Greece: the Peloponnese, Nafplio, the Mani, Monemvasia and Olympia

1. Day 1: Arrive in Athens

   Athens International Airport to your hotel in central Athens

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Athens
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Athens International Airport (ATH), about 35 km east of the centre, and a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to your hotel; plan to land by about 3 pm. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week ahead, then we walk. From Syntagma Square we cut through the shade of the National Garden to Hadrian's Arch and the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, then climb into Plaka and up to Anafiotika, a cluster of whitewashed island-style houses built by stonemasons from Anafi in the 19th century, tucked under the north face of the Acropolis. From its lanes the city spreads out to Lycabettus Hill and the mountains beyond. As the light goes we walk down to a taverna in Plaka for a welcome dinner of meze, and you meet the people you will spend the week with. Tomorrow we are at the Acropolis gate when it opens, then we leave for the Peloponnese.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Athens International Airport (ATH)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk: Syntagma Square, the National Garden, Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus from outside, Plaka and Anafiotika
   • Welcome dinner in Plaka

   Free time: Free until the 5 pm briefing

   Activity: About 2 hours of easy walking, with some steep lanes and steps in Anafiotika.

   

2. Day 2: The Acropolis at opening, then to Nafplio

   Athens to the Acropolis, the Corinth Canal, then Nafplio

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nafplio
   Day 2 details

   We are at the Acropolis gate for its 8 am opening, with a timed ticket and a licensed local guide, ahead of the cruise and coach groups that build from mid-morning. Climb through the Propylaia to the Parthenon, built for Athena in the 440s and 430s BC, then walk round to the Erechtheion and its porch of Caryatids, with the city laid out to the sea. We walk down by the old lanes of Anafiotika and leave Athens at about 10:30. An hour west, the Corinth Canal cuts the isthmus between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnese: walk out on the bridge and look straight down the narrow cut, dug between 1881 and 1893, to the water far below. Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby. Then it is about an hour across the plain of Argos to Nafplio, the first capital of modern Greece, arriving by about 3 pm. After a rest, your guide walks you through the old town's Venetian lanes to the harbour and the island fortress of Bourtzi. Dinner is your choice.

   Included

   • The Acropolis at its 8 am opening with a licensed local guide: the Propylaia, the Parthenon and the Erechtheion
   • The Corinth Canal
   • Sit-down lunch near the canal
   • Evening walk in Nafplio's old town with your guide

   Easier option: Wait in the shade below the Propylaia while the group walks the far side of the Parthenon; the van meets you at the bottom of the hill.

   Free time: Late afternoon and dinner free in Nafplio

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on the Acropolis, on steep, polished marble with no shade.

   

3. Day 3: Mycenae and Epidaurus

   Nafplio to Mycenae, then Epidaurus and back to Nafplio

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Nafplio
   Day 3 details

   We leave Nafplio at 8 am and reach Mycenae at about 8:30, soon after it opens and well before the coaches. In Homer's telling this was Agamemnon's citadel, at its height around 1350 to 1200 BC. With a licensed guide we walk in under the Lion Gate, past Grave Circle A, where Heinrich Schliemann found gold funeral masks in 1876, and up to the palace on the summit, then down the road to the Treasury of Atreus, a beehive tomb with a stone dome about 13 m high. About an hour east is Epidaurus, the sanctuary of Asclepius, the healing god, and its 4th-century BC theatre: climb to the top row while someone on the stage drops a coin, and hear it land. Mycenae and Epidaurus are both UNESCO World Heritage sites. Lunch is a sit-down meal in a village near the theatre. We are back in Nafplio by about 3 pm, and the rest of the day is yours: swim at Arvanitia beach, wander the old town or climb to the Palamidi fortress.

   Included

   • Mycenae with a licensed local guide: the Lion Gate, Grave Circle A, the palace, the Treasury of Atreus and the site museum
   • Epidaurus with a licensed local guide: the theatre, the Sanctuary of Asclepius and the site museum
   • Sit-down lunch near Epidaurus
   • Entry to the Palamidi fortress in Nafplio

   Optional experiences

   • A boat ride around the Bourtzi island fortress (paid locally, when it runs)

   Easier option: At Mycenae, stay in the lower citadel and skip the uneven path up to the palace; at Epidaurus, watch from the lower rows of the theatre.

   More active option: In the free afternoon, climb the long stone stairway to the Palamidi fortress, built by the Venetians in the early 18th century about 216 m above the town; entry included.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Nafplio

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot over the two sites, on rough stone paths and steps; the Palamidi stair is several hundred steps.

   

4. Day 4: Byzantine Mystras, then Monemvasia

   Nafplio to Mystras by Tripoli and Sparta, then Monemvasia

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Monemvasia
   Day 4 details

   We leave at 8:30 and cross the mountains of Arcadia by Tripoli to the Sparta valley, about two hours and 145 km, with the long wall of Mount Taygetos ahead. Mystras climbs a spur of that mountain: it was a Byzantine town of the 13th to 15th centuries and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, was crowned here in January 1449. The van drops us at the upper gate below the castle so we walk mostly downhill with a licensed guide, through lanes of empty houses to the frescoed churches of the Pantanassa convent, still home to a few nuns, and the Peribleptos, and on to the palace of the despots. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Mystras village. Then about an hour and three quarters and 100 km south and east to Monemvasia, a walled town on the seaward side of a great rock, joined to the shore by a short causeway. Cars stay outside the gate, so we walk in with light bags while the rest follows. Dinner together tonight inside the walls.

   Included

   • Mystras with a licensed local guide: the castle gate, the Pantanassa, the Peribleptos and the palace of the despots
   • Sit-down lunch in Mystras village
   • Walk into Monemvasia's lower town through the gate
   • Dinner in Monemvasia

   Easier option: Ride the van between Mystras's upper and lower gates and visit only the lower town's churches.

   More active option: Climb from the upper gate to the castle at the top of Mystras before walking down with the group.

   Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot at Mystras, mostly downhill on steep, uneven stone lanes and steps. Monemvasia's lower town is car-free cobbles; luggage is carried in for you.

5. Day 5: Monemvasia's upper town, then the Diros caves and into the Mani

   Monemvasia to Gytheio, the Diros caves and Areopoli, then Kardamyli

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kardamyli
   Day 5 details

   At 8 am, before the heat and the day visitors, we climb the zigzag path from the lower town to the plateau on top of the rock, about 20 to 30 minutes up, where the church of Agia Sofia stands on the cliff edge over the sea. The rest of the upper town is ruins and wild flowers. We leave at about 10:30 and drive west to Gytheio, the old port of Sparta, for a walk out along the causeway to the islet of Marathonisi and lunch by the harbour. Then into the Mani, the bare middle finger of the Peloponnese, a land of stone tower houses and family feuds. At the Diros caves, by about 2 pm and well before the last boats, a boatman takes us by small boat through flooded galleries of stalactites, then we walk out. In Areopoli we stop in the square where the Maniots declared their part in the War of Independence in March 1821. A last hour on the coast road brings us to Kardamyli by about 5:30 pm. In all it is about 3.5 hours of driving in four short legs. The evening is free.

   Included

   • The upper town of Monemvasia and the church of Agia Sofia
   • Gytheio: the harbour and Marathonisi
   • Sit-down lunch in Gytheio
   • The Diros caves by boat
   • Areopoli's square and tower houses

   Easier option: Stay in Monemvasia's lower town for a slow coffee by the sea wall instead of climbing to Agia Sofia.

   Free time: Evening free in Kardamyli

   Activity: The upper-town path is steep, polished stone with no shade, about 20 to 30 minutes each way. The cave boats are small and low; you sit still and duck under the rock.

6. Day 6: Kardamyli: the tower village walk

   Kardamyli to Old Kardamyli and Exochori on foot, then back by van

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Kardamyli
   Day 6 details

   A day on foot, in the outer Mani between the Taygetos mountains and the Messenian Gulf. At 8:30 we walk up from the harbour to Old Kardamyli, a fortified hamlet of stone towers and a church with a tall belfry, the seat of the Troupakis family, who fought in the War of Independence. Then the path climbs on through olive terraces and stone walls, with the sea opening up behind us, to the hill village of Exochori, about 2 to 3 hours at an easy group pace. The writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, who made his home in Kardamyli, scattered the ashes of his friend Bruce Chatwin near Exochori. Lunch is a long sit-down meal in a village taverna under the plane trees, then the van brings us back down. The afternoon is free: swim off the pebble beach at Ritsa, rest in the shade, or wander the harbour. In the evening we eat together, on the last night by the sea.

   Included

   • Guided walk from Kardamyli to Old Kardamyli and its towers
   • Guided walk on the old path to Exochori
   • Sit-down lunch in Exochori
   • Dinner in Kardamyli

   Easier option: Walk only to Old Kardamyli, about 20 minutes each way, then meet the group for lunch in Exochori by van.

   More active option: Walk back down to Kardamyli on the path after lunch instead of taking the van.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Kardamyli

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on a rough stone mule path with a steady climb and some loose sections; wear shoes with grip and carry water. The exact route and climb are confirmed with our local partner.

7. Day 7: By the Messenian coast to Olympia

   Kardamyli to Kalamata and the Kyparissia coast, then Olympia

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Olympia
   Day 7 details

   After a late breakfast we leave at 9 and drive round the head of the Messenian Gulf through Kalamata, then up the west coast past Kyparissia, with the Ionian Sea on one side and the hills on the other: about 3 hours and 175 km, with a coffee stop on the way. We reach Olympia, in the green valley where the Kladeos stream meets the Alpheios river, for lunch. In the heat of the early afternoon we start indoors, with a licensed guide in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia: the pediment sculptures of the Temple of Zeus, the Nike of Paionios and the Hermes attributed to Praxiteles. At about 5 pm, when the cruise groups from Katakolo have gone, we walk the site (if heat or shorter hours close it early, we walk it at 8 am on day 8 instead): the palaestra, where wrestlers trained, the workshop of Pheidias, the fallen drums of the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Hera, where the Olympic flame is still lit. Then through the vaulted tunnel to the stadium, where you can run the track. Farewell dinner in the village.

   Included

   • The Archaeological Museum of Olympia with a licensed local guide
   • Ancient Olympia in the late afternoon with a licensed local guide: the palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Temples of Zeus and Hera and the stadium
   • Sit-down lunch in Olympia
   • Farewell dinner in Olympia

   Easier option: Visit the museum and the stadium only, and rest under the pines while the group walks the full site.

   More active option: Run the length of the ancient stadium track, about 192 m.

   Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot at Olympia, on flat gravel paths with some shade. Site hours are confirmed for your dates; if the site closes early, the walk moves to 8 am on day 8 and we leave Olympia at 10:30.

   

8. Day 8: Back across the Peloponnese to Athens

   Olympia to Patras and the Gulf of Corinth, then Athens International Airport

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 8 details

   This is the long drive home, about 4 hours and 330 km, and the one day at the cap: there is no shorter way from Olympia to Athens, and breaking it with another night would take a night from the Mani. We keep it easy. We leave at 8:30 and take the motorway north to Patras, with a coffee stop near the Rio-Antirrio bridge, a cable-stayed crossing about 2.9 km long over the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth. Then the road runs east along the gulf shore, with the mountains of the mainland across the water. We stop for a sit-down lunch by the sea before the isthmus, then cross back over the Corinth Canal to Athens. We reach Athens International Airport at about 3:30 pm, or drop you in the centre if you are staying on. Your guide checks your flights before saying goodbye. If you want more of Greece, our mainland trip to Delphi and Meteora starts and ends in Athens too.

   Included

   • Coffee stop by the Rio-Antirrio bridge
   • Sit-down lunch on the Gulf of Corinth
   • Drop-off at Athens International Airport (ATH) or central Athens

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 6:30 pm. For an earlier flight, ask us: we can leave Olympia at 7 am and skip the lunch stop.

Wildlife and weather: April to June and September to October are warm and bright, with wildflowers on the Mani hillsides and in the ruins of Mystras and Monemvasia in spring, and a warm sea for swimming in Kardamyli and Nafplio in early autumn. July and August often pass 35 C and the south is at its busiest. Orthodox Easter fills Nafplio and Monemvasia with Greek visitors, and from November most sites keep shorter winter hours.

• Athens1 night
• Nafplio2 nights
• Monemvasia1 night
• Kardamyli2 nights
• Olympia1 night