Best day trips from Nafplion with a car?

Epidavros is an obvious addition just east of Nafplion, and we wanted to do the Ermioni/Hydra trip but couldn't fit it in when we were there.... Our weather was bad too.

RS 's Greece TV show visited several sites to the west/southwest of Nafplion at the southern tip off Greece that looked fun and off the beaten path too.

1- Epidavros, amazing acoustics.

2- Day trip to the pretty green island of Spetses. We drove down the peninsula from Napflion and took a water taxi over to the island. There are also organized tours offered to both Hydra and Spetses from a travel agency in Napflion.

Or hang out in lovely Napflion.

We drove from Nafplio to Ermioni in March. The trip was scenic but took us much longer than we’d anticipated: a lot of very steep winding roads. From memory it was a couple of hours each way.

We really enjoyed the fort at Argos. It’s absolutely huge and has great views. The Roman site at the bottom of Argos hill is also worth a visit.

I’d second Epidavrus. You could easily combine this with Argos.

Alan

If you decide to drive to Ermioni to visit Hydra, carefully check the hydrofoil schedules and plan around them. My recollection is that they don't run frequently, but perhaps you've already checked and that's why you're estimating a 4 hour visit.

Thank you for your input. I see there are day trips from Tolon to both Spetses and Hydra so maybe we will consider that option; weather depending.
There are so many sites to select from. We saw 2 amazing amphitheaters on a RS Sicily trip so I guess that is why I thought to pass on Epidavros this time.
Ricks book doesn’t discuss Corinth but besides the canal there, I was thinking it is worth a stop too.
Thank you.

You could go to Nemea the same day you go to Mycenae. It is site of games just like Olympia . It has a interesting air conditioned museum (it was hot and we appreciated that), a stadium, and reconstructed temples. My young adult children preferred it to Mycenae, although it is clearly less important historically.

Thank you Beth. Great idea. We disappointed our daughter (28) because we are not going to Olympia or Delphi so Nemea may be a really good suggestion.

Another vote for Nemea ... it has been SO authentically excavated & restored (by UC/Berkeley -- $$ helps!).. The athlete's tunnel where they enter stadium, for instance ... original starting-blocks for racers. This website gives full info https://nemeangames.org -- you're just 1 year too early for the (revived) Nemean Games... read all about it!

Another bonus for wine-lovers: you're in the heart of one of Greeces' best vineyard areas -- Nemean Red is my fave; here's info about nearby vineyards - https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/why-wine-lovers-should-flock-to-greeces-nemea-region/ ... if you don't fancy finding a vineyard, just go to the village of Nemea a couple of miles from the ancient site. There on the Main Street is sort of a wine-shop + bottling Plant place... we just spotted because we saw a huge TANK behind th building. Inside, there was a teensy-weensy automated "assembly line" slapping labels on bottles... and at the front, large barrels full of Goodness, with sampling tables. Once we chose our designated driver, we did some sampling. Found several worthy choices, which we drove back to Athens with, for our delectation on our hotel terrace on our final 2 nights.

Another option would be Mystras. It is an abandoned/ruined Byzantine city set dramatically on the side of a mountain. There are several intact Byzantine churches, the rest of the site is ruins and is quite scenic. Mystras sits just outside Sparta, which is a modern city and other than a museum, I don't think has much to see or do for Ancient Sparta.

Thank you so much. We will be in Nafplio in 2 weeks. I am very excited and all your ideas are very helpful. Really appreciate the suggestions.
After Nafplio we have 3 days in Athens and then off to Naxos.
Safe and enjoyable travels everyone.

I am spending four nights in Napflio next month and one of those days we are taking a cooking class with Ivy Liacopoulou. She has been very responsive through email and gets excellent reviews. The class is in Ivy's home right outside of Napflio.