Advice on 7-day Greek Itinerary

We spent 8 days in Greece recently, and visited most of the places you want to see. First of all, I'd give Athens 3 days. Besides the "biggies," like the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, and the National Archaeological Museum, there are any number of smaller, very interesting museums. We especially liked the Benaki Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the Folk Art Museum. If you go to Delphi - - and I recommend that you do - - look into staying at Pitho Rooms. I think we paid 60 euros for a spotlessly clean, decent size room, including a nice breakfast. The owners are very welcoming and helpful. I also recommend a stop at the Osios Loukas Monastery. It's a short way off the road between Arachova and Delphi. Gorgeous mosaics! We were very taken with Naplio. It's a lovely town with a different history; lots of remnants of Moorish and Venetian rule. It's a convenient base for visiting Mycenae. It also has a good Archaeological Museum. Don't be afraid to drive. The roads are not very crowded, and the drivers aren't especially crazy. They have one odd practice. They drive on the shoulder as if it were another lane. We picked up a car at the Athens airport and returned it there. Took a taxi into the city for our time there. I wouldn't dream of driving in Athens itself.
Pm me if you have more questions.

Rent a car. You can do this through your hotel and they will bring it to you. Athens can be a bit tricky but simply leave very early morning. Other roads are fine, but expect two lanes to be treated as three with aggressive drivers wanting to pass regardless of blind corners and such, but generally good. Go on the web and print michelin maps for your legs. Day 1 - Athens Day 2 - Athens Day 3 - Mycanae, Epidaurus, Napflio Day 4 - Mystras, Monemvassia Day 5 - buffer day Day 6 - Olympia Day 7 - Delphi Day 8 - Athens
Day 9 - Athens This is a bit of driving, but doable with evenings and mornings spent exploring the last named town. At any point if you are rushed you can substitute, plus a slack day in there to allocate to a favorite spot. Another option would be to cut out Mystras and Monemvassia due to the out and back driving time and grab a few days on Santorini. Think you can fly there quickly for 50 euros each way. If you are the unpack the bags once and get into a single place in more depth type, then consider day tours out of Athens for Napflio, Delphi, and hop over to a closer island like Hydra or Poros. Enjoy.

You really only have 7.5 days at most ... and without driving you cannot see all those places unless you take some tours. BTW when u want advice you need to give basic info like dates of visit. it matters because some tours are not available in some seasons. If adamant about not driving, it requires careful choices and doing your "homework." Some tours are not satisfactory because they rush you so much that many things are "drive-by" experiences. Example: they try to cover Nafplion + Epidaurus +Mycenae+Olympia+Delphi in 3 days, which essentially means Nafplion is a bathroom break, and you spend all your time on a bus. I'd recommend the following, from either CHAT or KEY tours (slightly prefer CHAT: 2-day tour to Nafplion, EPidaurus, & Mycenae, because it allows aft, eve & AM in Nafplion the most beautiful Old town in All Greece + madly historic. Another option is to take intercity bus to Nafplio, rent car THERE to tour the 2 sites, then bus back to Athens. ASTORIA tours (in Athens) has both a 1-day and a 2-day tour to Olympia (it's 5+ hours each way, so you might think about the 2-day!). . For Delphi, it's 3.5 hours each way, and most 1-day tours rush u off site. If you r well-read, do your research, have good maps & guidebooks, think about D-I-Y; Catch a 7:30 bus, arrive 10:30 ... catch the 6 pm bus back. Total cost =€26 plus entry fee. That totals 5 days. You'd then have 2 full days & fractions of 2 others for Athens. I'd explain more but this @#** site has a character limit; PM me if this is too cryptic.

I've done this trip. You must have a car period. And the following is the minimum itinerary: Day 1 - Delphi (plan 2 hours drive from Athens and 4 hours touring). Day 2 - Olympia (plan 4 hours driving and 4 hours touring) Day 3 - Nafplio (plan 4 hours driving and 2-3 hours touring Mycenae)
Day 4 - Nafplio to Epidavros to Athens (plan 3 hours driving and 1-2 hours touring) This leaves precious little time for enjoying the places you visit and countryside and side trips (like Hosios Loukas or Mystras - both WELL worth it). Monemvasia is at least an extra day but really two. Nafplio is well worth an extra day (Olympia and Delphi the towns are not). The extra time is of course devoted to Athens. I recommend renting a car from the airport when you arrive and going straight to Delphi. But you may find you need rest before heading out. You really should end the trip in Athens so you're in town the night before your flight home. Driving in Greece is very easy really as long as you stay out of Athens. The ring highway alone is mindracking but the rural roads are low traffic and well marked. As someone noted, passing is down the middle so always stay to the right and you MUST have an IDP to even rent a car in Greece.

Douglas, Janet, Doug, & Roslyn; Thanks so much for the thoughtful advice. OK. You talked me into DIY and the car despite my foreign driving apprehension. Also, I'm a pretty big guy and suffer with legroom issues in small cars so I'm critically searching for a comfy ride. I've got my eye on Avis's A160 as a possibility. Any car or rental company advice?  Here's the tentative itinerary in the first week of May: Day 1: Arrive Athens in evening. Day 2: Athens. Day 3: Athens. Day 4: Car pickup. Delphi? Day 5: Olympia ? Day 6: Nafplio ? Day 7: Nafplio then hotel in Athens? Car return evening. Day 8: Athens
Day 9: Depart Athens early. I spent a lot of time already wringing my hands over whether to start the trip in Santorini but have just decided to save the islands for the next trip except if we can fit in a  side trip to Hydra. I've picked up the Michelin Map but have yet to plot out the fine details. That will be my next task with a critical eye to fitting in some (or most) of your recommendations: Arachova, Osios Loukas, Mycenae, Epidauros, Mystras, Monemvassia, &/or Hydra. Also, thanks for the hotel recommendations. The budget hotels in Athens on Trip Advisor seem to have fairly higher percentage of "Terrible" & "Poor" comments.  Has anyone stayed at the Cecil Hotel?

JOhn, unless I'm missing something, you have not shared the dates of your trip. Day 1 isn't a date -- is it June August or September. Makes a big difference in hotel prices, And what is your range for "budget", in Euros. Cecil is budget for many, for others, it's too high. With trip date & € range I'd know what to advise, but am not skilled in mind-reading :-D

Just a reminder since renting a car wasn't part of your original plans. I understand that it is REQUIRED to have an International Driver's License to rent a car in Greece. We just got one at AAA - it's $15 now - plus you need two passport size photos (can use your own photos if you can crop down to the correct size.

John, Would you mind emailing me when you get back with how easy it was to drive and where you ended up staying etc. I am actually interested in doing the same trip as you, but I can stay for longer so I'll add more time on. Thanks!
Everyone else, thanks for the great advice, if I rent a car, is it easy to park when I stay in the different towns?

Rebecca, you don't have to wait until these particular folks get back from their trips. You can go to "Trip Advisor Greece Forum" and in the Search Slot, put in Driving in Greece and you will get a gazlllion useful "threads" on the topic and not silly ones, solid advice & reassurance from people who have driven all over the Peloponnese. Or you could put in "Driving tour of Peloponnese" and you'll get detailed day-by-day routes. Several of their regulars LIVE in the area, others are actually in the travel business. You will be reassured. Although I am not a driver (I'm the Navigator), I go annually to Greece, always visit Nafplion & argolid area, with travel companions who DO drive, and rent a car either from the airport or 1-2 days rental in Nafplio. Never any problem. An airport rental avoids in-city driving, and the rest is fine. In the Peloponnese, also, not much traffic also. Parking not difficult either. You may not be able to park in front of your pension (because it may be a no-cars lane), but fine. Nafplion Old town has massive free parking on a huge dock area (only fills up In August evenings), and u walk a short way to a hotel. Do NOT think of driving back into Central Athens & parking however. Return car to airport & take Metro (45 mins) to your Plaka-area hotel.

Thanks Janet...where do I find the trip advisor section?

John, Here is my schedule for a week in Greece: March 31 Depart Louisville, KY April 1 Arrive in Athens, pick up car, drive to Delphi, stay the night see the ruins April 2 Drive to Olympia, stay the night see the ruins April 3 & 4 Drive to Naplio, stay two nights, see Epidauros, Mycenae
April 5, 6, 7, 8 Drive to Athens stay three night/four days, see the Acropolis, National Museum, etc. I'm renting a small SUV with GPS so I can negotiate the highways but I'm not driving in Athens. The rental company will deliver the car to the airport when I arrive and pick it up at my hotel in Athens. And I will be doing it alone, my first solo trip. I do my research online, read Rick's book and also Lonely Planet, Rough Planet, and any books on Greece I can find. All hotel reservations were done online.

Rebecca, it's not a "section". Go to Google. Type in "Trip Advisor Greece Forum."

I agree with the others that driving in Greece is not an issue. With a GPS, even getting out of Athens is achievable, especially from the airport. You only need 2 days at most in Athens and 1 day in each of Delphi and Olympia. If you leave in the morning from Athens, you can drive to Delphi, have lunch and then visit the Archeological site and Museum in the afternoon. Stay at Pitho Rooms where the owners are very friendly, the breakfast is delicious, and the coffee is the best I had in a whole month in Greece and Turkey. Next morning drive to Olympia and visit the site in the afternoon. Next morning drive to Nafplio, stopping in Mycenae along the way for another afternoon visit. Take a day to visit the Palamidi Fortress (its a personal favourite) and soak up the ambiance of Nafplio. A later afternoon visit is to Epidavros is all that is needed unless you plan to take in a Greek Tragedy. The Pension Marianna is fabulous! This should give you one day to enjoy the beach and relax in Nafplio before heading back to the airport in Athens.

I rented my SUV at: http://www.athensguide.com/carrentals.html

I rented my SUV at: http://www.athensguide.com/carrentals.html