Hello!

I’m looking for some advice for our trip to Greece this upcoming March/April. We are a family of 5 with three girls ages 11, 10 and 4. We plan on going to Athens and the Greek mainland - either the Peloponnese or Delphi and/or meteora or some combination the three.

We arrive at Athens Friday March 27 at 12:20 pm and fly out Sunday April 5 at 3:55 am (horrible time I know!). Our friends will be joining us for the first portion of the trip before flying to Istanbul on April 1. They want to go to Athens and Nafplio so will be starting with those two. So far I’m thinking of 3 nights in each, 2 nights in each or two nights in Athens and three nights in Nafplio. I am leaning toward two nights in Athens and two or three nights in Nafplio. Other than that I am confused over where to go because our time is limited and there are so many places I would love to see.

We do plan on renting a car and would like to limit backtracking. So staying one night in a place and one night in the next is preferable to driving back if it is more than let’s say an hour.

As to the places I am looking at I am considering the following:

• Monemvasia
• Mani: either Kardamyli or Gythio. Gythio seems more convenient to Monemvasia
• Messiana: either Pylos or Koroni
• Louis Gorge - Stemnitsa and/or Dimitsana
• Olympia (can see on the way to somewhere else)
• Delphi
• Meotora

I’m really confused over what we should see and what we should skip! My husband really wants to go to Delphi and perhaps Meotora but I’m worried that the distances are too far and that we won’t have the time. Also Olympia seems a bit out of the way as does Monemvasia. The Mani peninsula and Messinia both look lovely. Monemvasia seems doable with we stay in Gythio and Olympia seems doable if we stay in Pylos. Or perhaps we should skip one or both.

Here is what I‘ve considered so far:

Friday March 27 - Athens
Saturday March 28 - Athens
Sunday March 29 - Athens
Monday March 30 -Nafplio
Tuesday March 31 - Nafplio
Wednesday April 1 - Nafplio
Thursday April 2 - Gythio (possibly see Monemvasia on the way from Nafplio)
Friday April 3 - Pylos or Koroni
Saturday April 4 - drive back to Athens

Variations on above include (1) one less day in Athens and then replace with a night in Monemvasia, Olympia, Dimitsana, or even Delphi (drive up north), (2) take out either Mani or Messinia

Alternatively, a completely different itinerary I’m considering is the following:

Friday March 27 - Athens
Saturday March 28 - Athens
Sunday March 29 -nafplio
Monday March 30 - Nafplio
Tuesday March 31- Nafplio
Wednesday April 1 - Delphi

Thursday April 2 - meotora
Friday April 3 - meotora
Saturday April 4 - drive from meotora to Athens

A variation of the above would be (a) cutting out Meotora and replacing it with something else while moving Delphi to the end, (b) doing one less night at Meotora and replacing it with something else, again Delphi would be at the end.

As for interests, older two are really into Ancient Greece and my husband and I love small towns, good food and beautiful scenery (don’t we all? &#128512

Unfortunately this is far less time than I would like but the kids have school and we can only skip so many days. Any advice welcome!

It really depends on what you want to see and experience, but FWIW, I think you are seriously shortchanging Athens, which has a wealth of sites. Remember: three nights there would only give you two days and two nights would only give you one full day. And if you might have jet lag, well, there goes much of that day!

As for Nafplio, to actually see the town and a few of the magnificent ruins in the area, you would really need a minimum of three nights IMO.

Meteora is stunning … but an outlier and it could be difficult for your youngest child. I think you might consider skipping it on this trip.

My advice: Pare your wish list to Athens, Nafplio, and maybe Delphi. And lay your itinerary out by nights, not days – it helps see what time you actually have in any one place.

Thank you! That does sound more doable! To be clear I am arranging my itinerary by night. It’s just that our flights departs early morning Sunday so we won’t be spending the night anywhere on Saturday. If I were to do Athens, Nafplio and Delphi would you recommend three nights each for Athens and Nafplio and two for Delphi? Or one night in Delphi and add a night either in Athens or Nafplio? Alternatively maybe we can stop somewhere for a night between Nafplio and Delphi?

IME, Delphi -- the site and excellent museum -- take the better part of a day. I think you would want to spend at least one night there; whether you opt for two depends on the pace at which your family prefers to travel.

Honestly, I can't tell you how long to spend anywhere. I wasn't able to see everything I wanted to see in Athens in four very full, very busy days. Three nights in Nafplio worked for me, but that included some time en route to and from Nafplio, and it doesn't seem to me that you would have much time to spare.

You need to decide what you want to see and experience and come up with a plan that is realistic for your family. I hope my comments help!

I don't think you have enough time to do more that Athens and Napflio. There is a wealth of exciting and amazing places to go in and around both areas. You would be knocking yourself out for no reason. Not worth it with the little time you have.

Thank you all so much. We decided on three nights each in Athens and Nafplio and then two nights in Kardamyli

There are some great things to see close to Nafplion the kids would like I'm sure:

Epidaurus. The huge theatre with marvelous acoustics.
Tiryns. A short drive from Nafplion.
Mycenae. Home of Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War. Amazing site famous for the Lion Gate and Tomb of Agamemnon close by.
If you stop to see the Corinth Canal take the little road down to Isthmia at water
level and if you're lucky the kids will get to see the bridge do something amazing!