Peloponnese Itinerary Draft

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-a-wonderful-15-day-trip-to-peloponnese-greece

You probably have already seen my report if you have been searching the forum but just in case. We just went this past May.

A few comments.

Mystras doesn’t have much but Mystras so whether spending the night there makes sense depends on when you arrive. If you come in the afternoon, it would be a reasonable place to stay.

You could explore the Mani peninsula coming from Mystras and end up on the west side. We stayed in Acropolis and having visited Lemini much preferred it. Lemini does have a beautiful coast though. It just isn’t much of a town.

Koroni is very charming and the castle there is interesting to visit. There is a nice beach there. You could visit Methoni from there with a very different castle.

We stayed in Stemnitsa and liked it very much. It doesn’t have many restaurants though and we did end up in Dimitsana. The roads are very winding but my son who was driving lives in Colorado was not phased. It was cool and rainy. Make sure you bring appropriate clothes.

5 days (6 nights?) in Nafplio; why not, but that seems like a lot of nights. What are you planning to do there?

Taking the coastal road via Leonidio is a good idea, but I'm just wondering why you're staying a night in Kosmas followed by a night in Mystras, which is only a 1 hour drive away.

You can stay in Mystras, but as I always warn and as Beth mentions, be careful not to confuse a place to visit with a place to sleep. It is sometimes better to look for a place other than the "must-sees", which are places where you'll only spend 2 or 3 hours.

We only spent an afternoon in Nafplio this trip (and because our son wanted to return) but visited in 2018. We spent 4 nights with afternoons at the beach (it was 97 in early June!).

I do agree with Jo-Lui that you seem to be spending more time than necesssry there. Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course, but you might consider moving a night at least to somewhere else. There is so much to see!

I agree, perhaps condense some of the stays, otherwise sounds great!
Our goal was to stop at sites en route on our drives, so we did Mystras between Nafplio and Kardamyli, Messene between Kardamyli and Stemnitsa. We actually stayed in Zatouna near Dimitsana and loved it, but I agree about the restaurant situation. Our host gave us a ride one night and we took a taxi the other (we drink but even teetotalers may not want to do that drive at night).

Thank you for your ideas - this gives me more to think about as I continue to plan. The suggestions to stop at sites en route will be an improvement too.

We like to acclimate to the time change with a longer stay at the first town, and thought Nafplio would work well for that. (Also, I see I am inconsistent and said 5 days there and # of nights elsewhere.)

As far as Mystras, I have several posts saying they wished they had more time there. However, I have also seen visitors say that Mystras is not that impressive and is expensive!

How many hours would you suggest spending at Mystras?

And BethFL, I have definitely read your trip report, very helpful!

I found Mystras extraordinary, but a few hours sufficed. We took the time to walk the whole way up and back down and had a lackluster lunch in town.

Mystras was one of my favorite stops during our trip to Greece in 2022. It is amazing! I really believe Mystras is a place to savor, to wander, to visit the various sights (castle ruins, churches, monasteries, etc.) and to stop and take photos. We spent about 3 hours there but I wanted to stay longer. We visited as a daytrip from Nafplio. My husband was driving and didn't want to get back too late. But I regret leaving when we did, and I wish we had an extra hour there, at least. There are amazing ancient paintings on the ceilings and walls of the church ruins and ancient mosaics on the floors. The grounds and hillside are beautiful, too, with lush greenery and lots of flowers in bloom in May.

We really did love Mystras. It was a site that appealed to both my husband and me and our son and his wife. We spent about three hours there and were content with that. There was one church I did not properly see because I was trying to figure out where the rest of my party had gone but otherwise felt like we had explored it well. We were not moving fast because my husband was not moving fast.

A couple things to keep in mind:
1. There is no shade. We were there when it was only in the 60s so very pleasant. But all rock and stone so I am sure it gets hot.
2. The one bathroom site is down the hill from the ticket counter.
3. There is no food or drink sold there.

I would think depending on weather and interest, most people would spend 2-4 hours there. I do not think it is an all day site.