Need a guide for Ancient Nemea?

You don’t ned a guide for ancient Nemea. As you state, it is rather straightforward. Worth the time to stop. Check to see if gate is unlocked to the arena before you go.

We didn’t have a guide at Nemea in 2018, although we did hire one for Archaea Olympia later in the trip. We also had a Lonely Planet Greece guidebook that described Nemea to some extent, but I don’t recall whether there was a map or many other details.

Be sure to see the museum, the stadium, and the easy-to-spot reconstructed couple of temple columns. The ruins under the big metal roof were pretty hard to sort out, so unless a lot of additional digging has happened in 6 years, with interpretive signage, a guide might be able (?) to provide some understanding.

Thank you!

DebVT, I should add that the section under the metal roof is off to the side, sone distance away from the museum, stadium, and other parts I mentioned. They weren’t really a part of our visit.

I was just there in October so can provide up-to-date info.

Nemea consists of two small separate sites but close together.

The first is the stadium with a neat tunnel where athletes entered plus a few remains of a building.

The second is the site of the temple and other ruins.

Both are small and with a guide book and/or the pamphlet you get is all you need.

While Mycenae and Epidauros (Epidavros) are much larger you can also do-it-yourself and save money. Lots of guide books and info online to help you.

Check out my photos of my recent trip to the Peloponnese with photos of Nemea plus the rest of the trip. Click on the first photo to open it. They'll be captions but not every photo.

Nemea will start with the fourth photo

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2RwHoj4NAxBD7VcZA

TommyK, I love your photos! Is Gythio on the Mani Peninsula? We were in Greece last May, and we spent 5 nights in Nafplio. We visited Mystras from Nafplio. It is one of my favorite places, so gorgeous and so interesting. I would return in a heartbeat to Mystras! It was my favorite of all the ruins we visited.

tommyK5, thank you for the link to the photos -- they are fantastic! Messini looks like an amazing destination, shhhhh, I won't tell.

Thanks for all the feedback, looks like we will not need a guide for Ancient Nemea.

And TommyK, I'm sure you're right that we could visit Mycenae and Epidauros without a guide, except that I am traveling with 8 kids ages 16 to 28, and they are. not. going. to. read. a. guidebook. Lol. So, I've found with our group that we get the most out of sites like this that have extensive history to have someone guide us through the location. It's money well spent.

Thank you all!

Debbie, wouldn't it have enabled us to give the most helpful advice the first time round if you had supplied the key facts up front?( Large numbers of adolescents & young adult with little background in classical history & not much interest in reading anything not n their i-phones) ... then we could suggest strategies for holding their attention. The words "kids" says it all. I wish you luck -- and patience.

janet, I feel as though I did supply the key facts pertaining to my original question, which was regarding a guide for Ancient Nemea. I received very helpful feedback and was able to make a decision. The extra information regarding our group's age range was provided when tommyk5 made a suggestion for other, larger sites, so I responded in that context with additional background.

I will not need luck or patience to travel with these folks, and I don't need anyone to provide strategies to hold their attention. This is not our first trip together; it is not even our first trip to Europe together. The "kids" are fantastic -- curious, energetic, enthusiastic, appreciative. They do, in fact, read LOTS that is not on their iPhones (well, except for my special needs son who can't read at all, but that's a different story). They are extremely well-educated, smart, and probably know more than I do about classical history. They are just not going to delve into a guidebook, mostly because they are too busy with school and jobs, like my DNP grad student oldest who is also an RN working the hospital floors 30 hours a week. That is why I am coordinating the trip, not them, and they are thankful. As am I, because they are simply wonderful people and give me hope for the future.

I very much value and appreciate the information provided on this forum, and I have been able to plan this trip with very few additional questions because there is a wealth of background available if one takes the time to search (I do).

Thank you again to everyone for your very helpful information.

Deb

kmkwoo:

Gythio is in the Mani and a perfect base to explore the area. Another option would be Areopolis on the other side of the "finger".

However, Gythio was perfect for me and is more of a working class town rather than a tourist town. It does have some tourism but is geared more toward locals and for those who want a more "Greek" experience.

I was able to go to Mystras, Monemvasia, and explore the Mani. However, anytime you explore the Mani and for that matter the Peloponnese involves a lot of driving to get from Point A to Point B. Due to the terrain, mountains and coastline it's slow going but beautiful scenery along the way, not to mention stopping for all the photo ops.

Bus service is very limited so a rental would be the best way to explore.

DebVT:

Nothing wrong with a guided tour as it's very convenient to have someone knowledgeable help you with what you are seeing.

Now that we know you will be part of a large group it's understandable needing a guide.

However, the best time to visit archeological/history sites is first thing in the morning at opening time before the tour groups and tourists show up. It will be a lot more peaceful and obviously less crowded and may be more enjoyable. Another good time is late afternoon when the crowds/tours are gone.

In the end do what's best for you and your group.

tommyK5, we are indeed planning an early arrival to all archeological sites. Thank you for the reminder!

Thanks for clarifying the nature of your group and my apologies for assumptions (based alas on some past forum postings) -- your group certainly will enjoy NEMEA... and even more when they can browse the wonderful website created by the UCal BErkeley https://nemeangames.org/en/home-english/ -- which covers the whole story of the excavation of Ancient Nemea & discoveries... and the involvement of the surrounding community in the Revival of the ANcient Games, and its growth into an international event attracting thousands of participants ...alas the latest running was in July 2022, but the website has videos of the ceremonies & competitions... and the site museum & staff can tell your group much more. I've now had the thriill of inttroducing 2 groups of "newbies" to Nemea, and treasure my snapshots of friends peeking around the massive temple columns -- a great photo op!

BTW, there's also a fun photo-stop in the nearby village of Nemea -- as u may learn, this is inthe heart of Red Wine Country, and right on the village main street there's a wine-shop/bottling plant (!). We spotted it because of the large metal Tank looming behind the building. Inside, there was a mini "assembly line" of bottles going around & being corked & labels affixed. Plus of course, huge barrels in the "tasting room" with various vintages for sampling. Of course, many of your group are under-age, and in fact it may be an all-abstinence outfit, but it's amusing to see anyway. There are also several cafes nearby for snacks, en route Nafplio. After seeing Nemea, you return to the big intercity highway, but as I recall, you do not get on it, you go under it, straight onto the smaller southbound road that leads into Nafplio. As you get near to the cit y, keep your eyes peeled to the LEFT, and you'll see the site of ANCIENT TIRYNS... u might pull over just for a view. It's the "sister site" of Mycenae ... another huuuge Iliad-era fortress, just not restored... and NO crowds, no tour busses. Its about 10 minute drive outside of Nafplio.

janet, thank you for the very helpful additional information. That is a great website for Ancient Nemea!

When I have more time, I will dive into more of the details of our journey that day and see if we can include a stop in Nemea (I had read about the wine country and was pondering a stop somewhere, plus we need a lunch break along the way, just haven't gotten that far yet to see what/where makes sense) and Ancient Tyrins.

Thanks much!

Deb,

My young adult children loved Nemea! Far more than Mycenae actually. We did not have a guide at Mycenae and I think we could have benefited from one there.

You really don’t need one at Nemea. There is a really nice air conditioned museum that your group would enjoy. It tells the story of the discovery of the site snd there are several short videos too. It is on the same part of the site where the temples are. Some of those are reconstructed which makes it easier to envision. My kids also really enjoyed the site where the games were held. They all raced on the track.

Someone at the museum recommended a great lunch spot nearby so ask if you don’t have anything in mind.

Hi DebVT!

I planned a 10-day Greek tour for my "framily" group of 10 back in 2019. (Boy, that seems like a long time ago...) Our whirlwind (in hindsight, yikes!) tour didn't include Nemea but we visited Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Kardamyli, Monemvasia, Nafplio and Mycenae with a lot of stops (some planned, some spontaneous) in-between. It was an amazing and memorable trip. I'm happy to share travel suggestions if you're interested!

I'm now working on a three-week tour of Southern Spain and Portugal, this time for just eight of us. I found your "Two Lovely Weeks in Spain" trip report from last year and it was so helpful! I really enjoy your writing!

I've never been a project manager but I am a retired attorney. Travel planning, especially for a large group ( 17 of us spent two weeks in the Dordogne in 2007), is a great exercise to keep the brain fit! And as you said in your Spain report, it's nice to be able to actually organize something in a world otherwise gone crazy.

I think we are kindred spirits! Enjoy your trip planning! :-)

Hi, Jean. I'm glad to have found a kindred spirit -- hard to imagine that planning a trip for a big group of people could be relaxing, but it's so much fun!

I would love any suggestions from your Greece trip; feel free to post them on this thread. Our trip is 2 nights Santorini, 5 nights Naxos, 3 nights Nafplio, 2 nights Athens. Airfare is done, and I have all of our lodgings and ground transportation lined up, as well as tour guides/transport for Mycenae, Epidauros, and the Parthenon in Athens. I'll get ferry tickets later in the spring. I think we're in pretty good shape, but there's always something to learn from other people's experiences!

And I'm glad I could help with your trip to Spain. This forum has been such an amazing resource for me in planning our travels, and I'm happy to be able to give back.

BethFL, I never thanked you for your info above. I read your post on a busy day in a busy week and forgot to come back to it. I have also gotten quite a few useful tips from the trip report you wrote for your family's trip to Greece a few years ago. So, a belated thank you for taking the time to write!

You are most welcome! And enjoy! You have a great itinerary.