We toured the Peloponnese for 2 weeks this past April, at Easter time, using Rick's guidebook for a lot of the planning and execution of the trip. We landed in Athens near sunset and caught a taxi to Peri's Hotel, getting dinner delivered to the hotel and eating it in our room, at the hotel's suggestion. We were leaving the next morning for Hydra and then the Peloponnese, and would be wrapping up the trip with a few days in Athens at the end.
Early the next morning, we headed to the port at Piraeus, only to find that our early ferry to Hydra (our only island) had been canceled due to rough seas. We hung around to see if the waters would be calm enough for the next ferry in 2 hours, but it didn't go, either, so we got a refund and used it on a long taxi ride, shared with another couple to a port closer to Hydra. Seat-of-the-pants flexibility helped this time, and we got to Hydra for 2 nights.
Ferrying from Hydra to Ermioni, we picked up a rental car (Pop's Car Rental, price OK and convenient location but slow checkout process and the GPS unit was broken so we had to hunt in town for a workable road map of Greece), and headed for Napflio, visiting the ancient theater with the fabulous accoustics, plus the remains of the healing center at Epidavros along the way. Staying at Pension Marianna in Napflio is highly recommended! We visited the ancient site of Mycenae from there one day, and were almost the only people at Nemea, with a fascinating small museum and great temple ruins. We were all by ourselves at the nearby Olympia-type Nemea sports arena with its unique entrance tunnel, which had over-2000-year-old athlete graffiti scratched into its walls.
Sparta was on the agenda but we found it to be a modern city in an ancient location, but did visit the nearby monastery/cathedral site at Mystras, then moved on to Monemvasia for a night on The Rock, dining outside with lots of cats eyeing us.
We'd booked our room for visiting the Mani Peninsula in Aeropoli (although Kardamyli, farther north up the coast is Rick Steves' pick of towns), and had 2 nights and 2+ days there, driving up and down that sparsely-populated but very scenic peninsula. Just south of Aeropoli were the flooded Pyrgos Dirou caves, which you visit by guided boat and on foot. I think we were the only non-Greeks there that day.
On the way to our night in Kalamata (wish we'd have had more time there), we drove up to Agia Sophia, and visited its very old Greek Orthodox church, plus a couple tiny churches, in the rain.
We had a big Easter lunch on the way to Olympia. Definitely hire Rick's recommended guide, Nikki, for the Olympia site, and go as early in the day as possible, before the crowds descend on the place. See the site outside first, then linger in the museum. We then headed towards Delphi, but because a room wasn't available in Delphi that night, we booked a spur-of-the-moment night at the superb, mother-and-daughter-run Archontiko Art Hotel in Galaxidi. With more time, we would've stayed another night or two. We'd booked a night in Delphi before leaving the US, but the small town was full of noisy students and it was tough getting to sleep that next night, but it was convenient, with the very worthwhile ancient site just down the road from the town.
We turned on our rental car at the Pop's location outside Athens, and took the train into the city. So we didn't do one-night-stands everywhere, but were pretty much on the move, in a clockwise direction, starting and ending in Athens. On the road, watch for oncoming drivers, who don't necessarily stay on their side of the road, especially on curves! Most people's turn signals must not work, either. In Athens, keep a close eye on your purse/bags on the Metro subway. You'll get a new appreciation for, and never view yogurt, olive oil, or oregano quite the same way, ever again.
