My friend and I are going to Greece for 2 weeks next month, and we'd like to spend a couple of nights in Nafplion, visiting the city and of course Epidauros and Mycenae, but then take about 6 days and do the Pelopponese. We'd love to be able to visit the Vouraikos Gorge (by way of the cog train from Diakofto if it's up and running), Olympia, Mystras, Monemvasia, the Mani and a good beach. We've read in all the guidebooks the horror stories about the roads and the drivers, and are very reluctant to rent a car (despite being very independent travelers who have rented cars all over Europe with no issues). Has anyone made a trip like this with a car? If you're answering, clearly you've lived to tell about it! Otherwise, we would have to rely on public transportation, which would slow us down, and then there's the problem of schlepping the suitcases around. Does anyone have any suggestions, like perhaps an experience with a good tour company out of Nafplion that could maybe set us up with something like a customized tour that won't break the bank? Thanks for any advice!
Posted by
Ottawa
238 posts
Hi Lesley
We spent a week in the Pelopponese in 2007 as part of a month in Greece and drove all over the penninsula. The car rental agent picked us up at the Athens airport and drove us to their location on the outskirts of the city. We stayed in Nafplion and in Gythio.
If you have driven in other parts of Europe you should be fine. The Greeks tend to make four lanes when there are only two. There are no wide shoulders as in North America and the barriers on the shoulders are not what you see in North America.
There are a lot of hairpin turns and the risk of falling rocks, but as long as you are a good and attentive driver you should enjoy it.
I will PM our write up for that portion of out trip.
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1421 posts
Lesley, hi
I don't know about tours but I've done pretty much everywhere you mention by bus. (We've never made it to Olympia, but we're working on it!) My immediate thought is that trying in six days to do everything you suggest on public transport is wildly optimistic. (Sorry.)
Greek buses are good - they're cheap, reliable and reasonably frequent - but not really designed to do the kind of tour you have in mind. They tend to run up and down from Athens, rather than across country.
This is partly because Greeks are more likely to want to go in and out of the capital and partly because the Peloponnese is so mountainous. Places that look quite close on the map can actually be hours apart on the bus. A couple of examples:
a) to get from Nafplio to Diakofto you would need to go back up to Corinth and then across.
b) a couple of years ago I came up from Monemvasia to Nafplio. I caught the 6 o'clock bus from Monemvasia and changed at Sparta and Tripolis finally getting to Nafplio at around 4.
I'm not trying to put you off the buses - I think they're a great way to travel - just saying that if you use them you won't get everywhere done.
One further thought. There is now a frequent and quick train from the airport to Corinth. Depending on what time you arrive - I think they stop running around 20.00 hrs - it might be worth your while going straight there and picking up either a bus or a car from Corinth. The airport to Corinth takes an hour, and the bus into central Athens takes almost the same. Or, of course, you could do Athens first and do Corinth as your last stop.
Let us know what you decide.
Cheers
Alan
PS If you are into sites Tiryns, about 10 minutes outside of Nafplio on the local bus to Argos, is worth an hour and Argos itself has a nice and little visited roman theatre. (I know I said you'd need to do less, but consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds!)
Posted by
OP
San Antonio, TX, USA
37 posts
Thanks! I'd love to hear all about it. I don't scare easily when it comes to roads and hairpin turns, but I can't say that for everybody. I've read it's the drivers even more than the roads that are scary.
Posted by
OP
San Antonio, TX, USA
37 posts
Has anyone tried renting a car in Corinth? I was just looking in the guidebooks, and can only find one rental car place, with no website, and it looks like it's far from the train station. I thought Alan's suggestion was good about taking the train to Corinth, but after that I'm not sure how to proceed. The guidebooks don't say much about accommodations in Corinth either, though I'd want to just get the car and hit the road.