Athens Travel Answers

Not having been to all the places you mention I will refrain from commenting upon the realism of your plan. Whilst you are waiting for others to reply so I suggest you use www.viamichelin.com to investigate routes and driving times from Athens to the places you mention. Allow more time than even this site allows. Athens traffic can be horrendous. You will need at least 2 full days to see Athens' major sights/sites, imo. I would not suggest you use the car to visit sights/sites within Athens itself. That will be a hassle, will eat up chunks of time and cost you money in parking fees (assuming you can find parking). Use public transport.

Oh- yeah had planned to do half day tour and other tours around Athens without car!

You don't need an organised tour. Just walk, explore and enjoy...the historical centre of Athens is compact, safe and very, very walkable.

I think it´s doable, but Meteora is quite out of the way from the other sites you mention and so is Sparta to some extend. If you took either Sparta or Meteora out of the itenerary then it should certainly be doable. And i would say hire a car. Several of the places mentioned have no train station and relying on busses is not something i would recommend in Greece when you have that little time.

If you do not have a particular reason to visit Sparta (eg friends to visit or family origin) I would say skip it. It is a rural Greek town with not much to do and see nowdays. Historical name and location but almost nothing left from ancient times... You may want to hire a car from Athens airport and drive straight away to Nafplion. About 2 hours mostly on modern highways (have loose change for toll fees with you!) . I guess you'll want to visit near by popular ancient sites (Tiryns,Epidavros,Mycynae etc), plus enjoying Naflio itsself. Spend at very least 2 nights in the area and take it easy, (sites+beautiful setting+swimming spots near by-important to cool down a bit on end of August!).Then head straight to Olympia, spend on night to get site and museum at leisure, next day drive to Delphi.One night on Delphi to take in both sites+ museum+fantastic scenery.Heading to Meteora or not? Trveling wise you'll need at least a night here anyway. On my opinion 2 nights are a must especially if you arrive on the evening. Then back to Athens for whatever time is left. Itenerary is doable bus rushed... Take into concideration that eg arriving on Meteora or Delphi or Olympia late, sites/museums may be closed,so you have to leave all the sightseen for next day. Meteora and Delphi are very demanding sites, some hiking is required, do not overestimate your stamina, especially under the August heat! Pushing it on mainland part of the trip would be easier, if you had some more spare time to relax on the islands. But you allocate so little time for 2 of the largest Greek islands... Furthermore, Athens will be hot at this time of the year, but I think deserves at least 2 nights of your time to take in the basic sites and one or two museums... It is personal call, but I believe less is more sometimes... Would you concider skipping Olympia too? This would save you a long journey time. There is Nemea site between Corynth and Nafplion, a site where important games similar to the Olympics were taking place on ancient times. Site is less busy and area features some wineries to see too if you into such a thing.

I would agree with mariha... Go directly to Nafplion...it's a pleasant seaside town with plenty of hotels and from which you can easily drive to local sites like Epidauros and Mycenae. Yes, skip Sparta - there's no ancient Sparta left (the Spartans didn't go in for building with stone the way the Athenians did). Drive to Olimpia, spend the night, see the site (and museum, too, there wasn't a museum when I was there last). Then drive to Delphi - you get to take advantage of the bridge across the Gulf of Patras, which saves you a long drive around the Gulf of Corinth to get to Delphi. Spend the night, see the site in the morning, then drive to Athens, turn your car in, spend 2 or so days there, then fly out. I can't speak to Meteora, having never been there, but you will have plenty to keep you busy in the Peloponnesus and Delphi... P.S. all this time, you are driving in a big circle around Corinth. You'll pass close to it on the way from Athens to Nafplion, and then somewhat close from Delphi back to Athens...If you are in good shape and get out of Athens quickly, you might try to see the canal (the Greeks are very proud of it, and you will wonder how anyone sails through such a narrow passage) near Corinth and then stop and see the ancient city. In terms of the ancient city, the bad news is that it mostly isn't the Greek city but the Roman city, rebuilt after the Romans "renovated" the town; the good news is that if you are chasing St. Paul, this is the city that he visited - they have even erected a broken column that St. Paul supposedly stood on when addressing the Corinthians. Then you can continue down to Nafplion...since it's a summer night, it will be light until late, and you should have "no problem" getting there ;-) Bill

Sparta sure does not have anything left of the ancient splendor, but 8 kilometer further there is Mystras and ohhh man! that is wonderful!! I can't speak for Meteora as I have never been there (YET) but Nafplion is sure a gem and there are great day trips you can do from there like Mycenae, Corinth (doable on your way from Athens is you hire a car) and Epidauros. Rhodes and Crete.... they are both huge island, Crete is really big, I have been there three time (45 days total) and still haven't see all the most important site there... I will concentrate 7 days in just one of the two island and leave the other for another time.. if you ask me witch one....I would pick Crete, forever!

Okay not doing meteora THIS time.ta

Hi, okay staying at Mistra - and not doing meteora- sounds like a better idea-also gives me all saturday athens. ta 4 help

Okay have now changed it- was abit unreasonable if i wanted to actually see anything! arrive sunday morning, do cape sounia in the afterneen,& athens by night monday pick up car, drive-nafpolio, tuesday mistra, wednesday olympia, thursday delphi then drive back to athens via Thermopylia. gives me all saturday to do parts of athens. this sound better?

Although there are some interesting things to see and do on Delphi area for example, I understand that some people are happy taking in only the museum and sites, then move on.Modern Delphi is a small 2000 people village anyway. An overnighter may seem ok. BUT I think places such as Mystras and Nafplion deserve a closer look rather than a rushed one night visit. You say you changed your itenerary because you realised that on the previous one you wouldn't get to see anything, but I don't see how you'll see anything on your new itenerary other than Athens. Check Michelin or similar site for driving times, adding at least 15% on their estimates. You'll see that a huge part of your trip is spent on transit. Personaly I would pick either Mystras either Nafplion for two nights and focus on the specific area. I still believe you may want to skip Olympia... Take into concideration time you may need arriving on each town in order to find your way to hotel, check in, unpack etc. Time to navigate the area,park and see the sites. Time needed to pack next day, check out, load car and go... Time left to enjoy each destination comes down only to a few hours! It is your choice according to your desires and traveling style of course, but my point on my previous message was to limit your destinations rather than simply replacing them by others and/or spending less time on each...

PS: For your information, a small detour from a highway will lead you to Thermopylae battle location. Site has (or had last time I was there) : 1)A modern statue of Leonidas, 2) A simple plaquette on a hill commamorating that this is the tomb of the 300s and 3) A small fountain near by.

I completely agree with mariha2912, I was in Peloponnese two weeks this past August and drove almost 1500 kilometers around it... you have to keep in mind that there are NO highways there, every time you will move from one place to the other you will be driving along steep and curvy mountain roads, it take a great amount of time to do it, especially if you are not used to drive in the mountains. Beside the landscape is so dry and dramatic, it is worth it to go slow and enjoy the drive instead of rushing through the peninsula... You will better understand Greek rural lifestyle if you try to slow down and soak up their atmosphere... I just love to slow down and relax there, Greece is my favorite destination for long vacations... I would consider staying somewhere near Nafplion, maybe by a nice beach, and do day trips from there... Last year i was in Tolon, 15 minutes drive from Nafplion. I would not go back there because it was too noisy and touristy for me, it really depend on what you like best, 5 minutes from Tolon there was Vivari... a quiet small village with a wonderful little beaches and a handful of taverns right by the sea... I would go there instead next time, so peaceful. From that area you can easily do Corinth, Epidauros, Mycenae and even Mystras (a little over 2 hours drive to get there). if you are interested this is my page about Tolon and the villages nearby "Tolon - beach resort" - Tolon by oriettaIT