A Nafplio hiking tour takes you out of the old town on foot, along the Argolic Gulf or into the hills behind it. Find more walks and day trips across the country on Greece Tours.
This page covers the hikes you can book, the routes, the plants and animals on the path, the self-guided walks, what to pack and common questions.
What is a Nafplio hiking tour?
A Nafplio hiking tour is a guided walk on the footpaths around the old town of Nafplio, in Argolis. The bookable hikes follow the coast of the Argolic Gulf to a sandy beach, or loop through the hills behind a Byzantine monastery.
Nafplio sits on the Argolic Gulf in the north-east Peloponnese. Two fortresses rise over the town: Akronafplia on the low headland and Palamidi on the higher hill behind it. Paths run out from both, along the sea cliffs and up into the olive and pine slopes. A Nafplio hiking tour uses these paths with a local escort.
Two operators publish the routes in detail. Landlife Travel, a Nafplio agency, runs a coastal hike from the old city to a beach. Grecopaths runs a circular hike that starts at a monastery about 4 km from the town. Viator lists a third product under the plain name “Hiking Tour in Nafplio”.
Each Nafplio hiking tour keeps the town as its base. Walkers meet in Nafplio or are collected from a hotel there, and the day ends back in the old town. Plan the rest of your trip with our full Nafplio page, which covers the sights, beaches and day trips.
Which Nafplio hiking tour can you book?
You can book the coastal hike from Landlife Travel, the monastery hike from Grecopaths, or the “Hiking Tour in Nafplio” on Viator. Every Nafplio hiking tour on this list includes an English-speaking escort.
The coastal Nafplio hiking tour is sold on the Discover Greece booking site and on Landlife’s own site. The listing names a certified English-speaking hiking escort as the main inclusion. Pick-up comes from your hotel, the port or a set spot in Nafplio. Pick-up from outside the town is not included.
Discover Greece sets a minimum of 3 walkers for this coastal Nafplio hiking tour. Children join only with an adult. The booking is confirmed at the time you book. Landlife’s site states that bad weather alone does not stop the walk. If the operator cancels for weather, you choose a new date or a full refund.
Landlife’s cancellation terms run in three steps:
- Cancel 72 hours or more before the start for a full refund.
- Cancel between 71 and 49 hours before the start for a 50% refund.
- Cancel within 48 hours of the start and the booking is not refunded.
The Grecopaths monastery Nafplio hiking tour needs at least 2 walkers. Grecopaths quotes solo walkers on request and sets special terms for groups. An English-speaking tour escort leads the loop. Walkers who want a longer day can start on foot in Nafplio itself, which adds 5 km to the hike.
Which route does the coastal Nafplio hiking tour follow?
The coastal Nafplio hiking tour leaves the old city and follows the shore of the Argolic Gulf to a long sandy beach. On the way, it passes two small Orthodox chapels. The group rests at one of them for local snacks and an optional swim.
The walk starts in the old city, among the neoclassical houses of Nafplio. From there, the path stays close to the water. The sea of the Argolic Gulf lies on one side of the route, which is why Landlife calls it a scenic coastal hike.
Landlife does not name the beach in its listing. The best-known shore path out of Nafplio runs from Arvanitia, the town beach, to the sand of Karathona. It passes along the foot of the Palamidi rock. Our Karathona beach page covers the sand, the facilities and the ways back to town.
The local site Discover Nafplio measures the Arvanitia to Karathona path at about 2.7 km. Visit Nafplio gives about 2.5 km, from the large car park at Arvanitia. Both sites note that the path belongs to an area in the Natura network of protected sites.
Visit Nafplio counts four small chapels around Karathona beach. One more lies past the far end of the sand. A narrower, quieter path of 415 metres leads from Karathona to the chapel of St Nicholas, a spot for a picnic or a swim off the rocks.
The coastal Nafplio hiking tour ends where it began. After the beach stop, the group walks back towards Nafplio. A walker who prefers the shorter loop of the town beach can read our page on Arvanitia and its seafront promenade.
What grows and lives beside the Nafplio hiking tour path?
The coastal path holds rare plants that grow only in the Peloponnese, plus lizards, snakes and tortoises protected by the Berne Convention. A Nafplio hiking tour on this stretch passes slate, sandstone and marl rock that climbers use.
Discover Nafplio lists the plants by their Latin names. Campanula andrewsii, Erysimum corinthium and Stachys chrysantha grow along the path. Stachys swainsonii subsp. argolica is named after Argolis itself. Mediterranean macchia, the dense evergreen scrub of the region, grows along the route as well.
The reptile list is longer. It names the lizard Algyroides moreoticus, the Turkish gecko and the Peloponnese wall lizard, Podarcis peloponnesiaca. Two snakes, the Balkan whip snake and Dahl’s whip snake, appear on it, along with the javelin sand boa and a legless skink, Ophiomorus punctatissimus.
Three kinds of tortoise and turtle complete the list: the marginated tortoise, Hermann’s tortoise and the Balkan pond turtle, Mauremys rivulata. Every species on the list is protected under the Berne Convention, a European treaty on wildlife and natural habitats.
The rock tells its own story on a Nafplio hiking tour. The area belongs to a geological zone with slate, sandstone and marl. Climbers use marked routes on these cliffs, so walkers see them hanging on the rock above the path. Seagulls follow the shore along the walk.
What does the monastery loop on a Nafplio hiking tour show?
The monastery loop starts at a Byzantine convent of the Holy Virgin, about 4 km from Nafplio. It climbs past wild herbs, drops through orange and olive groves, rises to the church of Saint Marina and returns to the convent.
Grecopaths describes the convent as tied to the history of Nafplio for more than 850 years. Its Byzantine church was renovated in recent years. Parts of an older temple, thought to be a temple of Hera, are built into the church walls. Visit Nafplio names the convent as Agia Moni, in the village of Aria.
A spring still flows at the convent. Grecopaths notes that researchers link it with the ancient Kanathos. In Greek myth, the goddess Hera bathed in the Kanathos each year to renew her maidenhood. On this Nafplio hiking tour, walkers fill their water bottles at the spring before they set off.
The path then climbs uphill. The escort points out herbs that grow wild along the way. At the top, the walkers turn round for a first view back over the town of Nafplio. The route then heads downhill past farms of oranges and mandarins and across a field of olive trees.
A second climb leads to the church of Saint Marina. Here the group stops for a rest and a snack, looking out over the Argolic Gulf. The last stretch of the Nafplio hiking tour runs downhill to the convent, with a view over the castles, the old town, the coast and Argos.
Grecopaths gives the loop a height difference of 150 metres and rates it easy to medium. Argos, seen from the descent, is described by the operator as the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe. Mountain ranges close the view in the distance.
Which self-guided routes copy a Nafplio hiking tour?
Walkers without a guide can climb to Palamidi and return through the pine woods, take a hidden path from Pronia, or hike from Agia Moni to Tolo or Lefkakia. A Nafplio hiking tour adds an escort, but these routes are open to all.
The first loop climbs the stairs to Palamidi. Visit Nafplio suggests a return by the road through the pine forest east of the castle, then down 25 Martiou Street into the suburb of Pronia. The same loop also works in the opposite direction. The castle itself is covered on our Palamidi page.
Visit Nafplio calls a third way up to Palamidi the easiest. Find the street Parodos Praxitelous in Pronia and walk towards the hill. Stairs climb to the right at its end, and a small path continues where they stop. The path rises through the woods to the fortress.
A longer self-guided Nafplio hiking tour starts behind the wall of Agia Moni, where the road curves right. Paths head east and south from there, as far as Tolo or Lefkakia. Buses run back to Nafplio from both villages. A bus also runs to Aria for walkers who want to shorten the day.
Visit Nafplio also describes a round walk from town. It climbs 25 Martiou Street, with a halfway sign to the Karonis distillery museum, which offers guided visits. The road winds on to Agia Moni. White stairs above lead to a small chapel with a view of the tall chimney of Fougaro. Walkers stop there for drinks, food or art before the walk back to Nafplio.
Another path crosses the mountain between Aria and Lefkakia. In Aria, walk up past the highest house and the trail begins. Two hills named Profitis Ilias also have paths. The nearer one is signposted off Agiou Adrianou Street, past the army camp. The second stands near Asini, where stairs now replace the old boulders on the steep climb.
How do you prepare for a Nafplio hiking tour?
Wear hiking shoes and carry a backpack with water, a windbreaker, sunglasses and sunscreen. That is the kit Landlife lists for its coastal Nafplio hiking tour. Pack a swimsuit and towel too, because the route stops at a beach.
Landlife lists this kit under necessary equipment, not under tips. The hike runs on footpaths above the sea, so firm shoes with a good grip come first. The windbreaker covers the breeze off the gulf, and the sunglasses and sunscreen cover the open stretches along the shore.
Water is the main load on a Nafplio hiking tour. On the monastery loop, walkers fill their bottles at the spring at Agia Moni before the climb. Visit Nafplio advises water and a packed lunch for the longer walks outside the town, such as the castle above Mili.
The swim stop needs a swimsuit and a towel. The snacks at the chapel come from the escort, as part of the coastal Nafplio hiking tour. One walker’s review on the Landlife site mentions homemade spinach pie among them.
Which longer hikes lie beyond a Nafplio hiking tour?
Visit Nafplio lists longer walks across Argolis and beyond. They include Lake Doxa in the Feneos valley, the Inachos river path at Nea Kios, a Frankish castle above Mili and the hills of Giannovouni near Pyrgiotika.
The Feneos valley lies in Corinthia. Its lake, Lake Doxa, is artificial. Walkers circle the shore and climb to the Agios Georgios monastery, which dates from the 1600s. A small church on the lake, known as Paliomonastiri, stands on a narrow strip of land. Grecopaths runs guided trips there, and a car is needed otherwise.
At Nea Kios, a footpath follows the left bank of the Inachos river inland from the fishing boats. It loops back by the road between Nea Kios and Mili. Above Mili, gravel roads climb to a castle built by the Franks in the 13th century, with views up and down the coast.
Pyrgiotika lies about 7 km from Nafplio on the road to Epidaurus. Paths and gravel roads cross the low mountain of Giannovouni above it, through olive trees and wild flowers. A small church of St John Chrysostom stands on the slopes. These walks suit hikers who want more after a guided Nafplio hiking tour.
Which other active tours pair with a Nafplio hiking tour?
A Nafplio hiking tour pairs well with a sea kayak trip, an e-bike ride or a guided walk through the old town. Each one shows the same coast and hills at a different pace.
Landlife Travel, the operator of the coastal hike, also lists a sea kayak trip and a cycling tour in Nafplio. Our Nafplio sea kayak page covers the paddling routes under the castle walls. The Nafplio e-bike tour page covers the rides up to the hills.
For history rather than exercise, the Nafplio walking tour covers the squares, churches and Venetian walls of the old town. Book it for the day before your Nafplio hiking tour to learn the town before you leave it on foot.
What do travellers ask about a Nafplio hiking tour?
Is a Nafplio hiking tour suitable for children?
Yes, with an adult. The coastal Nafplio hiking tour accepts children only when an adult goes with them. The monastery loop has a height difference of 150 metres and an easy to medium rating. Grecopaths sets separate terms for children up to 12 years old.
Does a Nafplio hiking tour run in bad weather?
Yes. Landlife states that the weather does not stop the coastal hike. When the operator does cancel for unsafe weather, the walker picks a new date or takes a full refund.
Can you swim on a Nafplio hiking tour?
Yes. The coastal route stops at a long sandy beach with clear water, and walkers who want to swim take a dip there before the walk back. The monastery loop has no swim stop.
How far from Nafplio does the monastery hike start?
The monastery hike starts about 4 km from Nafplio, at the convent of Agia Moni in Aria. Walkers who start on foot in Nafplio add 5 km to the day.