Traveling from Thessaloniki to Athens by car

Does this 10-12 day plan include arrival and departure days? Two days in that timeframe can make a big difference.

Thessaloniki 2 nights. Day trip to Vergina

I's not easy to imagine arriving in Thessaloniki, visiting the city, and taking a day trip to Vergina in just two nights (one full day). Perhaps I'm missing something.

Arachova 2 nights. Visit Meteora.

I don't understand what you're going to do for 2 nights in Arachova if it's to visit Meteora, which is at least a 6-hour round trip drive away.

I would appreciate suggestions on the best way to visit these
locations.

When there's a "best" in a question, it's never clear what it refers to. What do you mean by "best way"?

I'm fine with moving to different locations to facilitate viewing.

What other way did you think you could do it?
Even if you rent a car you won't be able to complete half of this itinerary in such a short time, especially since you want to spend a couple of nights at a coastal location before returning to Athens, and also because it's best to be in Athens the day before your return flight.

Suggestions: I am starting with the assumption you will have a car because of your title

Minimum 3 nights in Thessaloniki
Drive to Kastraki, stopping to visit Vergina on the way. Stay 2 nights - this gives you 1 day for Meteora.
Drive to Arachova if that is a must, staying 2 nights (1 full day for Delphi).
Interim suggestions from someone else - 2 nights. Perhaps Nafplio works for you.
Return car in Athens, stay 3 nights.

If you only find 10 nights, skip the “perhaps Nafplio” nights.

You could also reverse this, using Thessaloniki for some beach time.

Both this year and in 2023, I found that one-way car rental about doubled the cost of roundtrip rental. Just something to keep in mind.

My apologies for not making myself clear. We fly into Thessaloniki from Istanbul in the early afternoon staying two nights. I assumed two nights would be sufficient to visit Vergina on a daytrip from Thessaloniki. The timeframe I provided is for full days not counting days of arrival and departure. We will have a one-way rental, and I understand the associated premium involved.

The plan was to spend the next two night near Meteora. It appears that Arachova is not as close as I thought so I will change my plans to stay close to Meteora so that I can spend sufficient time on my visit.

Afterwards, I would like to visit Delphi and Olympia which I believe I can accomplish with two different one-night stays near the respective sites.

Afterwards, I am considering visiting either Mystra or Messene and perhaps a couple of nights on the coast. The trip will end with two or three nights in Athens which we have previously visited.

Does my proposed itinerary work? Any suggestions?

I really appreciate the responses I have received and thank you for the time you took to respond to my post.

Hello John, Ai Mary here or that's what my friends call me! Ok sorry, that was a little inside joke :)
Anyways, Nafplio is a great choice. The location is perfect; it’s a historical place with nice architecture and really nice walks along the coast. You won’t regret it.
But if you decide not going down to Olympia, since you probably stop in Delphi and Arachova area, you should consider the area around Galaxidi. It’s really picturesque and have some nice beaches like Vidavi. I agree also that Arachova is a winter place to visit, in summertime everything is dry and yellow there, even in spring time is boring imo.
On the other hand if you are making down to Messena, oh the west coastline has so so many gems for swimming but it is too far considering your limited time, I wouldn't recommend it.
That said in 10-12 days north - central Greece is fine (places you can add Ioannina - Nafpaktos - Galaxidi ). Keep another 10-12 days for your next trip only Peloponese (Olympia, Mycene, Messene, Monemvasia, Nayplio, Methoni and many many more)

I'm not going to comment on the delusions and nonsense of AI MeridianMary. :)

However, I agree with TexasTravelMom; you could start in Thessaloniki and drive to Kastraki stopping to visit Vergina on the way.
Note that the Vergina site is also called "Aigai." Check the opening hours on the website:

https://www.aigai.gr/en/polycentric-museum-of-aigai-royal-tombs-display-of-treasures/visit

Then head to Delphi. Arachova is close to Delphi, so you could take a short drive there if you like. It's up to you.

The most logical route would then be to go to Olympia via Patras, then continue on to Messene.

We would never do this kind of itinerary; too much driving, too much rushing from one place to another, not enough time to enjoy it.
But Since it's your trip, it's up to you to decide how many nights you want/can spend in each place.

I don't know if you want to spend time in Thessaloniki to visit the city, where I think you could stay for at least two full days (we spent four very busy days there two years ago).

Once you've determined how many nights you'll need for this first part of your trip, from your arrival in Thessaloniki to the site of Ancient Messene, you'll have a clearer picture of how many days you have left until Athens.

Basically your plan works - it’s fast, but that’s ok if that’s the time you have.

However, I hope you have some idea of how much time you will need in order to “view” the places you have chosen, in addition to driving time.

As I mentioned, in traveling to Meteora (stay in Kastraki at the base of the mountains and monasteries), you have very little in the way of a detour in order to visit Vergina. So it doesn’t make sense to spend your short time driving back and forth from Thessaloniki. Just visit the day you change locations and save a couple of hours of driving.

Thessaloniki is very different from Athens. Arriving in the afternoon, you have that evening - and it deserves at least another full day. Two days is better. That equals 3 nights.

You need a full day for the monasteries at Meteora. Since you will arrive in the evening after a day of driving and sightseeing, that equals 2 nights.

From there, technically you could drive to Delphi, visit the ruins later afternoon, stay overnight wherever you choose, visit the museum the following morning, and then make a long drive to get to Olympia. It would be a full couple of days.

I don’t know about time, nights needed, and the best way to visit there and then Messene. But I think it can be no less than 2 nights for both of those.

That leaves you at 8 nights. Perhaps 2 for Nafplio and 2 for Athens? Or 3 for Nafplio and only the night before departure in Athens, since you have been there.

You are packing a lot into a fairly short time for these distances and I don’t think it all fits easily, but only you can decide where to trim.

Once again, thank you for your kind assistance to my request. I really appreciate it.

I do like the suggestion to visit Vergina on my day of departure from Thessaloniki, it makes a lot of sense.

It seems that two nights to see Meteora will work. When I say two days the plan is to arrive in time for the guided evening visit by a local tour company then go on another tour the following day. Some friends recommended I stay at Douipani House Hotel from where the tours pick up. This should simplify the process.

I have changed my plans and will stay two nights in Delphi. It will probably be longer than I need but I see your point about too much touring in a limited time frame. I don't think Delphi will keep me busy the whole time as I intend on visiting either the site or museum on my day of arrival.

There appears to be a lot of concern for my plan to visit Olympia the next day. I certainly yield to your knowledge as I am going on time estimates I have read both on this site and TripAdvisor which indicate 3-4 hours of travel. My plan is booking Leonaidaion Guest House which I understand is walking distance to Olympia. While I agree it is not ideal, I too prefer slower travel, it should be sufficient. In any case, adding the extra night in Delphi will ease the travel strain.

I will then spend two nights at a location that is suited for visiting Messene before spending my last three nights in Athens.