Please sign in to post.
Rick Steves Holiday Sale: 20% Off Storewide

Greece Itinerary Help

Posted by on

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? 😀)

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!

Posted by
1358 posts

I've been to the Peloponnese several times and it is as good as any island and maybe better as it's very large and has more than enough to see, do and experience that most any other area of Greece.

Don't get me wrong I've been to numerous islands and they've all been wonderful and I wouldn't hesitate to go to more in the future.

Here's a trip report with photos of one of the trips to the Peloponnese posted on another website.

I think it's close to the first itinerary with a few tweaks here and there.

I had more time than you have so it was easy to see quite a bit in the time I had but again it's just scratches the surface of how much time is need to really explore the Peloponnese.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189483-i1277-k14200587-Peloponnese_Trip_Report_Sept_25_Oct_12-Peloponnese.html

Posted by
3348 posts

I would not do itinerary 1 with both Gytheo and Pylos for one night. I think that is too much driving. I would spend 2 nights in one “finger” or the other. We are going to the Peloponese in May and are seeing both but we have more time than you. Pylos area has castles which your kids might enjoy.

I would go to Nemea with your kids. It was like Olympia and has a track your children can race on. There is a lovely museum that we all enjoyed.

I would not go to Meteora unless you stay for two nights. Otherwise it is too much driving. We went to Nafplio on a different trip than Meteora so do not have a sense of how far it is between them. But a fair amount of driving to go from Delphi to Meteora and then back to Athens.

Posted by
3304 posts

You face the same old dilemma when it comes to Greece: not enough time, too much to see.

Yes, like everyone else, you "love small towns, good food, and beautiful scenery." That could be a criterion for selecting specific places, but here's the problem: it's everywhere in Greece!

The wisest choice with 3 kids would be to limit your ambitions to Athens + Nafplio + a third place.
All I can see is that you could potentially gain a day by spending one less day in Nafplio and visiting Epidaurus and Mycenae on the same day (doable).

Olympia is very remote and quite isolated, in the context of a day trip, for example from Pylos, this means a 6-hour round trip by car for a 2-hour visit.
If you're in Pylos, there's the Messene archaeological site, which is just as good and, above all, closer.

Visiting Monemvasia for 2 or 3 hours on the way to Gythio from Nafplio is possible, but it's the same story: a lot of driving.

Keep in mind that you'll often be in a rural and mountainous environment, frequently on narrow, winding roads where the average speed is barely 40 mph. This is unavoidable in Messenia, especially on all the coastal roads along the Messene Gulf (between Gythio and Pylos).

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.