Nafplio transfers are private car, minivan and taxi rides that collect travellers at Athens Airport, a hotel in Athens, Piraeus port or the cruise quay of Nafplio and drive them to Nafplio and the Argolid, or back. Bookable routes also run to Tolo, Porto Heli, Ermioni, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Patras and Igoumenitsa. Greece Tours lists the transfers that start in Greece.
This page covers the pickup points, each route, journey times, the Corinth Canal stop, vehicles, booking and the tours from Athens that include the transfer, with links to the rest of Nafplio. The transfers below are checked on GetYourGuide and Viator.
What are Nafplio transfers?
Nafplio transfers are rides booked in advance by private car, minivan, taxi or shared shuttle that collect you at an airport, port, station or hotel and set you down at your door in Nafplio, or carry you from Nafplio to your next stop in Greece.
Nafplio is the capital of Argolis, on the Argolic Gulf in the north-east Peloponnese, and it has had no passenger trains since the Corinth–Argos–Nafplio service was suspended in 2011. A Nafplio transfer therefore links the town by road with Athens, its airport and the ports, with one driver for the whole journey.
Firms based in Nafplio and the wider Argolida area run the service: one local company has carried travellers since 1992 with English-speaking drivers, and a licensed operator runs taxis, minivans and minibuses to and from Nafplio, Athens Airport, and ports and stations across Greece.
A Nafplio transfer suits travellers who want one vehicle from arrival to hotel: families with pushchairs, groups with extra luggage and golfers with their bags. It also suits weekend visitors from Athens, because Nafplio draws visitors all year round and ranks as the top choice for weekend and one-day trips.
Where do Nafplio transfers pick up and drop off?
Nafplio transfers pick up and drop off at hotel doors in the old town, at the port, and at hotels in nearby Tolo, Kandia, Drepano and Argos, so one booking covers the town itself, the coast and the fertile plain around it.
In Nafplio’s old town, which sits largely on a peninsula in the Argolic Gulf, a Nafplio transfer meets you at your hotel. The streets are narrow and not built for cars, yet the driver still brings you to the door and deals with the parking.
Inside Nafplio, the town centre and the Palamidi fortress appear as separate pickup points on booking lists, and drivers meet cruise passengers at the port. Beyond the town, Nafplio transfers collect from these places for airport runs, port runs and daily rides:
- Tolo: pickups at the beach and in the village centre
- Kandia (Candia): named with Nafplio and Tolo on private rides to Athens, Piraeus and Athens Airport
- Drepano: a place in Argolis, 13 km from Nafplio
- Argos: 12 km from Nafplio, with pickups in the town centre and at Larisa Castle
Short Nafplio transfers between these points belong to the same service: a Nafplio-based firm lists daily transport, beaches, monasteries and archaeological sites beside its airport and port runs, so it also covers a ride from a Tolo or Drepano hotel into town.
Which Nafplio transfers run from Athens Airport?
Nafplio transfers from Athens International Airport are private rides that collect you at arrivals and cover about 165 km by motorway to your hotel door, and the same rides run in reverse for flyers leaving from Nafplio, Tolo and the villages around the town.
Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH) is the largest international airport in Greece, about 20 km east of central Athens and 30 km by road. The Attiki Odos toll motorway serves it directly, so a Nafplio transfer skirts the city on its outer ring instead of crossing the centre.
The road runs west out of Attica, across the Isthmus of Corinth and south into the Argolid. The motorway bridge carries traffic about 45 metres above the Corinth Canal, the cut that divides the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, and the route has four stages:
- Attiki Odos: from the airport west to Eleusis
- Olympia Odos: from Eleusis along the Gulf of Corinth and over the canal
- Moreas motorway: the A7, branching off just west of the Isthmus towards Tripoli
- Local road: past Mycenae and Argos into Nafplio
These Nafplio transfers suit travellers who land with luggage or children and want a driver waiting at arrivals. Local firms also run airport rides to Tolo, Epidaurus, Porto Heli, Ermioni and Kosta; for the other routes from the terminal, see our page on Athens airport transfers.
Which Nafplio transfers run from Athens city and Piraeus?
Nafplio transfers from Athens city collect you at central hotels and cover about 140 km to Nafplio, while rides from Piraeus meet ferry and cruise passengers at the port, and both routes also run in reverse for guests leaving Nafplio at the end of a stay.
In central Athens, a Nafplio transfer starts at the hotel door. Booking lists name the city centre and hotels such as the Grande Bretagne, the Hilton and the Intercontinental as pickup points, and taxi firms from Nafplio run the Athens route in both directions.
Piraeus, the main harbour of Athens, moves more ferry passengers than any other port in Europe, with ships to the Saronic islands, the Cyclades, Crete, the North Aegean and the Dodecanese. A Nafplio transfer from the quay takes island travellers straight to the Peloponnese; for the trip into the capital, see Piraeus to Athens.
Nafplio transfers from Piraeus suit cruise passengers too: about a third of cruise sailings at Piraeus are home-ported there, so guests begin or end the voyage at one of its three cruise terminals. Listed private rides also connect Nafplio, Piraeus and Athens Airport, for travellers who arrive by sea and leave by air.
Which Nafplio transfers serve cruise passengers at Nafplio port?
Nafplio transfers for cruise passengers start on the quay at Nafplio port and run either one way to Athens city hotels for guests leaving the ship, or as private shore trips to Epidaurus and other sites that finish back at the port.
Nafplio port lies in the naturally protected bay that the old town peninsula forms, with man-made moles added. Its limited depth keeps commercial traffic to bulk cargo, yet it receives a large number of leisure ships in the tourist season, and a Nafplio transfer for their passengers starts at the cruise port.
Guests who leave their cruise at Nafplio book a one-way private ride from the cruise port to Athens city hotels. Nafplio-based firms list ports beside airports among their standard pickups, so a passenger heading for a flight books the run to Athens International Airport from the quay in the same way.
Passengers who stay with the ship use the same port pickup for private shore tours to Ancient Epidaurus with an olive oil visit, to the castle town of Monemvasia, or out on a half-day boat trip with a swim. These Nafplio transfers suit cruise guests who want a driver booked before the ship arrives.
Which Nafplio transfers run to Tolo, Porto Heli and Ermioni?
Nafplio transfers run to the resort village of Tolo, 13 km from town, to Porto Heli, 40 km away, and to Ermioni, 44 km away, and they also reach Kosta, the seaside settlement facing Spetses, where the boats to the island leave.
Tolo is a village in the Asini municipal unit of Argolis that grew into a summer resort from the middle of the 20th century. Its hotels belong to the same Nafplio transfer network, and firms run direct rides to Tolo from Athens and from Athens Airport.
Porto Heli is a summer resort town in Ermionida, on a bay of the Argolic Gulf, with ferries to Spetses, Hydra, Poros, Ermioni and Piraeus. Ermioni is a small port town facing Hydra and Dokos, with its own ferry to Piraeus. Local firms run direct rides from Nafplio to both.
Kosta sits at the western end of Ermionida, directly opposite Spetses. Its small harbour sends caiques, water taxis and a scheduled ferry to the island, with more sailings in summer than in winter. Private cars are not allowed in Spetses town, so a Nafplio transfer to Kosta ends at the boats; for the island itself, see Spetses.
Which Nafplio transfers stop at Mycenae and Epidaurus?
Nafplio transfers from Athens stop at Mycenae on request, since the site lies directly on the road to Nafplio, and local drivers run shared or private rides from Nafplio to Mycenae and Epidaurus, plus evening rides to the Epidaurus theatre with pickup after the show.
Mycenae is an archaeological site near Mykines, 11 km north of Argos and about 120 km south-west of Athens. A Nafplio transfer from Athens adds a stop of 1 to 1.5 hours there, long enough for the Lion Gate, the royal tombs and the museum, before the last 24 km into Nafplio.
From Nafplio itself, the trip to both sites is a transfer in its own right. Listed options include a shared transfer to Mycenae and Epidaurus, a private transfer with a guide at both sites, and private rides to Mycenae alone, so travellers choose between a shared seat and a car to themselves.
The ancient theatre at Epidaurus seats up to 14,000 people and still stages classical Greek drama in summer. An evening Nafplio transfer takes theatregoers to the performance and collects them after the show, and firms also run direct rides from Athens and its airport to Epidaurus.
Which Nafplio transfers run to Patras, Olympia and Kalamata?
Nafplio transfers connect with Patras through a private door-to-door transfer sold on Viator, Ancient Olympia through a private transfer run by Landlife Travel, and Kalamata Airport (KLX) through private cars booked online or licensed taxis requested in the Uber app.
This Nafplio transfer from Patras is a private one-way ride with pickup at your hotel, accommodation or the airport and bottled water on board. Patras is the third-largest city in Greece, and its port has daily sailings to Ancona, Bari, Brindisi, Trieste and Venice. For rides to and from the ferry terminal, see our Patras port transfers.
Landlife Travel, with an office in Argos, drives the Nafplio transfer to Olympia one way or as a round trip, seven days a week, for 1 to 19 passengers. An English-speaking driver collects you from your hotel in Nafplio, and the round trip includes a 2 to 3 hour stop at the archaeological site of Ancient Olympia. Entrance fees and a licensed guide cost extra.
Kalamata International Airport sits between Kalamata and Messini, takes flights mainly in summer and can be reached only by car, taxi or bus. You can book a private, door-to-door Nafplio transfer to KLX through Airports Taxi Transfers, and the Uber app sends licensed taxis to and from the airport. For pickups at the airport, see our Kalamata Airport transfers.
Which Nafplio transfers run to Igoumenitsa port and northern Greece?
Viator sells a private Nafplio transfer to Igoumenitsa Port, the western end of the Egnatia Odos motorway across northern Greece, for groups of up to 50 people in a sedan, minivan, van, minibus or coach, with meet-and-greet service included.
The fare on this Nafplio transfer covers taxes, VAT, parking, tolls and tips, and Viator sells it for up to 19 or up to 50 passengers. Igoumenitsa’s New Port is the second busiest passenger port in Greece after Piraeus, with ferries to Ancona, Bari, Brindisi and Venice and frequent sailings to Corfu. See our Igoumenitsa port transfers.
For the north, the Rio–Antirrio Bridge links Rio on the Peloponnese with Antirrio on the mainland, giving Nafplio transfers a western crossing besides the Isthmus of Corinth. From the bridge, the Ionia Odos (A5) follows the west coast to Ioannina and links with the A2 Egnatia Odos, the 670 km motorway to Thessaloniki and the Turkish border.
How long do Nafplio transfers take?
Nafplio transfers take 1 hour to Corinth, 1 hour 46 minutes to Kalamata, 2 hours 7 minutes to Patras and 2 hours 40 minutes to Olympia in normal traffic, and the Igoumenitsa Port transfer is timed at 4 hours 35 minutes.
- Nafplio to Corinth: 60 km, 1 hour
- Nafplio to Kalamata: 144 km, 1 hour 46 minutes
- Nafplio to Patras: 182 km, 2 hours 7 minutes
- Nafplio to Olympia: 197 km, 2 hours 40 minutes
- Nafplio to Ioannina: 387 km, 3 hours 52 minutes
- Nafplio to Thessaloniki: 628 km, 6 hours 7 minutes
Operator timings on Nafplio transfers run longer than the bare drive. The Viator transfer from Patras to Nafplio lists 3 to 4 hours, and Landlife Travel lists its Olympia transfer at 3 hours or 10 hours. The Igoumenitsa operator states that the exact duration depends on the time of day and traffic conditions.
Three motorways serve these routes. The A7 Moreas Motorway runs 147 km from Corinth to Kalamata via Tripoli, and the Olympia Odos (A8) has run at motorway standard from Corinth to Patras since April 2017. For Nafplio transfers heading north, the Ionia Odos cut the Antirrio to Ioannina drive to 1 hour 40 minutes, down from 3 hours 30 minutes.
Can Nafplio transfers stop at the Corinth Canal on the way?
Yes. Nafplio transfers can stop at the Corinth Canal, a short detour on the drive between Nafplio and Patras. The private transfer from Patras to Nafplio allows stops for lunch or sightseeing, and a taxi booked in the Uber app can add a stop mid-ride.
The canal cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, so Nafplio transfers to the eastern mainland cross it. Bridges for a road, the motorway and the railway cross the canal high above the water, and two submersible bridges at sea level, at Isthmia and Poseidonia, carry road traffic across its ends.
Ask for the canal stop when you book Nafplio transfers, and agree how long the driver waits there. The A7 Moreas Motorway begins just west of the isthmus, where it branches off the Olympia Odos to Patras. For a longer visit, see our Corinth Canal tours.
Which vehicles do Nafplio transfers use?
Nafplio transfers use Mercedes sedans for up to 4 passengers, Mercedes minivans for up to 8, and minibuses or coaches for groups of up to 19 or 50 people. A licensed taxi booked through the Uber app takes up to 4 riders.
We Transfer You, a licensed operator, uses luxury sedans such as the Mercedes E-Class for couples and solo travellers and minivans such as the Mercedes V-Class for families and groups. On the Landlife Travel Nafplio transfer to Olympia, groups choose a Mercedes taxi, minivan or minibus by size.
Airports Taxi Transfers quotes the Nafplio transfer to Kalamata Airport by vehicle class: a 3-seat sedan, an estate car, a 4-seat MPV, 7-seat and 8-seat minivans, a 16-seat vehicle and a 50-seat bus, and the vehicle can be upgraded to one with more seats. The Viator transfer from Patras uses a clean, air-conditioned vehicle.
How do you book Nafplio transfers?
Book Nafplio transfers online on Viator or an operator’s website, by WhatsApp with We Transfer You, or in the Uber app, where you request a licensed taxi at any hour. Airports Taxi Transfers e-mails the meeting point and emergency contact details with each confirmation.
On Viator, the transfers from Patras to Nafplio and from Nafplio to Igoumenitsa Port refund in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before departure. Landlife Travel refunds in full up to 48 hours before the service, refunds half between 47 and 25 hours, and refunds nothing within 24 hours.
We Transfer You confirms requests within the hour, and Landlife Travel confirms at the time of booking. In the Uber app, you enter the pickup and drop-off points, select Taxi and pay by card or PayPal, and you can tip in the app or in cash. For any Nafplio transfer, give the passenger count first, since it sets the vehicle class.
Which Nafplio tours from Athens include the transfer?
Four private GetYourGuide day trips include the Nafplio transfer from Athens, with pickup available: a 6-hour Corinth, Epidaurus and Nafplio tour, a 10-hour chauffeur trip, a full-day Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplion tour, and an 8-hour Nafplio day trip with return.
The 6-hour Ancient Corinth Canal Epidaurus Nafplio Luxury Tour pairs the Nafplio transfer with a personal guide for up to 8 people, in English or Greek. The 10-hour Mycenae, Epidaurus, Nafplio Private Day Trip with Chauffeur takes up to 6 people on a drive through the Peloponnese and needs booking at least 10 hours ahead.
The full-day From Athens: Mycenae, Epidaurus & Nafplion Private Tour adds the Corinth Canal, runs in nine languages and can be booked up to 2 hours before departure. The 8-hour Nafplio day trip takes up to 4 people. All four list free cancellation, as do the Viator Nafplio transfers for Patras and Igoumenitsa. See our Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip from Athens.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much luggage fits on a Nafplio transfer?
The private transfer to Igoumenitsa Port includes 1 standard suitcase per passenger, sized 46 x 69 x 29 cm, and charges a fee for oversized or extra bags. On the Landlife Travel transfer to Olympia, a Mercedes taxi carries 4 pieces of luggage and a Mercedes Vito carries 8 to 10, so state the number of bags per passenger.
Do Nafplio transfers provide child seats?
Policies differ by operator. The transfer to Igoumenitsa Port supplies specialised infant seats, and infants up to 2 years and children up to 6 must ride in a baby or child seat, so enter their number when you book. On the transfer from Patras to Nafplio, infants sit on an adult’s lap, and both rides accept prams and strollers.
How long does the driver wait if you are late?
The Igoumenitsa Port transfer allows 15 minutes of courtesy time from the requested pickup time, and you call its assistance centre if you cannot find the driver. Quotes from Airports Taxi Transfers for the Nafplio transfer to Kalamata Airport include flight monitoring and up to 1 hour of waiting time.
Are Nafplio transfers wheelchair accessible?
The transfer from Patras to Nafplio lists wheelchair-accessible vehicles and areas, and it allows service animals. The private GetYourGuide day trip from Athens to Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio with a chauffeur is also wheelchair accessible. For other routes, confirm access with the operator before you book.