Hello, in December my husband, tween, and I will travel to Greece and join our college age child who will be finishing a semester in Athens. We arrive in Athens late afternoon Dec 21 and leave Dec 29, which leaves Dec 22-28 to enjoy the country. We plan to be in Athens Dec 25-26 since it appears much will be closed. We can spend those two days attending religious services, going out to eat, wandering around the city. We’d like to travel a bit outside Athens. Would it make sense for our college aged child to meet us at the airport the afternoon of Dec 21 and rent a car to drive to Nafplio? We could stay the nights of Dec 21 & 22, visit Mycenae and Olympia, and return to Athens Dec 23. We could also stay a third night but want to make sure we leave enough time to enjoy Athens. We’d enjoy Athena for the rest of the trip except for a possible bus trip to Delphi on Dec 27. Delphi is high on my priority list. Does this itinerary make sense? I don’t think we have enough time to combine Delphi with Nafplio given the Christmas holiday. Also, it seems many hotel rooms sleep 2-3 people. Would we have to get two hotel rooms for four people?
Posted by
France Southwest
2299 posts
With only 2 days you will not have enough time to visit Nafplio + Mycenae + Olympia. But maybe you mean Epidaurus (and not Olympia).
Note that:
The archaeological sites close at 3:30 pm in winter
With an organized day trip to visit Delphi from Athens you will spend 7 hours on a bus and about 1h30 on site.
There are many possibilities besides traditional hotels where you can find an apartment type accommodation with 2 or more rooms. Some also have breakfast included. Check the usual websites like booking.com
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1419 posts
Christine
All of your plan is possible. A couple of thoughts
a) Christmas Eve traffic in Athens is dreadful. I’ve been stuck in the outskirts for 90 minutes just coming in by bus from Nafplio. You may not have the problem if you’re taking the car back to the airport but that’s another reason to come back on the 23rd.
b) you need to be aware of possible bad weather, especially as you go north to Delphi. I’ve done the day trip by coach at that time of the year. There was sleight and we spent 8 and a half hours on the coach. You say Delphi is a priority and I’m not trying to put you off but the weather can be a problem.
Have a great trip
Alan