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Mystras as a Day Trip

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I'm planning to tour the Peloponnese by staying in Nafplio for 4 nights, Monemvasia for 1 night, Gerolinmenas for 2 nights, Kardamyli for 3 nights, and then Olympia for 1 night before heading up to Delphi area for a couple of nights.

I'd really like to visit the sites of Mystras if I can make it work best for my driving itinerary. I know it would make great sense from the standpoint of driving to visit Mystras on my way to Monemvasia from Nafplio, but I'd really like to avoid that as I will only have the single night in Monemvasia and I really want to maximize my time in that iconic city on the rock by the sea. As such, therein lies my dilemma where I'd like to avoid too much driving but also to enjoy as many sites that would make feasible sense.

My thinking was simply to use one of my days in Nafplio and day trip over to Mystras. Any thoughts on this or would it make better sense to use one of my days in Kardamyli to day trip over to Mystras. Never having been in Greece, I'm not familiar with the roads and also likely contending with shorter daylight hours in early to mid-October which is when I'll be travelling as well.

Any recommendations on best way to visit this site?

Posted by
11496 posts

Driving on the Peloponnesean Peninsula can be challenging. I would stop at Mystras en route to Monemvasia. We really enjoyed exploring Mystras..

Posted by
11 posts

I was really hoping to avoid visiting it on the way to Monemvasia as I've read visiting Mystras can take 1/2 a day as there is so much to see. Based upon what I've seen and read I'm inclined to believe it to. So, were I to leave Nafplio at 8-9am, then drive about 2 hours to Mystras, I'd arrive there around 10-11. Assuming it's a 3-4 hours to visit Mystras + throw in lunch. It's mid afternoon by the time I was back on the road to Monemvasia. It's another 2 hours to Monemvasia...so that puts to at around 5-6 in the afternoon. Plus factor in that its early to mid-October...so the daylight will be waning by that time. So basically, my one night in Monemvasia will be mostly spent visiting Mystras. :(

Was just curious if others have done Mystras as a day trip from Kardamyli or Nafplio. Since I'm in Nafplio for 4 nights and Kardamyli for 3 nights I figured either of those would make more sense. But I've not travelled the Mani before...so I was hoping to learn from others travels in that region.

Posted by
2674 posts

Could you go on your way to Kardamyli then? According to goggle maps, it adds 30 minutes to your trip. That seems better than backtracking.

Posted by
4748 posts

I planned to stop in between Nafplio and Kardamyli, but we ended up visiting from Kardamyli instead, since it was a drizzly day and we planned on outdoor activities while in Kardamyli. So, while not ideal, it is doable, especially from someone who does not like long day trips.
It is well worth any effort made to visit.
I found google maps driving estimates fairly reliable, of course round up a little.
The only road that made me wince was the one out of Kardamyli, but I’m a bit of a wimp.

The advice I see here a lot is to consider Nemea and ancient Mycene as replacements for Olympia, which I found to be good advice.

Posted by
1686 posts

When we were in Greece in May 2022, we spent 5 nights in Nafplio. We visited Mystras as a daytrip from Nafplio. It was about a 1.75 hour drive each way. Mystras was well worth the drive. It is spectacular! One of my favorite places. I would visit again in a heartbeat. It was fine as a daytrip from Nafplio.

We didn't go any further than Mystras on this trip, so I can't say whether or not you would be better off visiting Mystras from Kardamyli.

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