Itinerary Heavy on Time in the Pelopponese

This is the "slower journey"? Wow. We took the RS Best of Greece tour several years ago and did not cover many of the sites you have listed. When I see so many of your days begin with "drive to" I wonder how much of the real joy of kicking back and soaking up the considerable atmosphere you'll be missing? But you are an experienced traveler and know your limits. Greece is hot in the summer, the pace is slower for a reason and you might wilt earlier than you expect. On your list I agree spending time in Nafplio, a really charming town. You may be sucked into skipping day trips and just seeing the town. Skip Sparta altogether unless you need a pit stop. Nothing there to see. Monemvassia is fun, but exploring the lower and upper town is a lot of walking. Is your husband up for that? To see the ruins at Delphi is also straight uphill. Kardamyli is a delightful beach town. It's on your route and a good place to take a break, spend a night, eat some delicious seafood.

I suspect the stop at Sparti is to take in Mystra which is certainly worth a visit. Having said that Mystras is another stop that involves waling in ruins spread out over a mountainside. Fortunately you can drive to teh top and do a couple of the Monasteries without having to go too far downhill. Then you can drive to the bottom and see some Monasteries there and skip the middle portion.

Nafplio and Peloponnese http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094108982/

"that what I've read about driving Greek roads is not totally founded in reality"

What have you read? Anything about very rough roads, like with crumbling road beds and rocks when you get off main thoroughfares? Anything about small, barely 2 lane roads with no lines? How about no guard rails? Having been, but not driven, on both UK and Greek roads, I can verify that rural roads in the UK are significantly better than similar ones in Greece.

We took a ferry from Hydra to Ermioni and then a bus to Nafplio. Those bad conditions were very apparent on that route. We took a taxi from Nafplio to Mycenae. The quality of those roads was better but the size not much bigger. We took a bus from Nafplio to Athens and it was a lot of freeway type highways. Then we took one from Athens to Delphi. I don't remember much about that other than it wasn't a wide divided highway and there were lots of hills.

Mycenae is big with lots of walking up and down hills. There's a nice museum. Delphi is also big with lots of up and down walking. It has my favorite museum of all we saw on our trip to Greece. To summarize, it's not flat anywhere that we were in Greece.

As to your itinerary, the shortest stay we had anywhere was 2 nights. We were in Greece for a total of 24 nights (Athens 6, Santorini 4, Heraklion 3, Chania 2, Night ferry 1, Hydra 3, Nafplio 3, Delphi 2). I think you're trying to cram way too much stuff into your itinerary.

We were on Hydra for Ochi Day, October 28th. There were no fireworks that we saw. It was a very low-key celebration with a small parade down on the waterfront. Lots of kids were involved. It was unseasonably wet and cold that day in 2014.

I'm not sure what Greek Independence celebration you're talking about in the summer. This is the 2017 Holiday list. March 25th is Greek Independence Day. Do you mean Restoration of Democracy day on July 24th? It doesn't seem to be a public holiday according to the list.

Maybe you meant the Miaoulia Festival on Hydra in late June. It sounds like a blast. It's on this list of Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in Greece here on the RS website and it does have fireworks!

One final note of daily concern. You cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet in Greece. The infrastructure can't handle it. You put the used paper in a container that is always close by the toilet. The last thing you want to do is clog up a toilet in your room or anywhere else.

Thank you for the information and advice. We normally drive a lot (we lived in Southern Oregon where drives over an hour were common, including to take the high school golf team to tournaments). On trips to France, Germany and Italy, we were comfortable with drives that took 2 to 3 hours scheduling picnic/breaks at beautiful spots along the way. But that usually meant we were the first one out of the campground. As we've adjusted our pace of travel, using B&Bs instead campgrounds and Formula-type hotels, we get later starts. We covered approximately 1600 miles in 3 weeks in the UK, most on narrow country roads without center lines but with oncoming traffic. What I've read is that the main roads in Greece are good but that the rural roads may be unpaved in places, are narrow and that drivers are aggressive. As I've calculated driving times, I've discounted what Google says and figure I will be lucky to do about 25 miles an hour. Our basic speed in Britain wasn't much faster than that. Thank you so much for warning me about the lack of guardrails. The drive to Momenvassia may be terrifying.

Thank you, too, for the great pictures you posted Stanbr54 of the drive from Nafplio to Monmenvassia. Because I perceived the road conditions along the coast from Nafpoli to Monmenvassia to give me white knuckles and hand cramps, I was planning to visit Mystras on the ride from Nafplio, stay in a place near Glythio but just before the road that heads southeast to Monmenvasia. Does that same like a rational strategy?

Part of our strategy and the reason for going to places like Monmenvassia is to do a bit of walking together, find a comfortable cafe or park for me to stay and the let my wife wander as far as her legs and the heat allow. Based on what we've read, we think it is fine for an older woman to meander through Peloponnese towns alone during the day. We are thinking that is probably true at places like Acrocorinth and Mycenae as well. Another thank you for the information on ways to enjoy Mystras with limited walking. I can probably do 3 or 4 miles over the course of a day but I don't want to push it; I want to have legs left to visit the monasteries in Meteora.

Also, has anyone visited the caves at Pyros Dirou? We had spectacular visits to caves in the Dordogne and Slovenia and the novelty of visiting a cave by boat was intriguing.

Again thank you for your advice. It will definitely help us plan. Wishing you happy travels this year as well.

My only comment on this delightful journey (other than a sigh of envy) would be a suggestion of a place o stay on days 10-11. Instead of Pylos (which indeed is a lovely town with a square facing the sea), go just 10 KM farther, and discover my secret Eden, just off the road, on the bay.... Gialova ... and Hotel ZOE. http://www.zoeresort.com/index.html Don't be scared by the word "resort" (I guess their website designer talked them into it)... it's really just a lovely family-owned & managed place that induces utter relaxation. The owners are great supporters of the areas wildlife sanctuary and defending against development. The lovely multiiingual postgraduate at the reception desk is Zoe (her granddad named the place for her). You'll love it.

The village is really just about say, 7 blocks long, 1 non-car promenade, along the sand, maybe 3 hotels 10 tavernas etc. Hotel Zoe has one building right on the beach, behind it a pool, then a building w. larger multi-room units. Specify the beach building, a sea-view balcony w canvas canopy, looking thru the small grove of palms to the sea. Beneath the trees are tables, where you can have breakfast -- lanterns light up at night there for dinner. In the shade are comfy basket chairs where retired Brits loll and read novels by Trollope. At 5 pm, small greek cars drive onto the deserted pier, and Greek daddies & their kids hop out to splash in the water before heading home. Sometimes gorgeous small sailing yachts anchor out in the bay. You can walk north along the beach for miles ... way up there is supposedly a super-posh super-rich "international" resort but haven't got that far. Go NOW before it changes.

I find that viamichelin.com has more reliable driving times than google. Even Michelin can be optimistic (doesn't include traffic like getting stuck behind a slow vehicle, pit stops).

I'm not sure why the switch from car to train and an otherwise unnecessary night in Athens at that point in the trip. When I drove to Kalambaka from the north, it was easy. Then you could use your car to get to each monastery at your own pace, instead of with a tour. With this plan, I'd assume skipping Cape Sounion, though I haven't been there to compare it to your other stops. If after the Hosios Loukas monastery seems too late to drive 4 hours to Kalambaka, you could sleep at any other town along the way.

I actually think this is a very reasonable itinerary, with a couple of suggestions. Many of your stops are worth only a day and night, so trying to stay 2 nights is wasting a lot of time on places that lack any character. First, my suggestions on adjusting your itinerary:

I agree with Laura, why drive 4 hours from Delphi to Cape Sounio, then take a train way north again? After Delphi, drive to Meteora. Then head back to Athens and if the timing works, hit Cape Sounio before dropping off the car at the airport.

I also question the night in Nafpaktos. A charming little seaside town, but the drive from Olympia to Delphi is only 4-5 hours so it seems this stop eats up a lot of time that could be spent elsewhere. Maybe plan to stop there for lunch.

Mystras is one of the most impressive Byzantine ruined city there is. While Sparta is not much of a city for tourists, the earlier advice to skip was way off base given your interests. And while you can drive to the top of the hill, most of the really interesting stuff is in the middle. Maybe you can park at the top, both walk down, then have your wife walk back up to the car so you can both enjoy the site.

Myceanae and Delphi are NOT big sites. They do involve some vertical changes, but at a reasonable pace they should be manageable. Myceanea's elevations are actually quite minimal. Delphi is more of a climb, but mostly switchback with lots of level ground and places to sit and rest. Olympia is flat.

I would spend at least another night in Meteora since it takes so long to get there and is the outlier in your trip.

I forgot to add my experiences with driving. The roads are actually quite good. Well paved and marked (usually in English) and lightly traveled. Yes the country is mountainous, so roads are twisty and a little white knuckled at times, but rarely anything stressful. Driving around Athens is the most nervous I ever got - even the beltway is jammed and has speeding motorcycles going down between lanes. Always stay near the far right, the middle is for passing (rarely marked as such). Always use turn signals, slowing down for a left turn might cause someone behind you to pass. Always be cautious on twisty roads as there can be oncoming traffic and farm animals. And have good maps or GPS as it can be easy to get lost in bigger towns.

An IDP is required, along with your regular license, to drive in Greece.

Thank you for the input on our plans. You've encouraged us to drive to Meteora. Based on comments I've seen on other forum topics, it seems reasonable to drive from Athens to Nafpoli in a day and squeeze in a stop at Acrocorinth on the way. Is that true?

About the Drive to Nafplio --- it's only 2+ hours from the airport, nonstop until you are over the corinth Canal, so unless you start at 4 pm you'll have LOADS of time ; and I'm assuming you'll be underway by 9 or so, so you'll be good for more than 1 stop.

My question is: Ancient Corinth or Acrocorinth ?? Acrocorinth is the High peak and is not ancient greek stuff, mainly ruins of Byzantine fortifications, so the main thing would be the view... and since u are going to Nafplio, you'll have the opportunity to go up on Palamidi (drive up the back, don't trudge up the 999 steps!), which is just as impressive a view. Ancient Corinth is mainly ruins from Hellenistic era (300bc -100 AD), I have read a good deal about it, hve not been there, friends say unless you have a guide or have prepped a lot, the tumbledown ruins are hard to Interpret ... Im my experience, the people most intent on seeing Corinth are folks who read their Bible a lot, and want to see the stone dema where St. Paul preached.

Just about 10 miles on (15K?) comes the exit SOUTH to Nafplio... and just before it, the exit to the RIGHT (North) where about 5km away is a real surprise -- ANCIENT NEMEA. It's the "runner-up" to Olympia, which you'll be seeing later, but it's a charming 30 minute stop (and NO crowds and a lovely stadium & Temple) ... AND it's right in the middle of Greeces' finest vineyard area. Nemean Red is my Favorite Tipple! You can ask at the museum where the nearest vineyard is, or just go 2-3 miles to the llittle village of Nemea and smack in the middle of Main Street is a little vineyard "bottling plant" and tasting room... You can see a tiny assembly line that puts labels on bottles, have a few tastes (not too many! u ar driving!) and pick up a bottle or 2 for balcony sipping in Nafplio!