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17 May 2023 - Day Trip to Epidaurus, Greece
Epidaurus is best known for it’s ancient theatre that dates back to 320 BC. The theatre could seat 14,000 people and has excellent acoustics. Epidaurus is a large site and also has a stadium and the remains of the medical and spa facilities it was renowned for.
Epidaurus is only a half hour drive from Nafplio and we arrived there at 08.30. We went to the theatre first and there were only 2 other people there. Unfortunately the tranquility was ruined by someone noisily strimming the grass. We spent half an hour there appreciating the theatre.
As we left the theatre at 09.15 we saw the first tour group and by the time we got to the rest of the site there were several more groups! Unfortunately most of the buildings in the rest of the site were just ruins and we weren’t that impressed by them.
Before leaving Epidaurus we returned to the theatre and now there were lots of tourists. Each group demonstrated the incredible acoustics by clapping and dropping stones in the middle of the stage.
See my blog "Epidaurus, Greece: Travel Guide" for more information on visiting Epidaurus.
Afterwards we drove to the coastal village of Palea Epidhavros to visit the Ancient Theatre of Epidhavros. However, we couldn’t find it, even with the aid of Google maps and road signs. It seems that it is closed. The coastal village was very pleasant though.
We returned to our apartment for lunch and had a restful afternoon in Nafplio.
18 May 2023 - Nafplio to Monemvasia, Greece
The 18th May is International Museums Day in Greece and there is free admission to both museums and archaeological sites. We had therefore decided to visit 3 archaeological sites on the way from Nafplio to Monemvasia. This would save us Eur 48 in entrance fees.
The first site was the Palamidi fortress above Nafplio which was mainly built by the Venetians in the early 18th century. It was a 15 minute drive from our apartment, but it would have taken a lot longer if we had climbed up the 900 steps to it!
We spent about an hour and a quarter wandering around the fortress in warm and sunny weather. There are excellent views of Nafplio and the coast. There were very few people in the upper fortress and although the lower fortress was busier it didn’t spoil our visit.
See my blog Nafplio, Greece to the Peloponnese - Week 5 for further information.
The second site was Tiryns which isn’t very well known and isn't visited by groups. The fortress is over 3,000 years old and inside are the remains of the settlement and a palace. The main feature of the site are the impressive remains of the huge fortress walls. It only took about half an hour to see the site.
See my blog "Tiryns, Greece: Travel Guide" for further information about visiting Tiryns.
The third site was Mycenae which is about 3,500 years old. Unfortunately it is very well known and visited by tour groups. There is usually an entrance fee of Eur 12 and we wouldn’t have visited if it hadn’t been free, as there isn’t enough to see to justify the entrance fee.
We arrived there at 12.15 and I hoped that a lot of groups would have left the site to have lunch. Some coaches had left, or were leaving, but there were still a great number of coaches in the car park. We could see tourists snaking up the hilly archeological site. Not my idea of fun, but luckily it was free!
We mainly wanted to see the huge walls of the fortress and the famous Lion Gate. Initially there were just too many people in front of the Lion Gate to be able to appreciate it, but fortunately the groups left after a while.
For further information about visiting Mycenae see my blog "Mycenae, Greece: Travel Guide".
We spent about an hour at the site. The highlights for me were actually off the main path. There were great views of the fortress walls to the right of Lion Gate and no one else was there. Just below the walls were 2 large and impressive tombs and again we were the only people visiting them.
Whilst we were driving to Monemvasia the engine malfunction light lit up on the dashboard. This had happened 9 months ago, whilst we were in Ireland, and we had been very concerned. After a few days the light had disappeared and it hadn’t lit up again until now. I checked the oil and as the engine seemed fine we decided to continue and hope for the best.
We arrived at Monemvasia at 16.30 and were pleased with the apartment that we had booked. It was compact, but had everything we needed and the hostess had left us oranges, eggs, cake and jam. See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 1" for further information on the apartment.
19 May 2023 - Monemvasia, Greece
We had a leisurely start and only left our apartment at 11.00 for the short walk to old Monemvasia. It is on a small island and is now connected to the mainland by a causeway. It was founded in the 6th century, but most of the buildings date from the 11th century onwards.
We were pleased to find that there weren’t many tourists, or large groups, wandering around the Monemvasia's old lower town. It was very pleasant wandering around the picturesque old streets and walls. The weather was sunny and the sea views were excellent as a result.
After wandering around Monemvasia's lower town for an hour we started the climb up to the upper town and the citadel. There is an impressive entrance gate and tunnel between the lower and upper towns.
Most of the population used to live in Monemvasia's upper town, but now the majority of the houses are in ruins. The main surviving buildings are the impressive Church of Hagia Sophia, which was built in the 12th century, and the Citadel. We had a picnic lunch at the Citadel and returned back to our apartment at 14.30.
See my blog "Monemvasia, Greece: Travel Guide" for further information on visiting Monemvasia.
We wanted to have a cheap dinner so we went to a restaurant that served gyros and souvlaki. I had a gyros, which is a pitta bread stuffed with slivers of chicken, salad and french fries. Lani had the souvlaki, which turned out to be the same, except there were chunks of chicken instead of slivers of chicken!
They both cost Eur 3.50 each, but we made the mistake of also ordering one Greek salad for Eur 8 and we struggled to finish it.
20 May 2021 - Monemvasia to Koroni, Greece
Our accommodation for the next 6 nights is a 3 bedroom house in Koroni. It’s only a 3 hour drive from Monemvasia to Koroni, but we wanted to go via the site of Mystra. Mystra is an abandoned Byzantine town dating back to 1249 and is fairly well preserved.
We left Monemvasia at 09.00 so we could reach Koroni at a reasonable time. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive to Mystra and we parked at the entrance to the lower section of Mystra.
Mystra is on a steep hill with a lower town, upper town and a fortress at the top. This meant that we had a steep climb up to the fortress, but coming down would be easy. The alternative was to park at the entrance of Mystra's upper town, but we thought most groups would do this.
We thoroughly explored Mystra in 3 hours. The houses and fortress of Mystra are in ruins, but there are several churches and a palace that are intact and in good condition. There were a few tour groups but we managed to avoid them. See my blog "Mystras, Greece: Travel Guide" for further information about visiting Mystras.
We were disappointed to find that the massive Depot’s Palace was closed for restoration. When I consulted my 2004 edition of the Rough Guide it stated that it was closed for restoration “that looks set to continue for a number of years ahead”. I am sure they didn’t think it would take over 19 years to restore it!
There are 2 routes from Mystra to Koroni. The old way is over the Langadha pass, but a new toll highway has been built which is longer in distance but shorter in time. I wanted to drive over the scenic Langadha pass and selected that route on Google maps.
Unfortunately something went wrong and we ended up on the new highway. It was probably for the best as the engine malfunction light was still lit up on the dashboard and driving over the pass would have put the engine under more strain. We were also delighted to find that there were no toll charges because of the national elections.
We stopped off at a Lidl’s on the way to stock up on groceries and reached the house at 16.30. It is a very nice 2 bedroom modern house set in olive trees and with good sea views. Just after we had unpacked it began to rain and the wind gusted strongly the whole evening.
See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 1" for further information about the house.
21 May 2023 - Rest day in Koroni, Greece
Today was a rest day and we wanted to enjoy the setting of the house. The house is in an olive grove and on a hill overlooking the sea and the Mani peninsula.
We woke up to sunshine, which was a surprise as the weather forecast predicted rain for most of the day. We had breakfast on the balcony and by mid morning had to move to a shaded area as it was too hot in the sun. I took advantage of the hosepipe at the house to wash a month of dirt off the car!
The weather changed for the worse in the early afternoon and we spent the rest of the day inside relaxing.
22 May 2023 - Koroni, Greece
It was meant to rain again this morning, but it was actually partially sunny when we woke up. We decided to look around the nearby town of Koroni in the morning as the revised forecast was for rain in the afternoon.
The buildings of Koroni mainly date back to the period 1206 to 1500 when the Venetians occupied the town and used it as a fleet supply base. There is a fortress on the hill above the town and we started our visit by wandering around it.
The interior of the fortress now contains several buildings including the nunnery of Timiou Prodhromou. We particularly liked the small church of Saint Sophia that dates back to the 8th century.
We then walked down to the town of Koroni and wandered along the seafront. We were hoping to have an early lunch in one of the seafront restaurants, but decided not to as none of them displayed their prices. The main shopping street is one block inland from the seafront and we wandered along there looking for restaurants and bakeries.
In the end we decided to go back to the house for lunch and on the way back bought a big bag of about 40 oranges for Eur 6.20. Our house has a juicer and we love fresh orange juice!
23 May 2023 - Day Trip to Methoni and Pylos
We woke up to nice sunny weather and the forecast for the rest of the day was good. After a leisurely breakfast on the balcony we drove to Methoni, which is about a 40 minute drive west from Koroni.
Methoni has a very impressive fort dating back to the 13th century and we stopped there first. My old edition of the Rough Guide stated that it was open every day, but to our disappointment we found it is now closed on a Tuesday.
Luckily Methoni's fort is very impressive from the outside and it is possible to walk around about three quarters of the fort. We did manage to peer inside through the gate and the exterior does appear to be much better than the interior.
Afterwards we drove a short distance north to the town of Pylos. We found a parking at the harbour and it was free, like many of the car parks that we have used so far in Greece.
A nice waitress persuaded us to eat at a waterfront restaurant and as they didn’t have calamari I joined Lani in ordering chicken souvlaki and fried potato. Both the setting and food were very nice.
Afterwards we walked to the fort, but we found it was also closed on a Tuesday like at Methoni. We drove a bit further up the coast and then went back to Koroni on the inland route over the mountains. Initially the road was good but it soon became narrow and had many potholes. The scenery was nice but after a while the weather changed and it rained heavily.
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