Looking for a Greek strategy

Schedule a day tour to Mycenae and Epidaurus. Be sure to save time for the Archeological Museum in Athens.

Do you have to stay in Athens those 4 nights? If so, that will be limiting --- the BEST place for you to go in the Fall is to NAFPLIO, Nafplio is the most beautiful Old Town in all of Greece .... and only 2.5 hours away on the most modern highway in Greece It's on a Peninsula, surrounded by water, so you can have an island "feel" without the ferry. And it's vibrant year-round, lvely cultured population ... and in the Center of THE most concentration of Ancient-history sites in all of Greece. This superb noncommercial website tells you all about Nafplio & area http://www.visitnafplio.com = click every link!

2 ways to do it, driving or bus ---
• Driving gives u the most flexibility, see the most, as I say good highway, and car rentals are VERY cheap off-season. You'd have to get an International Drivers License (20 mins, $25 at your local AAA office), You can get a car at the airport, stay very close at a B & B like this -- http://www.stay-in-athens.com -- and set off at 8 AM Wed. on highway, never need to go near Athens traffic. This Map-- http://euro-map.com/karty-grecii/peloponnes/podrobnaya-turisticheskaya-karta-peloponnesa.jpg (click & it gets huuuge) shows the entire route from airport to Nafplio. By 9:30 or so, you'll be passing by an exit for ANCIENT NEMEA (an Olympic Games runner-up) just 5 miles off the highway ... take an hour & you can have a WINE experience PLUS an Ancient History Thrill. Check the Nemea ruin and nearby in Nemea Village stop for wine tasting, or ask for directions to nearest vineyard... y ou're in HEART of wine country; Nemean Red is famous. Wed Aft & Thurs u can wander Nafplio, check out Tiryns & Mycenae... and on route back to Athens FRiday see Epidaurus famous theatre on the way.

• If you cannot do the driving thing bus is good too. On arrival you can Taxi to Kifissou bus station and get express bus to NAFPLIO -- €13 one way, departs 5:30, 6:30, 8, 9:30pm takes 2.5 hours. ... sit on RH side for wonderful sea view much of the way. Find a hotel room near the water or right on the marble-paved central square. each night people gather there in tables under the trees, almost all year long. Climb up to the Acronafplio heights, dont miss the small superb arch. museum (has the ONLY existing Iliad-era suit of armor ever discovered). there re no formal tours these days, but you could cut a deal with a taxi driver to take you to Mycenae & Epidaurus, or rent a car for 1 day.

You can get back to Athens Friday Night, refreshed, full of new experiences ancient & modern... and some good food too... Nafplio has lots of good tavernas at great prices!

PS -- If all the above seems too much effort, I think there MAY be a 2-day tour that covers much of the same territory & it's all done for you ... it is the ONLY Argolid tour I recommend, because it allows such ample free time for you to wander & Discover.

http://www.chatours.gr/tours.php?exc=8&exccat=1

This 2-day tour picks up at Athens hotels AM first day, takes you over Corinth canal (with a brief stop), then to MYCENAE (with a guide), then to Nafplio. Covers a night in Nafplio hotel (Tip: choose the "tourist class" hotel -- the 1st class hotel is outside of town)
Day #1 FREE TIME All afternoon & Evening in NAfplio. Day #2 Morning also free... bus then takes you to EPidaurus, and back to Athens by evening.

The trick is, it says Tuesdays & Wednesday thru Oct 30. I don't know if this means a tour leaves Tuesday and ANOTHER leaves Wednesday. If it's the Latter, then you are in luck ... because You arrive Tues night. If I were you, I'd e-mail CHAT tours instantly!

Damnit Janet!! It’s perfect! Thank you so much! I am getting into Athens at 440 and have long layover in Zurich earlier that day. So a chill evening by the airport should be perfect. I just got ricks book and Nafplio looks great. I can pick up a car Tuesday night at the airport and head off Wednesday like you suggested. 2 nights there should be great and hopefully will fine some tourable vineyards around there. Mycenae is on my life list so it’s all great. Done deal. Thanks !

There is a second tour company called Key tours who also do two day tours. To get your exact dates you may have to check out all the options.
While I totally agree with Jan about Nafplio there is another option. There are two day tours to Delphi and Meteora. Delphi might be the best Archeological site we have visited. As you approach the site up in the mountains you can almost feel it still has something mystical about it.

And Meteora is just amazing. You could contact a Greek travel agency to help you with the research on what tour best fits your time frame. We have used Dolphin Hellas but Fantasy tours also gets good reviews.
Here is what you can expect.
Delphi and Meteora https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157698930270992

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

Stanbr I almost always agree with you, but here I'm following OP's expressed preference for ancient history.... and while Meteora is unique as a landscape wonder, its history is that of medieval Greek orthodoxy which may not be as compelling for this visitor... also, her available time is so very short, I was looking at something involving less travel ... and also a brush w. wine country AND oppty for a wonderful seaside sunset.

As for Group Day-tour to Delphi, having done it, I don't recommend it (the crush of the crowd while onsite, and the commercialization; they drag you away from museum for an unwanted communal taverna meal YOU pay for, plus stops at souvenir shops -- both of which I suspect involve kickbacks). Overnite bus tour not really better; a "d-i-y" via public bus (1 long day, or o'nite) with adequate prep is more satisfying.

Just wanted to expand options in case the recommended tour doesn't go on the required dates.

Of course, of course, I hadn't considered that; thoughtful of you, as usual.