all the other places you mentioned in your post.

Happy Travels, Sandy in Oregon, USA

Thanks for all your help everyone! I think I've worked out all the details and my trip to Greece is set!

We'd love it Jennifer if you'd come back afterwards and let us know what you liked best.

I always love it when travel companions sit down at the waterside in Nafplio as the sun is setting, let out a big sigh, and say, "OK, I see what you mean about this place."

One friend even said, It's so beautiful it hurts.

Try not to hurt yourself!

Jennifer -

We are planning to go to Greece (Athens +) in March 2009. Just wondering about your experience - was the weather okay this time of year? ...one of our biggest worries.

Also for the day trips, did you arrange a tour/travel by bus/or rent a car and drive?

Would love to hear about March in Greece!
-Gary

gjspring, I'm not Jennifer, but we did visit Greece last March. Due to the season, we only went to Athens and the Peloponnese. The weather wasn't perfect, but we had a great trip. Our trip report is here in case it is helpful:

http://www.onelittleworld.com/greece_1.html

I was in Santorini in mid April once and though sunny most days it was very windy and cool and damp at night. Another option would be to take a ferry to Hydra from Pireus and then continue on the ferry to the Peloponese and a bus to Nafplio. I don't know if that ferry from Hydra to the coast would be running in March though. Another option is Hotel Byron in Nafplio. From Nafplio you could see Mystra near Sparta. Gythio is a pretty port. Momavassia is special. I would also recommend the tiny island of Elafonisis but at that time of year many of the hotels may not be open. I would save Santorini and Crete for another trip.

All I can add is don't do Crete for a day!