Our last stop on the Peloponnese Road Trip was in the majestic town of Delphi. Situated in the mountains the views are stunning and well worth a trip. Oh, in case you had any doubt, the gyros are awesome!
Peloponnese Road Trip – Delphi
Peloponnese Road Trip – Olympia
Olympia is one of those ‘bucket list’ destination sites that you need to visit at least once. It was incredible to see the history and the grandeur in this wonderful location.
Although I have to admit it reminded me of Downtown Disney with the restaurants and stores coupled with a number of first class Museums and the ancient grounds where the Olympics first started.
Peloponnese Road Trip – Lake Kaiafas
We left Methoni Castle and headed North up the coast to Lake Kaiafas to stay at this little family owned hotel. We booked 4 nights as an opportunity to use it as a base of operations which in hindsight was a mistake. Why you ask? read on …
Peloponnese Road Trip – The Palace of Nestor
The little village of Marathopoli on the west coast is a great spot for day trips around the countryside. It is a popular tourist area with little cafes, restaurants, a grocery store and two bakeries. We went to the Palace of Nestor, the Archaeological Museum of Chora and then drove down to the Voidokilia beach all in a day.
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Peloponnese Road Trip – Ancient Messene
We left Nafplio and headed to the coast where we stayed in a little town called Marathopoli. One of our first adventures was to the city of Ancient Messene about 60 km North of Kalamata. Ancient Messene was built on the ruins of Ithome around 369BC.
Peloponnese Road Trip – Mycenae
A major centre of Greek Civilization from 2000 BC to 1100 BC the city of Mycenae was home to 30,000 people and likely the seat of power of Agamemnon. We drove from Nafplio as a day trip.
Peloponnese Road Trip – Nafplio
We wanted to do a road trip and also see a couple of islands. After doing an assessment of our time available (based on reservations in South Africa – our next destination) we chose to concentrate on the road tirip to the Peloponnese. The first leg was from Athens, through Corinth, to Nafplio. We actually stayed in a small town called Drepano which is along the Agean Sea.
The Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is a beautiful site to visit and explore the rich history of Ancient Greece. The signage was fairly good so no need to hire a guide but it would be worthwhile to brush up on your history so you have a better idea of what you are looking at. The entrance was 20 Euros per adult and free for the kids. It was worth a one day visit on top of our touring around Athens.
Our First Days in Athens
As the last days of our time in Nicaragua faded we were looking at options on where to go next. I had seen enough of South and Central America that I wanted to see something different. We were thinking Spain or Portugal as they are generally cheap destinations – budget travel, remember? Our family meeting ended with general agreement to go to Greece (although one voted to go home – take a guess!) and what a smart decision it was! The only funny part was the cheapest airfare to get there was routing through Toronto so we spent three days in rainy/cold Toronto to replenish some necessities, meet up with my brother Don, and get ready for a long flight to Greece.
