Thank you all very very much for your responses.

I have booked my ticket- arriving noon on the 5th March and leaving at noon on 11th March.

Thanks TravelJan for the details on Napfolio. I'll be heading down there on Day 1. It sounds like what I am looking for - I can either chill out in town or go and see the surrounding ruins. Since I'm travelling by bus, it really gives me alot of flexibility as to what I want to do, when I want to return to Athens.

I was thinking of only booking my first nights accommodation. Do you think that since its off season, I will be able to book accommodation on the fly (ie day before or day off)? I think this gives me the most flexibility as to my plans. Thanks again

Hi Ari,
If you want to stay any weekend nights in Nafplion I would book ahead, it's a popular weekend escape for Athenians so some places can get full.
Hotels in Athens should be easy to get in March when you're there, but might be worth working out which nights you want & getting it booked just to save wandering around with luggage.
There are many central hotels, let me know your budget per night in euros & I'll help with a few suggestions. Jan is the one to ask about the hotels in Nafplion, I've never needed to stay in one, I live on the Peloponnese!

Hello Yiassis-

Thanks for the tip. I may book thurs, fri and sat night first.

I do actually travel pretty light and will only have a small backpack with me but I'd hate to spend hours looking for a place when I arrive.

I was trying to travel on a budget. Do you think its possible to get a single room for 40 euro? Or what do you think would be the minimum for a single room? Or should I just straight for the hostel.

Hotel Leto (one of the places TravelJan mentioned) is listed in this site as having singles for 40 and 50 euro. I'm not sure how old the site is though so I may call.
http://www.travel-greece.com/hotel.php?am=2540

Anyhows, I don't need fantastic sea views, just somewhere clean and quiet if you do know of anything.

Thanks

For Nafplion I know Jan has recommended some places (including the one you mentioned), she gives good advice on where to stay there.
For Athens on a budget take a look at http://www.hihostels.com/web/index.en.htm
http://www.eurocheapo.com
But don't book anything without checking the area 1st, some are definitely better than others!
On the eurocheapo site tick the boxes for the areas of Koukaki/Makrigianni & Plaka, all of those should be in a good location.
If you don't book for Athens at least make a list of desirable places, from these websites & our advice, with an idea of prices, mark them on a map, & your search for a room on the spot will be so much easier! All the properties should be in a triangle between Syntagma, Acropolis & Monastiraki metro stations. This is the best for very easy walkable access to all the main sites.
Once you've had a look I am quite happy to confirm the location for you of any that you like the look of.

Hi Ari --

I always stay at Leto -- here is their OWN website,
http://www.leto-hotel.com/
I don't know if it gives prices up front; Ithink their single is 50€. Nafplio is not particularly a bargain 'off-season' the way some islands are because -- as Yiassas mentions -- it is the favorite weekend getaway for Athenians ... also (did you know, guys?) It used to be known as the Greek Honeymoon spot...because it was a romantic spot for couples who couldn't afford the time-off/money for a lengthy trip to an island.

Besides Leto, next door is Pension Eleni with the same great view over town and bay (fave of fodorite stanbr who took those great fotos:
http://www.pensioneleni.gr/english/i...=page&id=1
... also just 50 yards away is Pension LIgeia with same great view:
http://www.pension-ligeia.gr/MAIN_EN.htm

These 2 don't have singles, their doubles off-season are 50 I think, however you might be able to "haggle" a little, so far off season. both the above sites offer direct contact, not through an agency.

Here is a very sweet TA review of Pension Ligeia --
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...loponnese.html

There are places down "on the level" near the square, but I've always preferred being up above it all!

NOTE -- I think Leto's single may be 55 off-seaon.

I think you should write all 3 at once, and see who answers first!

I wouldn't choose to stay only in Athens. If I were you I'd probably spend 2 nights in Athens and the rest in Nafplio south on the mainland. From there I would daytrip to Mystras in Sparta and Possibly Monemvasia if you can work out the logistic/rent a car etc or stay one night. Other nearby excursions are Epidavros and Mycenae. Nafplio itself has an excellent fortress (several actually) and is great fun to walk about. There is a wonderful walking trail along the coast that passes a small but perfectly wet, well situated beach.

Buses to and from Nafplio from Athens are frequent.

Just my two cents,

Naxos

two days in athens is plenty

go to delphi and kalambaka/ meteora

or three days in santorini would be nice

Ari - you've been given lots of good advice. We thought there was plenty to do in Athens for several days (and we still didn't cover everything we wanted in 6 days), but I'd side with the recommendation of Athens and the Nafplio area.

Part of our trip was taking the bus from Athens to Nafplio with visits to Mycenae. Jan's given you great detail about how to do it. The buses are extremely clean, on time and cheap. The only word of caution I'd make is that driver's don't announce stops, so if you take the bus from Nafplio to Mycenae pay particular attention to the stops (we didn't and missed it the first time).

We got a double (for E70) and single (for E50) at Hotel Byron in Nafplio. Very decent accommodations. I'm not recommending this over other suggestions but to let you know that you shouldn't have a problem getting a room within your budget.

Yes, there is a free audio self-guided tour. It's well worth it. Has about 50 sites and you can go at your leisure. There's a kiosk by the harbor where you rent the audio - just have to leave an id card of some kind. The hours posted outside are conflicting, but we got ours at 10:00 and returned them around 17:00.

I posted a somewhat detailed day by day (we went in Nov, '08) with info on hotels, restaurants, costs, sites, side trips, etc. Feel free to click on my name if you want to review and scroll to the days that interest you.