Hello, I will be traveling in mid-October and I'm afraid I have been too ambitious with the first leg of my itinerary.
1. We will be arriving about 10am and getting a taxi to Athens to do the Acropolis in the afternoon, staying one night.
2. The next morning, about 10 we will return to the airport to get a car rental and head out to the Peloponese stopping at the Canal and Mycenae on the way to Naphlio for a sunset evening, staying one night.
This is where it gets sticky, is one night in Naphlio enough?
3. We plan to leave Naphlio the next morning around noon and drive to Dimitsana to explore the Lousios Gorge staying one night.
4. The next day will be a driving day. We will either drive straight north through the mountains or take the fast roads to stop at Olympia on the western side of the Peloponnese. Either way, we will be crossing over the Rio Antirrio Bridge and ending up in Galaxidi for 2 nights. The afternoon we will spend in Delphi and go to the olive grove the following day on our way to Chalkis, (the reason for our trip) for a 5 night stay.
Is this too much?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
4122 posts
We will be arriving about 10am and getting a taxi to Athens to do the
Acropolis in the afternoon, staying one night.
Take your time, avoid going to the Acropolis before 3:00 PM, as there will be fewer crowds afterwards. The Acropolis closes at 6:30 PM until October 15 and at 6:00 PM after that date. Although you can buy them at the ticket office on-site, you can book your tickets in advance on the official website:
https://www.hh.gr/en/destinations/acropolis-of-athens/
The next morning, about 10 we will return to the airport to get a car rental and head out to the Peloponese
Note that you can also pick up the car in the city center. That way you don't have to make the trip to the airport (at least 45 minutes), which airport is located in the opposite direction of Nafplio, so it also lengthens your travel time.
This is where it gets sticky, is one night in Nafplio enough?
It's up to you whether one night is enough.
The rest of the itinerary (not the first leg) is too ambitious. Driving so much from Nafplio to go all the way to Olympia and then head back out to Delphi, for me, that is a hard no. It's more of a FedEx delivery driver itinerary than a sightseeing route.
But it's your vacation..
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
727 posts
I haven’t been to Olympia so maybe it’s better. But we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Nemea which was another site of the ancient Olympic Games and near Naphlio. So you could do a second night there. And picking up rental car in city was fine. You drive out of town on a big wide boulevard.
Posted by
DSM
58 posts
Although you can buy them at the ticket office on-site, you can book
your tickets in advance on the official website:
Where does one get tickets to the Acropolis Museum. Also, if a timeslot is no longer available (I was looking at some early morning slots for the Acropolis) online, does this mean tickets are not going to be available in person too? Or only a handful from cancellations and therefore not worth even trying.
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
4122 posts
The Acropolis Museum website is not managed by Hellenic Heritage; the official website is
https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/
Regarding the Acropolis, morning time slots are in highest demand and a portion of tickets is pre-booked by travel agencies and third-party platforms (as cruise ship passengers tend to arrive around the same time during these slots), which is why online availability sells out quickly. However, a quota of tickets is always available for those who haven't booked online, even if specific time slots appear unavailable on the website.
Of course, it is impossible to predict whether this quota will also be sold out by the time you reach the ticket counter.
Posted by
DSM
58 posts
JoLui,
Thank you for this information. With regard to the Acroplois museum, it appears that it is open late on Friday August 28 because of full moon night. However, it is not clear to me how to buy tickets after 8 pm.
With regard to Acropolis, does the ticket counter also open at 8 am? Or earlier? When should we line up for that slot? The other option is to take the 18:00 or 19:00 slot.
Thanks again!