Nafplio

This picturesque town was briefly the capital of Greece after its liberation from the Turks. In the central square is the Archaeological Museum which is well worth a visit. There are also still two mosques from the Turkish era. They are in use as exhibition space.
The highlight is the Palamidi, the largest fortress complex in Greece. You can reach the Palamidi in two ways: on foot and by car. If you want to climb the nearly 1,000 steps, it is best to do it in the morning. It’s not so hot then. The old town has nice stores, restaurants and a number of museums. Also take time to visit the Akronafplio with its clock tower.
In the bay on which Nafplio lies you can see the Bourtzi. This is a fortress located at the entrance to the port and used to defend the entrance to the port. One can be taken there by boat.
If you look at the Bourtzi from the quay, you will see the castle of Argos in the background.
Nafplio has a market every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Stores are also open on Tuesday-Thursday and Friday evenings.

ARGOS

If you drive from Nafplio toward Argos, first halfway on the right you will see the ancient Cyclopes wall of the castle of Tiryns. You can visit these.
Argos is a pleasant shopping town. There is a large market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The antique theater has recently been hosting performances in the summer and is otherwise free to visit. Just outside Argos is the fortress of Larissa. The way up is beautiful as is the view once you reach the top.

MYCENE
From Argos heading north, it is another 12 kilometers to the famous Mycenae, after which an entire era (1700-1100 BC) was named. This walled palace complex, excavated in 1874 by Heinrich Schlieman, belonged to the legendary King Agamemnon, commander of the army in the war against Troy. The lion gate forms the entrance to the complex. This very crowded excavation has recently been made more accessible by a concrete path so that even people with mobility problems can reach the top. Beyond the palace at the top, it is a lot quieter and is definitely still worth a visit. Outside the walls you will find the royal tombs. The Treasury of Atreus, where Agamemnon’s death mask was found, is a few minutes’ walk from the complex. There is also a parking lot and ticket booth here. The ticket is for both sites. In the museum you will find a lot of information about the excavations and also, among other things, an original copy of the famous death mask.

MONEMVASIA

We can imagine that you want to visit Monemvasia, the rock very reminiscent of Gibraltar. It’s a long trek to get there, but you certainly won’t regret it. In high season, you cannot park your car in the parking lot in front of the entrance gate, but in a special parking lot and will have to walk the last ten minutes. You will see this mysterious rock getting closer and closer. In this birthplace of the poet Yannis Ritsos (in front of his birth house is his bust, immediately after the entrance gate turn left), all transportation takes place with horses and donkeys. Monemvasia consists of a lower town and an upper town and you can certainly spend a day here. The lower town consists of narrow streets with many tourist shops. Sports enthusiasts will probably want to make the climb to the upper town to visit the Agia Sofia and enjoy the view of the lower town, the coastline and the Myrtoan sea.

Kalavryta

Kalavryta is a very special village. On December 13, 1943, the entire male population aged 13 and older was executed here by the Germans. The church clock still stands still at the time of this horrific event. A museum is dedicated to this event in the school where the entire population was herded together and where the men and boys were separated from the women. It is a beautiful and understated museum that clearly depicts the events of this episode in history.

You can walk to the execution site just outside the village, where a monument has been erected with the names of all those who perished and where you will see the words “peace” and “never again war” written in the grass. In a little chapel, candles burn for all the dead.
Kalavryta can be reached in several ways. You can get there by car, of course. You drive to Corinth and take the highway towards Patras. After about an hour’s drive, take the turnoff to Kalavryta. When you choose this mode of travel, you can also travel 8 km. Before Kalavryta, visit the monastery Mega Spileo. This monastery played an important role during the Greek freedom struggle against the Turks in the 1920s. The monastery is carved into a huge rock. After your visit to Kalavryta, you can walk 13 km. drive on to the “caves of the 13 lakes. These subterranean lakes were only discovered in 1964 and a visit is very impressive. Once you have visited the caves, you can drive back over the mountains via Nemea to Epidavros.
Another very special way to visit Kalavryta is by cogwheel railway. This little train leaves from Diakofto. You take the Kalavryta exit from the highway, then continue for a few kilometers to the station in Diakofto. In high season, it is wise to book the seats in advance, as it is only a small train, leaving only a few times a day, but many tourists choose this trip. And rightly so, because the drive through the mountains is more than worth it. The outward journey takes 1 hour and 20 minutes, the return journey slightly shorter. You can buy train tickets at any station. A one-way ticket costs 9.50.

KORINTHE

On your way to Epidavros, you have already crossed the Corinthian Canal and perhaps even got out to walk back and forth across the pedestrian bridges.
The modern town of Corinth is 4 kilometers beyond the canal. When driving there from Epidavros, turn left onto the highway and after 4 kilometers take the Korinthos exit. It is a nice town for shopping and has a pleasant promenade with many places to eat.

For Antique Corinth from the Channel, take the highway towards Patras and then the second exit towards Antique Corinth. After this, follow the signs. You can choose to visit Akrokorinth on the mountain first. From this mountain, which can be seen from afar, you have a fantastic view of the surrounding area and is well worth a visit.
The excavation in the plain is also worthwhile. The huge columns are remnants of the famous Apollo temple. You will see the spot where the apostle Paul addressed the Corinthians and walk along the Lechaion road that used to lead to the port. Corinth in ancient times was a famous port city with two harbors, one on the Gulf of Corinth and one on the Saronic Gulf. The museum contains many objects, of which the mosaic of Bacchus is very special. You will also see a lot of pottery, for which Corinth was famous. All in all, you get a good idea of the size this city was in ancient times.

Spetses

Spetses is an island belonging to the group of Argosaronic islands. It is located on the border of the Gulf of Nafplio, which used to belong to Argos, and the Saronic Gulf. It has 4000 inhabitants, but in summer a lot more due to the many tourists, especially Athenians, who spend their vacations here. It is a green island with good infrastructure and some quiet beaches. One can get to Spetses in two ways. There is a boat connection to Piraeus via Hydra and there is a ferry from Kostas, the coastal town on the coast of the Peloponnese. One cannot get there by car; using a car on Spetses requires a permit. However, mopeds and scooters are available. In ancient times, Spetses was called Pityousa (pine-covered) and people lived there as early as 2500 B.C., as evidenced by archaeological findings. Spetses became an important island during the 17th century, when a naval force began to develop. The island played an important role during the freedom struggle against the Turks in 1821. The cannons are still displayed at the harbor, where one arrives by boat. The streets are decorated with black and white pebbles in shipping motifs. The neighborhood on the harbor is called Dapia. In the central square behind the port you will find the house of Bouboulina (1771-1825), the famous freedom fighter. She was the daughter of a captain from Hydra, but the latter married a woman from Spetses in 1778. Bouboulina married a wealthy sailor, but her husband died in 1798 in a battle with pirates and Bouboulina inherited his fortune. She remarried Bouboulis, but he also died early, leaving her a large number of ships. When the freedom struggle against the Turks began in 1821, she participated in it as admiral on her ship the Agamemnon. Heavily armed and in costume, she fired at her men during the siege of Nafplio and, according to tradition, performed many heroic deeds. Her fondness for masculinity was widely known and she had relations with many freedom fighters, it is said that she also had relations with the famous resistance hero Kolokotronis, who was imprisoned in Nafplio. In !825, she was killed by a pistol shot. Not in battle against the Turks, but probably fired by someone from the Koutsis family, with whom she had a feud. Her son was said to have seduced a Koutsis daughter, and of course that was not acceptable in those days. Her remains are kept in the museum, once the home of the shipowner Mexis. There are also some documents from the War of Liberty. It gives an impression of life in the 19th century. The wealth of Spetses is also due to the Greek Sotiros Anargyros. He had become rich in the USA, but used his wealth to give Spetses some allure. He built a luxury hotel there and an English school for rich people’s sons. The school is still there, but is abandoned. A statue of Anargyros stands in front of his house in the square behind the harbor. On Sept. 7 and 8, there is a festival on Spetses. Popping fireworks commemorate the expulsion of the Turks in 1822. The old port can be found to the left along the coastal road. If you walk to the right along the coastal road you will reach the English school after about fifteen minutes. Spetses is a green island and one can take a bus around the island for further exploration.

Hydra

You can reach this unique island in several ways: via Poros, Ermioni and Spetses. It is forbidden to motorized traffic; everything is still done by horses and donkeys. Many artists live on the island and it is home to an art school department and a merchant marine school. Hydra played an important role in the freedom struggle against the Turks and once had an important trading function. Around the town you will see a rather barren landscape. If you like hiking, you can visit the monastery located at an altitude of 500 meters and possibly climb even further to the highest point on the island.

Methana

Methana is a peninsula between Epidavros and Poros. It is a volcanic island and that is visible everywhere on the island. Thirty-two volcanic estuaries have been traced. The last eruption was in 230 B.C. and the crater can be seen, when clambering up a narrow footpath to the northwest just past the village of Kameni Chora (burnt place). Before reaching the crater, one passes through a lava landscape with several views of the sea towards Angistri, Aegina and Poros. Arriving at the crater, one also has a fantastic view and on a clear day one can see Epidavros across the water. The crater itself has a diameter of 100 meters and is 25 meters deep. The lava flow, which is 1.25 km. was long, moved the shoreline 500 meters.
Approaching the town of Methana, one sees on the left a neoclassical building with a sulfur lake, Vromolimni, in front of it. Here are medicinal baths, where many Greeks come to take cures. The sulfur baths are known for their medicinal properties. They are good for dermatological, rheumatological and neurological problems. The hot springs have been known since ancient times and indicate that there is still volcanic activity deep underground. They were first described by Thucydides, but later by others, such as Ovid. The latter describes an earthquake, which would have taken place before the volcanic eruption.
Methana has been inhabited since Aegean times (3200-1700 B.C.), which is known from excavations on the island. Although this oldest, sporadic habitation dates to the Aegean period, expansion of settlements did not occur until much later, that is, until the Archaic (7th and 6th centuries B.C.) and Classical periods, i.e., the time of Thucydides (5th and 4th centuries B.C.). These excavations took place in the 1980s and were sponsored by the English School of Athens and the University of Liverpool. During these excavations, numerous shards of tableware (pots and plates) were found, as well as stone tools and glass. From later times the coins, which have been found, are because of bronze. The oldest coins show an effigy of Hephaistos. Hephaistos means volcano and he was the blacksmith of the Olympic gods. Inscriptions have also been found, the oldest dating back to the Archaic period. These inscriptions teach us much about the history of Methana, as they do for all of Greece. In the museum at the excavation in Epidavros, there is an inscription on stone about the boundary marking Epidavros and Arsinoe (Methana). Terracing, which you see everywhere here, also dates back to those classical times and served to hold water. Important sites were Vathi and Palaiokastro, but remains of walls of a fort have also been found on Isthmos, probably to defend the peninsula. Throughout the island are 27 churches, some built on foundations of older churches, some even from the early Christian period (Agios Nikolaos on the north coast), others from the Byzantine period. Unfortunately, most of them have been plastered, both inside and out, leaving little to be seen of the building material used and the frescoes inside the little churches (Agios Dimitrios). The little churches are always dedicated to a saint and usually a service takes place only on the day of the particular saint (Agios Nikolaos Dec. 6).

Poros and the Devil’s Bridge

On the way from Epidavros towards Poros, you can visit several more interesting places. There are two ways to get to Poros. You can take the road through the interior of Argolida. It passes through the villages of Koliaki and Traxia, known for their cheese production. Or you can take the coastal road that has been there for several years, which shortens the distance to Poros by half an hour. If you have been driving along the coast for some time, you will pass the turnoff to Methana. See further on this under the heading “Methana. You will continue along the coastal road towards Poros. A few kilometers further on, you can still take the exit to Trizina. In the center, you will see a sign directing you to the so-called “Devil’s Bridge,” a natural rock bridge over a narrow gorge. You can walk down along the gorge on a here and there slippery path. Water flows summer and winter, but you can still walk a long way on the rocky bottom in spring. It is a beautiful piece of nature. On the way to the bridge, you can turn off to the excavation of ancient Troizen, but today called Trizina. This is the birthplace of the legendary hero Theseus and background of the myth about Hippolytus and Phaedra, wife of Theseus. Tenstotte you will arrive in Galatas where you can take a cab boat across to Poros in a few minutes. You will then enter the village of the same name, which is built against a hill and has many stepped streets. At the highest point is a bell tower. It is a very picturesque village.
If you want to explore the island with your car, take the ferry. It goes every half hour and takes you across in 10 minutes. On the island there is a monastery on a hill, from which you have a beautiful view. In the middle of the island are the remains of a temple dedicated to Poseidon.

Olympia

If you decide to visit Olympia from Epidavros, you would do well to leave early. You will then have enough time on site for both the excavation and the museum. You can then occasionally get out in a nice village such as Dimitsana. That makes the trip itself fun. You will drive through beautiful scenery.
Olympia especially captures the imagination of young people, as this is the birthplace of the Olympic Games. The oldest games were held in 776 B.C. and were held in honor of Zeus. There was a temple where Zeus was worshipped and the columns of this Zeus temple lie on the ground like dominoes. The overall excavation is large and beautiful and shows a lot. Similarly, you can see the temple of Hera, the wife of Zeus, with the altar in front of it where sacrifices used to be made. The Olympic fire is still lit at this site every two years, both for the summer and winter games. In addition to various remains of buildings from ancient times, the stage is also preserved. You will walk through the same entrance where athletes used to enter the stadium.
The museum is also well worth a visit. Because Olympia has been under a thick layer of slip for centuries, many statues have been beautifully preserved. You can admire these in the museum.
Between the excavation and the village of Olympia is another museum. This museum is entirely devoted to the ancient games. There is also a museum of the modern Olympic Games from 1896 to the present.