Hotels for Olympia & Kardamyli

We toured the area in 2018 and not don't know about refund policies. Both hotels below had very friendly staff.

In Olympia, we stayed one night at Hotel Pelops. Centrally located, easy walk to restaurants. Our room was of good size but not spacious. They had a display of Olympic torches on the wall and we got to hold one that wasn't yet mounted for pics. It was the end of the season and thought it had kind of a tired look. Stair carpet was showing threads. We recommend but, next time, we might look for a bit more upscale hotel.

In Kardamyli, it was Hotel Vardia and we highly recommend. Spent two nights here. Lots of patio space with sea and mountain views. Our suite had a kitchen, master BR, secondary sleeping area with hide-a-bed, balcony with good sea view. This would be a good place to be should you need to hunker down. In 2018, it was still a pretty new facility and is located up a steep hill from town so it's a bit out of the way. However, a trail goes down a very steep hill practically into Old Kardamyli. A good hike is the trail from Old Kardamyli up the hill to Agia Sophia. Great sea views up there. Uphill all the way to the top, do in the morning.

The town of Olympia itself is really 2 loooong streets lined with small hotels, not a "view" place, it's really someplace to stay when visiting ancient site, it's a level area, no mountain vistas. I arrived late in day in late May stayed in small budget place, Hotel Hercules, at far end of street leading to Ancient site. You'd have to check about refundable; if you book thru booking.com should be OK.

Perfectly okay place, I remember it fondly for the Excellent advice of Hotelier as I left at 8:30 am -- he said, go to Museum FIRST ... all the bus tours go first to the ruins, and THEN all head for Museum & it's a mob scene... but early AM, the Museum will be nearly empty. He was SO right!! Only 2 other people ... plenty of time to gaze & ponder ... The staturary from the Temple of Zeus was splendid .... and the glass case with HUNDREDS of brass "tribute tokens" -- miniature war helmets -- was breath-taking. As I left... hundreds of people were lined up to enter. The ruins area had crowds also, but its so large they were spread out. Others tell me that if you arrive at ruins late in day, near sunset, effect is magical. NOTE: Do your homework! Museum is well-signaged, but outdoors, without prep or a licensed guide, it may be confusing rubble.

Here's a great site for Kardamyli including accommodations.

While I've never stayed there it does appear to be a nice place to stay and use as a base to explore nearby areas.

https://www.kardamili-greece.com/en/home.html

So...would any of you recommend staying a night in Corinth?

Corinth? No. Why? Nafplio is the best base for that NW area of Peloponnese ... Corinth is just a modern big city ... if you are talking about a hotel right at the site of the Ancient Corinth ruins, there are a couple, but this would be for real ancient-archeology buffs & experts who want to spend a whole day there, IMHO. You'd need to tell us more about your interests there.

I can't add anything about Corinth. Are you passing through there on return to Athens? We returned to Athens by ferry from Hydra.
We agree with the Janet, Nafpilo is a worthwhile visit and base. It's a picturesque town with great waterfront walkway. The Mycenae archaeological site is nearby and on the way to Epidaurus--we enjoyed both.

Thank you. Interested in Corinth because of the canal. We will be coming from Delphi after being in Meteora on our way to Olympia.

The Canal is a different sight from the City of Corinth OR the Corinth Canal ... What you should do can be clarified looking at this map https://euro-map.com/karty-grecii/peloponnes/podrobnaya-turisticheskaya-karta-peloponnesa.jpg (click & it gets huuuge - use side-slides to navigate.

Coming from Delphi, You will be Driving down from the TOP of the Map, from around THIVA (Thebes), to that Big Green Road (E94) where you will go WEST toward the Canal. But this large multilane divided highway is wide & high up on pylons... so that y ou cannot see the Canal as you cross it. What you want is to cross on he OLD BRIDGE. To do this, keep a sharp eye, and take the last exit BEFORE the Canal (have your car rental guy mark it on a paper map & tell you what the signage will be). There will be a gas station & some restaurants right after the exit. Stop & make sure of the route... it is very close. YOU can do 1 of 2 things (1) just drive slowly across the bridge & urn & come back or (2) PARK, and walk out onto the bridge to see the canal & take photos. It won't take you that long... maybe you'll get lucky and see one of the specially-built THIN boats using the canal (it's SO deep & SO skinny! Frenc didn't build it wide enough!).

YOu will be getting back ON to the Big Green Road to cross the Canal afterwards --- because you are going ON to Olympia. IF you are driving Counterclockwise to get there, you'll be turning West onto E65 around he Norh & West rim road, the safe & boring route. If you are doing the more adventurous route (to Tripoli & then one of several routes over hte mountains), you'd be continuing on th South FOrk of E65. TIP: if taking this route, dont depend totally on GPS; have a paper map too... because often there are towns of the same name in adjoining Prefectures (counties), and GPS is jsut a dumb computer & gets confused.

I agree with Kenny about Vardia Hotel In Kardamili. He described it perfectly! We enjoyed our stay there and hope to return.

You can easily spend the better part of a day in Corinth. You will be driving right past it so budget some time there. Of course the canal is a worthwhile stop however if you go to the west end of the view spot you will see a path going along side the canal. You can walk all the way beside the canal. There appears to be a WW2 machine gun nest along the path, an abandoned rail line with a bridge over the canal and a spot where the path is bare rock. You can see the scratch marks where the keels of the boats were dragged before the canal was built.
If you are lucky enough to see a boat in the canal at the Gulf end of the canal there is a sinking bridge. Its pretty cool to see the bridge disappear and the boat sailing over it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157645760986005
Also near Corinth you can find Ancient Nemia. It was a sister city to Olympia and you can still run the track at the stadium. There is Ancient Corinth and a must see Acrocorinth. Its a mountain top fortress with 360 degree views.
Corinth Area. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711755443483

We stayed at the Hotel Europa, which is just outside the c central town - walkable but much better if you have a car. The staff could not have been more helpful, rooms are very nice and modern, amazing breakfast selections (fresh orange juices, breads, pastries, omelettes, fruit, cheese, cold cuts, and more), the pool is wonderfuil - and they serve delightful dinners in an olive grove. Very impressed with the covid procedures and overall attention to detail. Thoroughly enjoyed it!!