Hi All,
We are going to Greece for 17 days in July. The first 3 days in Athens. We are looking for recommendations for 2 1-week areas to spend time and do day trips. We would rent a house or apartment for 1 week in each area. No islands pleas.
Thank you in advance.
When we did the RS tour we stayed at the following places and loved them all: Delphi, Olympia, Monemvasia, Nafplio, and visited Ancient Epidavros. If you have the Rick Steves Greece guide book all these places are listed and where to stay and where to eat. Your going to love Greece, it was one of our favorite trips!
Nafplio should definitely be one of your bases.
It is a beautiful small city and is surrounded by several major antiquities.
Perhaps another town farther south on the Peloponnesean Peninsula would work well.
You say no islands but do consider Crete as it is large and offers so much. Our Greek friends say Nafplio and Chania, Crete are Greece’s two prettiest cities.
NAFPLIO is indeed #1 -- nowhere else on mainland has as much to experience & explore nearby. http://www.visitnafplio.com/ is a SUperb NONcommercial website, tells everything u need to know, click every link! I recommend staying just outside, at Kastraki beach (NOT Tolo beach - which is a crowded package-store place). Kastraki si a small, overlooked beach, a 15 min drive to beautiful Old Town Nafplio. PHotos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094108982/ by ace photog & fellow Nafplio-phile "stanbr" also has pix of nearby attractions.
Nowhere else has the beauty AND surroundinig attractions on mainland, but another possibility, on West Coast of Pelloponnese Peninsula, might be PYLOS --small town on seacoast, beautiful town square on the water (designed/created by the French in 18th Century) -- beaches nearby (especially Gialova) and many sites to visit (Messene, Mani Peninsula, Nestor's Palace, NAvarino Bay, Widllife Refuge etc etc.
I would recommend the Peloponnese.
With two weeks (14 days) you could easily do 2 or three locations.
If 2 weeks is your max then 1 week in Nafplio as it's perfect to explore nearby world class archeological/historic sites plus day trips further afield.
The second week I would recommend the Mani of the southern Peloponnse. Truly unique, wild, more Greek than Touristy Greece in many places. I stayed in Gythio a wonderful working class town with lots of services and not geared solely to tourism.
Great area to explore the Mani plus Mystras and Monemvasia or just hit the roads for the more traditional and out of the way Greece.
I recommend staying just outside, at Kastraki beach (NOT Tolo beach - which is a crowded package-store place). Kastraki si a small, overlooked beach, a 15 min drive to beautiful Old Town Nafplio
Janet - is Kastraki right next to Tolo? I'm trying to find it on the map and am having trouble - I've found a place called Paralia Kastraki near Tolo, and then there is also a Kastraki village near Meteora
I've found a place called Paralia Kastraki near Tolo,
Paralia means beach in Greek.
So Paralia Kastraki = Kastraki Beach
YES, that's Kastraki It can also be sometimes found under name of ASINE... because the beach is right across from small ruins site of ASINE (famous in the Iliad Era - the King of Asine sent a troop-ship to Troy!). This is a secret-gem discovery of mine... you can get a local bus there from the NAfplio bus station (ask also schedule of return bus). Ask driver to drop you off At Asine crossroads (DO ask where to stand for return bus; you'll have to flag it down). Then walk 200 yards or so down a shady lane and Presto! there's a cove... to the left, a little sandy/pebble beach, next to it, ONE Taverna, up on a hill... and just below taverna, a stony beach (NOTE for trip: Always pack cheap "water shoes" for Greece -- some of finest beaches are stony).
Use Taverna restroom to don swimsuit. There are a half-dozen umbrellas/sunbeds, no charge, but of course u buy a beverage. Afterwards, a nice lunch under shade of taverna canopy. NOTE: from this little cove, you look across to Tolo --- jampacked with tourists, and NO facilities (restrooms/changing rooms) available except at hotels. Meanwhile, Kastraki is serene.
With extra time -- cross road to Asine ruin... there's a big (HEllenic-era) wall-ruin, on other side of it is a big shady CAMPSITE... and beyond it -- Surprise! a long SANDY BEACH, with a dock or 2. There are no amenities (no sunbeds, restroom, cafe etc), just plain beach... also may be some jelly-fish. Good for a short swim diving off a pier there. After my 1st time at Kastraki, 3 yrs later I was with 3 other people at end of a one-day "ruin-a-thon" (Mycenae - Tiryns - Epidaurus). We were wearily driving back, when I recognized the bend in the road & screeched STOP! We all had swimsuits with us (Be Prepared) so had a lifesaving swim, then stayed at taverna (owned & run by a lovely young family) for delicious sundown fish dinner. Perfect ending to a long day.
