Karathona is the nearest sandy beach to Nafplio, a long horseshoe of soft golden sand in a sheltered bay only three kilometres south of the town. With shallow, calm, clear water reaching far from the shore, palm and eucalyptus trees along the coast road, and full facilities of cafes, sunbeds, showers and free parking, it … Read more
Arvanitia is the swimming cove of Nafplio, a small beach of white pebbles tucked beneath the great rocks of Acronafplia and Palamidi, only a ten-minute walk from the old town. Its clear, deep water and dramatic setting make it the town’s favourite place to swim, and the paved Arvanitia promenade that leads to it, carved … Read more
The Komboloi museum in Nafplio is the only museum in the world devoted to worry beads, the komboloi that Greeks traditionally handle to relax and pass the time. Set in a two-storey house on the taverna street of Staikopoulou in the old town, it holds a collection of hundreds of old worry beads and prayer … Read more
For a small town, Nafplio has a remarkable range of museums, from the great Archaeological Museum on Syntagma Square to the award-winning folklore collection, the unique worry-bead museum and the war museum in the old military school. Between them they cover the prehistoric and Mycenaean Argolid, the traditional life and costume of the Peloponnese, the … Read more
Syntagma Square is the grand marble-paved heart of Nafplio’s old town, the finest square in the Peloponnese and the natural first stop for almost every visitor. Ringed by the buildings of Greece’s first capital, from the Venetian barracks that hold the Archaeological Museum to the old Ottoman mosque known as the Trianon and, close by, … Read more
The old town of Nafplio is the most beautiful historic quarter in Greece, a maze of marble-paved streets, Venetian and neoclassical houses, and squares gathered beneath the fortresses on a headland by the sea. As the first capital of the modern Greek state, it holds the buildings where the young nation took shape, from the … Read more
Acronafplia is the oldest of Nafplio’s three castles, a long fortified ridge rising directly above the old town between Palamidi and the sea. Occupied since the Bronze Age and rebuilt by Greeks, Franks, Venetians and Ottomans, its walls carry the marks of every people who held the town. Lower and older than the great fortress … Read more
Argos is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world, lived in for some seven thousand years, and a great power of the ancient Greek world. Only a short drive from Nafplio, it holds one of the largest ancient theatres in Greece, cut into the hillside and seating twenty thousand, along with Roman … Read more
Ancient Nemea was one of the four great sanctuaries of ancient Greece, where the Panhellenic Nemean Games were held in honour of Zeus. Set in a quiet upland valley among vineyards and a sacred grove of cypress trees, it holds the tall re-erected columns of the Temple of Zeus, a remarkably preserved ancient stadium reached … Read more
Nafplio sits on a fine natural harbour at the head of the Argolic Gulf, so the sea is one of its great pleasures. Boat trips range from the short crossing to the island castle of Bourtzi in the harbour to half-day and full-day sailing and catamaran cruises that reach secluded beaches and tiny islets for … Read more
Nemea is the largest and most celebrated red-wine region in Greece, set in the hills of the Argolid an hour from Nafplio. Its native Agiorgitiko grape makes deep, smooth reds that range from soft and fruity to powerful and long-lived, and its valleys have grown wine for well over a thousand years. With many wineries … Read more
Nafplio is one of the best towns in the Peloponnese for food, from fresh seafood by the marina to traditional tavernas in the marble old town and the finest Italian gelato in Greece. Its coastal position brings whole grilled fish and meze, its Argolid setting brings the red wine of Nemea and the olive oil … Read more