Santorini, Pelloponese Region (and Meteora?) Help Needed

I would consider saving Meteora, as that is the outlier and you want to reduce travel time. After I visited the Peloponnese, I immediately planned our next trip to northern Greece (unfortunately canceled due to covid, but I hope to make it eventually).

We spent nine days in Nafplio (visited Epidaurus and Mycene from here), Kardamyli, and Zatouna (a village adjacent to Stemnitsa/Dimitsana--where you can hike among monasteries, not as dramatic as Meteora, but a gorgeous area). We planned to see Mystras en route from Nafplio to Kardamyli, but instead we visited on a rainy day from Kardamyli. We don't really like driving, and we planned to maximize our time in towns. So, we did not explore the Mani much but instead did a lot of hiking in Kardamyli after lots of sightseeing in Nafplio.
We skipped Hydra and Monemvasia--just could not do it all! The coastline all over the Peloponnese is gorgeous and I did not feel the absence of an island visit.
You can see Corinth and Nemea en route to/from Athens.
We visited Messene in between Kardamyli and Zatouna, highly recommend!
I found Google Maps fairly accurate, and I think it is very possible to minimize driving by stopping at places on travel days.
If you do make it to Kardamyli, this rental house was pretty sweet: http://gikas-hill-stone-house.peloponnese-hotels.com/en/

You could do Meteora but would need at least two nights and preferably three. It is spectacular but it is a hike from the Athens airport which is where I would recommend picking up and dropping off your car. It is a 5 or 6 hour drive from the Athens airport depending on traffic. It is not a difficult drive just long. If you pick up the car in Thessalonika and drop it off in Athens you may have drop off charges. You could also stop at Delphi for a night or two on the way to the Peloponnese and see that site and break up that long drive from Meteora. Be advised that there is some mountain driving on a two lane road from Delphi to Napflion which will slow you down. Lots of big rigs and goats jumping out in front of your car. Then see Ancient Corinth on the way to Napflio. Spend two or three nights in Napflio and do a day trip from there to Mycenae and Epidaurus. I have not been to Monemvasia, Hydra, etc. so I can’t comment on those. Per my plan you would have two or three extra days so you would have to look at the logistics for getting to these places and then back to the airport for your flight home. Unfortunately, you can’t do it all so you will have to make some hard choices.

l would suggest dropping Meteora & Hydra ... TOO Complicated to try to wedge these in, in just 10 days -- Meteora is 5-o6 hour drive & you say husband is tired of driving --- in a week at Santorini, you will have NO Decent beaches, and neither does Hydra (it's mainly jumping off rocks -- Rick Steves is alway hyping Hydra, but he doesnt know or like Greek isilands much). I suggest also that you split the driving with your husband -- the new rule is, you don't need Intl Driving permiit in Greece if u have US Driving license.
My suggestions for May 29 - June 8 (June 9 is departure day, we don't count it) I also have lodging suggestions (availbal as of today on bookingdotcom, riskfree booking (cancel w.o. penalty) but will disappear any moment so book NOW)

Refs: PELOPONNESE MAP (click & it gets huuge; navigate w side-slides) https://tinyurl.com/zekuft9
NAFPLIO & AREA WEBSITE _ SUPerb - http://www.visitnafplio.com/

MAY 29 -- AM FLight to ATH. Drive modern highway past canal; exit on Rt to ANCIENT NEMEA - great site! see in an hour! Arr in NAFPLIO in aft, explore Old Town; sunset HotelS - AGAMEMNON Or PALAZZO = fab locations, mod. rates, Book NOW
MAy 30 - 31 -- Explore -- MYCENAE (or its twin, TIRYNS), PALAMIDI, EPIDAURUS (see VisitNafplio for many others
JUNE 1- 3 - BEACH TIME!! Book Now! Bookingdotcom PORTO ASSINI APTs.. right on KAstraki beach, a sandy cove right by ASsine ruins, cute & serene, just across from crowdy Tolo Beach, just 10-15 mins outside of NAfplio... use as base for continued area exploring... vineyards etc
JUNE 4 - Leave in AM for Monemvasia - stay in "fortress town" or in pension on beach right at causeway
JUNE 5 -- Drive to MYSTRA, explore (leave car at top, walk down thru town, get taxi? back to car ... good overnight stay is Mystras Iinn & Taverna - http://www.mystrasinn.gr/ipiresiesen.html
JUNE 6 -- 7 -- Drive back to CORINTH CANAL... have lunch by Canal for view, then go to ANCIENT CORINTH. there are some nice pensions right by Ancient site... OR you can go to nearby LOUTRAKI ... pleasant beach area, for a last swim, in the Korinthian Gulf
JUNE 8 -- AM, return car to Airport, taxi to Central Athens Hotel, a final celebratory meal in AThens for Last Night of your FIRST trip to Greece.

Having just returned home from Greece with a similar itinerary without the islands. We were there for 2 weeks. Athens deserves more than 1.5 days. We were in Meteora for 3 nights and it is a loooonnngggg drive from Athens. Easy drive though. However, you will probably bump up against the beginning of more crowds. Considering we were there during spring breaks it was busy. We hiked with a guide who took us to the back side of Meteora. We had such a great time there and deserves your time and attention. I would drop it from your itinerary.

We drove (both of us) throughout Greece with no issues, although you need to know they are aggressive and impatient, passing like would never be allowed in the US. Delphi was probably one of our favorite cities to visit, and is about 2.5 hours from Athens. The road is HWY 1 windy and if that works for you go for it.

Nafplio is beautiful and Greeks love it. We're not beach people so that might make it more appealing, had we had decent weather. It rained for 2 days. I wanted to hike up to the Palamidi and then scrapped it because of the rain and concerns for slippery rocks. Mycenae was interesting, although by the time we got there, we were pretty ruined out. What we did like was epidavros and the theater. That was fun and a short visit. Both were rainy days.

Probably another favorite village town was Karadmyli. It was beautiful and cuter than Nafplio (and very crowded during July & August).

We stayed in Monemvasia 1 night and not in the ancient city. I probably wouldn't go back unless I could stay in the ancient city.

Messene is massive and worth a visit. Coming from the Lamia direction, google maps took us on 2 different dirt roads, so we had side adventures, except it added time to our trip to Kardamyli. Thank god for small cars! Then of course, after visiting Messene we found an easy way out and continued our trip. Our dirt road did take us to one of the ancient gates of Messene and it was interesting to climb around it, seeing the rocks numbered was also interesting.

We had a great time with Niki Vlaou (sp) in Olympia. The archeological site was worth a visit and we had dinner with her as well at a local home. Olympia is less of an attraction. The Archimedes museum was closed by the time we got there, and probably would have been interesting. We also enjoyed the marble sculptor with his shop. Worth the visit if you have time and can be arranged ahead of time.

We decided to scrap the following because of lack of time, the Acropolis museum in Athens and Hydra. We found we actually needed some breaks in between the driving and museums. Kardamyli would have been a great place to do that for us. Maybe the place we stayed in Olympia too (it was outside the city).

We also enjoyed our 1 night stay and could have stayed longer at the Varaba Country House, our last night, near the Athens airport (8 minutes), although a bit difficult to find unless you take the back roads.

We rented a car from Bazaar car rental. A bit of a fly by night agency, yet they will drive you to the edge of Athens, which was a big plus, and then you drop it off right at the airport.

Hope this helps.

Sue

Stay in charming Napflion and day trip to close by sites Mycenae, Epidavros, Nemea, Corinth. This is not too much driving and it is through the pretty olive groves surrounding Napflion. A day trip to Byzantine Mystras is very worthwhile. We did a day trip to the island of Spetses, not far. We stayed five nights ( and could have stayed longer). Napflion is one of Greece’s most beautiful small cities. Our Greek friends go there on their boat on weekends from Athens.
Look up Matt Barrett’s Greece for helpful ideas.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice. I've been busy changing our itinerary, taking in all you've had to say. We are close but still may need a little tweeking.

May 20 - Directly to Santorini - 9 nights (family trip - cannot be changed)
May 29 - Athens to Monemvasia - stay 2 nights
May 31 - Monemvasia to Mystras and then Gytheio - stay 1 night
June 1 - From Gytheio, drive south along east coast of Mani and back up west coast to Kardamyli - stay 1 night
June 2 - Kardamyli (see Zatouna on the way?) to Nafplion (Mycenae, Epidavros, Nemea) - 3 nights
June 5 - Nafplion to Ancient Corinth to Athens - 4 nights

Spending time on the beach isn't a priority for this trip.

Any thoughts?

May 20 - Directly to Santorini - 9 nights (family trip - cannot be changed)
May 29 - Athens to Monemvasia - stay 2 nights
May 31 - Monemvasia to Mystras and then Gytheio - stay 1 night
June 1 - From Gytheio, drive south along east coast of Mani and back up west coast to Kardamyli - stay 1 night
June 2 - Kardamyli (see Zatouna on the way?) to Nafplion (Mycenae, Epidavros, Nemea) - 3 nights
June 5 - Nafplion to Ancient Corinth to Athens - 4 nights

Looks great, much more balanced. I would not necessarily change bases from Gytheio to Kardamyli, but it makes perfect sense if driving the peninsula is your priority.
I mentioned Zatouna as a possible alternative for hiking/monasteries, but it is not something to make a special trip for--it would be a very long, somewhat challenging drive that day, and you would not have time to do much--just drive on to Nafplio.

If I have a choice to stay in Kardamyli or Limeni or Areopoli May 31-June 2 as my home base, where would you recommend?

Great advice here! Following.