We will be in Greece the month of March (coming up!). Since we like to meander, soaking up rain showers & atmosphere (with cultural sites, tasty food, retsina & people), we will be spending several days in Athens, Hydra, then on to Ermioni where we pick up a rental car to go to Nafplio. We will be taking day trips out of Nafplio, but will still have 5 days to drive back to the airport. Any thoughts on where to explore for those 5 days?
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, USA
3397 posts
Suzie have you investigated the car-rental situation in Ermioni?? There may be one outfit (I have heard Pop's car rental mentioned as being a port resource aruond there) which allows pick-up there, and drop-off somewhere else, for a reasonable fee. Otherwise you may have a great shock.... i.e., Greece is not the USA! THere are not large networks of cars belonging to a national agency, moving back & forth all the time .... therefore, rental agencies must send a SECOND car to pick up a car, with a SECOND driver. Thus, the fee for drop-off is huge. I remember helping one woman rent a car in THessaloniki, and drop it in Athens. The drop off fee was greater than her rental fee for a week. Just sayin', better do some research. If you find a problem with that itinerary, You might want to re-think Hydra, maybe just do a day-trip to a lcloser island to Piraeus (like Aegina), then rent your car FROM airport, return TO airport.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
I appreciate your concerns, but we have travelled extensively for the past 20 years & always research more than RS. We already have our car hire reservation in Ermioni to Athens. Thanks for alerting others!
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1441 posts
There are lots of great day trips using Nafplio as a base. Once you decide to head back towards Athens I think you may really enjoy a night or two in Corinth. There is the canal. See if you can find the sinking bridge. We were fortunate to arrive just as a ship passed. you can also hike along the side of the canal. There are scrapes in the rocks where ancient ships were pushed pulled over the land trip between the two waterways. I think there is also a ww2 pillbox up there. Ancient Nemia a sister city to Olimpia still has its stadium and a partially resorted temple and of course Ancient Coritnh the biblical city and right next door look way up. The mountain you see has a great fortress called Acrocorinth. Its an amazing site.
Corinth area. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711755443483
Nafplio and Peloponnese http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094108982/
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Great ideas, thanks.
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1419 posts
If you have a car in Nafplio don’t miss out the hill fort at Argos. It’s not quite as impressive as Acrocorinth but is still huge and has amazing views over the whole area.
If I’ve understood correctly and you have five days to get back to Athens you could do a circuit of Diakofto, across the Rio-Antirio bridge to Nafpaktos, on to Delphi and then down to Athens.
Diakofto is a nice little seaside town but the draw is its rack and pinion railway up into the mountains which has amazing views
https://odontotos.com/index-en.htm
Nafpaktos has a nice little harbour, good beaches and restaurants and an impressive castle.
https://travelpassionate.com/things-nafpaktos-greece/
And Delphi probably doesn’t need any introduction.
Cheers
Alan
Posted by
NH (USA)
1222 posts
Here's THE best website for Nafplio. Full of what to do, see, experience and where to go.
Nafplio is one of Greece's nicest towns and a great place to base yourself to explore the entire region. Lots of options for what to do but the website will be perfect for getting info you may not get anywhere else.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
I so appreciate all of your thoughts, thank you for taking the time to respond! Love Alan's suggestions for our 5 days of unplanned itinerary & will definately pursue! Can hardly wait!