nevertooold

We arrive in Athens at 1:30pm on a Friday early in July and we will have until 5:00pm the following Tuesday to visit these 3 towns.

Many thanks to Stanbr for his previous help and advice concerning Monemvassia, as it looks lovely.

We are not really history buffs, but we do want to see some highlite sites (therefore we include Olympia), spend some time in lovely towns, and, if possible, have access to some beach areas.

I am seeking advice as to how to best use our time to map out these days so that we can best experience this area in this relatively short period of time.

Many thanks for any advice or suggestions.

travelerjan

With only 4 days, to be realistic, suggest you cross off Olympia -- from Nafplio it would take you 8 hours round trip, and then of course 4 hours on site ... Why not stick near Nafplio 3 days ... there is the "sister site" to Olympia (Nemea) just off the main road to Nafplio -- it also has a stadium, a temple, a museum etc, just no tour crowds, and you dono't have to cross the whole Pelopponese to get there!

Be aware that mid-afternoon on a Summer weekend(!!) you may hit massive outbound traffic on the modern highway over the corinth canal... Run run run off the plane, do carryon luggage pick up your car 2pm and hope for the best.

FRIDAY- SAT -SUN - hotel in Nafplio.. Saturday, just explore the town, talke about lovely, Nafplio is unversally acknowledged as the most beautiful Old Town in Greece, it's a world Heritage Site. Sunday you can go to Epidaurus, even if you don't care about history, the AMAZING 15,000-seat ancient theatre is awe-inspiring, htne you can zip off to a beach, either Paleo Epidaurus beach nearby ... or going back, as you near Nafplio turn off on the road to Tolo Beach (a crowdy place in July) ... but BEFORE Tolo there's a road-fork... take LEFT-HAND fork for 200 yards... and voila! Assine beaches! No crowds! Cute pebbly beach with taverna, or walk around the ancient Assine walls and there's a huuuge sandy beach, no facilities, but also No crowds!! Take water, snacks. (NOTE: reserve your Nafplio room NOW, July is much in demand). -- for a good online Road Map to Pelop s: http://www.dilos.com/region/pelopon/map_pel.html

MONDAY - start early drive to Monemvassia, stop at a small town for lunch, get to M, stay the night.

TUESDAY -- Start back... en route back to Athens area, by Noon you will be near the Corinth area .. you could detour 1/2 mile off the highway (it's just on the other side to visit Nemea, takes an hour only, worth it. Also, it's wine country; you can have lunch, pick up a bottle of some of Greece's most delicious red ... Depending on time, you might also swoop off the highway to see Corinth Canal, take a snapshot, swoop back on (20 minutes?) then proceed to where you drop off your car.

For Driving to all the above, suggest the Michelin trip planner site -- put in 2 places (i.e. Athens Airport/Nafplion or Nafplion/Archaic Epidaurus) and you'll see time, distance, road marked in red. http://www.viamichelin.com/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

nevertooold

Jan - could we not begin by first going to Olympia on Friday, arriving, relaxing, and then doing the site the next day, making our way thereafter to Monemvassia where we could possibly stay that night, the next day and the next night, before going to Nafplion on Monday am?

stanbr

No I do not think so. Yes you can probably get to Olympia that first night and you can see the site the next day, From there to Monemvassia is probably a 7 to 8 hour drive. On our first trip we averaged 20 kn per hour between Nauplion and Monemvassia. Time and distance are not a linear progression in Greece.
If you do Olympia you will have to drop Monemvassia and just go to Nauplion and enjoy that lovely town. Or you can hit Anciernt Nemia near Corinth and experience a sister city to Olympia and still have time to enjoy Monemvassia and Nauplion. Too much driving for more than that.

travelerjan

About your drive scenario -- In my opinion, no. Did you look at the Michelin driving map and directions??

THe "flatter" way to reach Olympia (around the upper edge of Pelops, past Patra, then down the west side) has by far the best road... this is what busses take. I rode an express bus to Olympia, only had 2-3 stops, took about 5.5 hours on that road.

Michelin charts a road that goes through Tripoli then through the mountains... they claim that it takes only 4.5 hours... but I don't believe that for a moment. it is 329 KM and less than half are on motorways (i.e., fairly modern highways). The rest will be 2-lane roads with a narrow shoulder on each side (which you'll have to squunch over onto, when agressive Greeks decide to pass). If you look closely there is a long list of notations about "steep hill downwards" and "series of bends" (this means hairpin turns). For a newbie, who has never driven in Greece, an honest guess would be at least 6.5 hours with 1 restroom stop. Do you want to drive in the dark, after an 18-hour international trip? You would not get there and "relax." I would like to be proved wrong ... but I have read too many trip reports. Perhaps you might check some trip reports on Trip Advisor by searching "Drive to Olympia" on that website; it has much more in-detail feedback on such itineraries than FOdor's does.

I grew up in Indianapolis, but I was never a huge fan of the 500-mile race! You said "I am seeking advice as to how to best use our time to map out these days so that we can best experience this area in this relatively short period of time." Greece is not a "drive-by" experience... you do not get what you came for, via all-day car treks. I have given my thinking, from my visits in the area. Others may well differ. I shall be interested to hear their thoughts.

travelerjan

stanbr, while I was trying to figure out the mileage, you beat me to it...

nevertooold

Thanks to both of you.

Continuing:

Does either of the following make sense, and if so, which is recommended?

(a) Friday - arrive Athens 1:30pm, pick up car , drive to
Delphi

Saturday - Delphi museum and site; arrive Olympia mid- evening

Sunday - Olympia museum and site; arrive Nafplion mid-
evening

Monday - Nafplion

Tuesday - leave Nafplion early am visit ancient Corinth
and arrive Piraeus by 3:00pm to drop off car
and take 4:15pm ferry to Naxos


OR


(b) Friday -arrive Athens 1:30pm, pick up car, and drive to
Nafplion, visiting ancient Corinth on way

Saturday - visit Nemea/Epidaurus/Mycenae

Sunday - Nafplion, leave late afternoon for Monemvassia

Monday - Momenvassia

Tuesday - make way back to Piraeus for 3:00pm car drop- off and 4:15 ferry

With respect to this (b) choice, I am open to all
suggestions concerning whether to drive the further
distance on Friday to Monemvassia and then work my way
north to see the sites, but the general intent is to
stay 2 nights each in Nafplion and Momenvassia, and
to see some historical sites if I can't attend Delphi
and Olympia.

Thanks as always.

stanbr

Both of these plans work. You will have to decide what you want to see more Delphi or Monemvassia.
However on plan b you could hit ancient Corinth and Ancient Nemia on your way to Nauplion from the airport. Nemia is about 5km off the road where you turn off of the main road just past Corinth. It is possible you will not have sufficient energy after your flight but this stop will eliminate backtracking almost all the way to Corinth on the Saturday. I say that because Nemia and Epidarus are in opposite directions so if you hit Nemia the first day you will have more time on the Saturday to see Mycenae and Epidaraus and I suspect you will benefit from a bit longer relaxing and recouping in lovely Nauplion.

The one problem in your plan for Monemvassia is Mystras. You virtually have to drive right by Mystras as you pass through Sparti. Mystras is a very well preserved Byzantine fortress city spread down a mountainside. At the very least you have to do a drive by but if you do, you could easily end up there for half a day.

I do not remember if I gave you pictures in your previous post but here is Mystras.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/551988174qxbTNw

And our first Peloponnese trip.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/570747214TsFWOw
Have fun planning.

nevertooold

Stanbr (and Travelerjan, please)- if you had to choose, and the likelihood is that we will never return to this area again, which would you feel most sorry to have missed, given that only one is doable - Delphi and Olympia OR Monemvassia?

travelerjan

Part of your decision depends on what part of the Greek past attracts you most -- the ancient history/culture or the Middle Ages/Byzantine era. I assume you've been studying up a bit in prep for this tour, so you should be getting a feel for what you're most attuned to. This has to be up to you... whatever stanbr or I say will be affected by our own predelictions not yours.

travelerjan

PS: Looking back again on your original post you said "we are not really history buffs." So.... what kinds of "buffs" are you?? If it's landscape -- Monemvassia is certainly a dramatic one of a kind landscape ... but SO is Delphi! Thus, it's still up to you.

stanbr

Jan is correct you have to figure out what works for you. But for what it is worth we have skipped Delphi on every trip and went to the Peloponnese. It is rich in the Venetian era 1300 to 1500 which holds a greater draw for us.