<BR>Question for Paulo - <BR> <BR>My Michelin map shows 2 towns in Peloponessus with very similar names: <BR> <BR>Langada- on the ocean coast, about 60km south of Kalamata, and <BR> <BR>Langadia- about 60k east of Olympia, far inland. <BR> <BR>Which one did you visit? I'd hate to accidentally go to the wrong one! <BR>

Its, the one east of Olympia, Tom, and one can't miss it if one's traveling the most direct route from Olympia to Nafplio (or vice versa). <BR> <BR>Now, if one decides visiting the temple in Bassae out from Olympia on route to Nafplio, the most direct route is the one through Megalopolis. If one has some time to spare (1 1/2 hour), instead of taking this, it pays to drive north from Karitaina, through Stemnitsa and Dhimitsana, and then to make a small detour back (the route from Olympia to Nafplio) to Langhadia. <BR> <BR>If one's travelling south along the coast from Olympia, then all this nice villages (and the temple of Bassae) would we out of one's way ... but there may be (who knows?) equally nice villages along the coast. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR>

We got stuck on the road from Nauplia to Olympia though Vassilaki. It tookus more than 3 hours to drive from Tripoli to Olympa. It is mountain road, one lane, with low visibility and they were still working on it. When we get to Olympa I was to tired to enjoy it. My advice - unless you have nerves of steel - stick to tour bus road: Nafplio - Tripoli - Kalamata - Olympa. And make short detour to Bassae

If I might add my two cents about driving in Greece, driving outside of Athens was fine. We rented a car and went to Delphi and Nafplio, and had no major problems (although, I must admit, the Greek drivers are a little too daring for my taste). <BR> <BR>Our problem came as we driving back into Athens from the north. Even accounting for the language differences, many streets in Athens are very poorly marked. (I'm referring to streets well outside the normal tourist areas.) Plus, the Athens street map we had purchased in the States turned out to be not nearly detailed enough. <BR> <BR>This is not meant to dissuade anyone from driving. I would do it again. But next time, I'm going to take the best map I can possibly find and also allow a lot of extra time for getting around in the city. <BR> <BR>One quick side note: We were pleasantly surprised by Nafplio. It didn't strike me as a city filled with antiquities, as such, but there are a couple of nice city blocks filled with shops, cafes and nightspots -- just the thing for a warm summer evening. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>