A perfect balance of adventurous and relaxing, this itinerary has it all. Learn about the ancient greeks, indulge in Greek cuisine, sample and learn about the olive oil culture in rural Greece and absorb the beauty of greek landscapes, all in 11 days and on a budget of £1200 per person (That's everything: flights, accommodation, food and fuel!)
Included:
- Pre-trip information, daily activities, restaurants and hotel options with my HONEST reviews
- Tips and tricks to make this trip as cost effective and easy for you as possible
- Prices so there aren't any surprises when you get there
An overview of the trip:
Days 1-3 Nafplion
Days 4-6 Limeni
Day 5 Kalamata
Days 6-9 Athens
Days 10-11 Santorini
The weather is generally comfortable from late March to mid-June when it gets a bit too hot for me. The it stays uncomfortably hot until September but after that it's nice weather all the way through to early November. I went at the beginning of September and it was just on the right side of hot.
Flights
This trip will require 3 flights:
1. Flying into Athens (Day 0)
2. Flying from Athens to Santorini (Day 9)
3. Flying out of Santorini (Day 11)
Car Hire
This itinerary requires a car to travel through the remote regions of the Peloponnese. I recommend hiring a car directly from the airport because Athens is about 45 minutes away. There are lots of car hire options that have kiosks in the airport so, for ease, you can use any of these, however cheaper options are available from the main car hire hub which is about 4km away. I used addCar which is based at the car hub and they met me at the arrivals gate as soon as I landed and drove me to their office to collect the car.
As you'll see in the below picture, we didn't opt for a fancy or expensive car and the small Volkswagen Up that we had was perfectly fine for the roads and hills we were driving on. If you're doing this trip with more than 2 people I would suggest upgrading to something with a bit more power as I'm not sure this car could handle much more weight.
Driving in Greece
Driving in Greece is fairly straightforward. Like the rest of Europe, they drive on the right, which can seem daunting to those of us who drive on the left, but the roads are well marked and signposted and I found it easy to adapt.
All the motorways have tolls on them - ranging from €1.70 to €2.40. As a tourist with limited coins and cash I always drove through the toll with a person or, if there were no people, I'd go through the toll that indicated cash but was able to use contactless to pay anyway. MAKE SURE YOU AVOID THE ORANGE WIFI SYMBOL TOLL - This is an automated system that tourists aren't registered for so you'll just get stuck.
*Tip from a local*
We were incredibly unlucky and got a parking fine in Kalamata and it ended up throwing us off our schedule because we couldn't actually find where to pay the fine (€40) but after we found the City Hall and got back on track we arrived at our next stop an hour late and were told that not much would happen if we didn't pay it. I'm not condoning not paying your fines and won't be held responsible if it turns out not to be true but it's interesting advice from a local...
Good luck!
What To Take
Need an idea of what to pack? Check out my ready made packing list with everything you'll need (plus the things you think you won't but will be grateful you have!)
This packing list is made on Evernote, if you have an account you can use this within the app. If not you can still open the list and copy it into your preferred notes app.
"The most romantic town in the peloponnese" truly lives up to its name. It's a beautiful old town on the coast with lots of shops, bars and restaurants as well a fascinating history and ancient forts and castles to explore. For those that fancy exploring further afield, it's a good place to stay for easy access to a range of historic sights in the region.
Where to stay?
Nafplion is a town with so many historic and cultural sites nearby so there are plenty of reasonably priced accommodation options, even the really nice hotels are very reasonable compared with Athens and Thessaloniki let alone London, Paris or New York!
This is the hotel I stayed at. It is off one of the main roads in the new town so is easily accessible and in a well lit, busy area. This part of town doesn't have the charm of the old town but hotels are a lot more budget friendly and is only a 5 minute walk to cafes and bars and a 15 minute walk to the old town. The place was clean and comfortable and the owner was extremely friendly and happy to go out of his way to help.
I walked past the Rex Hotel several times and it looked lovely. It's just on the edge of the old town so able to access slightly lower prices than central old town whilst being close enough to where you want to be. I didn't realise until researching this post that it includes free parking and offers breakfast included in the prices of the hotel as well.
There is free parking and breakfast included as above, the roof terrace is a bonus. The reviews all look to be outstanding with the lowest ranking a 7/10 suggesting that the bathroom is a little cramped.
This isn't the most vegetarian friendly place although the greek salad is lovely, but my partner thought this was the best gyros he had in all of our trip so I felt like I needed to include it.
This is a lovely restaurant in the heart of the old town of Nafplion. Vegetarian friendly and, when there was a mistake with my meal, they resolved the problem with no issues.
A lovely, relaxing, bougie cocktail place in the centre of the old town.
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Day 0 - Travelling to Nafplion
Travel directly from the car hire place to your accommodation in Nafplio. This journey will take approximately 2 hours, which, if you're landing in the afternoon will take you to the late evening for your arrival.
If you land in Athens around dinner time I suggest finding something to eat at the Athens end of the journey or being comfortable holding on until you arrive at Nafplion because there isn't much on the way.
Day 1 - Exploring Epidaurus
Epidaurus is an ancient city near to Nafplion. It is reportedly the birthplace of the Asclepius, the son of Apollo - the god of the sun. Asclepius was the most important healer god and therefore the Epidaurans built the Sanctuary of Asclepius and the city became an important place for ill and injured ancient greeks to be treated. Its role as a healing city brought tremendous wealth to the city and an amphitheatre was built. This amphitheatre has near perfect acoustics and is still in use today!
Experience costs:
Ancient theatre at Epidaurus - €12 per person
Sunken City of ancient Epidaurus - Free (but make sure you have packed your water shoes and goggles or a snorkel because there isn't an obvious place to hire these and it's a bit rocky)
Pronounced Epidavros, this is an awe-inspiring town (city?) that's been uncovered and is being restored by the Greek government. The theatre is, supposedly, the best preserved relic of it's kind in Greece and I can believe it. You can enter the theatre and hear the acoustic brilliance of the ancient greek architects.
This was a highlight of my trip. Where else can you snorkel over an ancient city with turtles swimming right alongside you? And it's free! Just remember to bring your own snorkel (I didn't spot anywhere to hire one) and water shoes as it's a bit rocky. There's a cafe that serves cold drinks and ice-creams though.
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Day 2 - Meandering around Mycenae
Mycenae is another ancient civilisation near to Nafplion. Referenced by Homer, it was one of the two major centres in ancient Greece. The citadel is a walled monument atop a hill with views to the mediterranean in the south and the mountains in the north giving the ancient people here a perfect vantage for protection. Nowadays, the city provides an amazing opportunity to see how ancient greeks lived.
Experience costs:
Archaeological site of Mycenae - €12
Mycenaean Acropolis of Tiryns - €4
Palamidi Fortress - €8
*Top tip*
You can buy a multipass ticket at the entrance gate of Mycenae that includes entrance to all of these and more!
Mycenae is a very impressive town that's been preserved. The lion's gate is well worth seeing and wandering through the ancient streets is fascinating. The museum is full of restored ceramics and other historical artefacts that have been found across the sight. I thought it was brilliant.
Honestly, after seeing the Archaeological Site of Mycenae this is a little bit underwhelming, I wouldn't suggest doing it unless you have the multipass ticket (although by itself it's not that expensive)
This was a lovely way to spend an hour or so before dinner. Climb the 857 steps up to the fortress from the old town and enjoy the spectacular views. Plus there's a bar at the top if you get there with enough time before it closes.
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3 nights in Limeni and Neo Oitylo
Historically, Limeni was once a small fishing village but recently it's transformed into a quaint tourist destination filled with charming shops and luxurious bars on the water. Staying here can be expensive, but if you stay outside the town, it's definitely still worth a visit for the turquoise blue water.
Neo Oitylo is the more affordable, less touristy sister of Limeni. Here you can find authentic seafood restaurants (harkening back to the days when this was a fishing village) and relax on the sandy beach with a beer in hand.
Lithos by the Sea is a really quaint, beautiful, quiet place to stay within walking distance of the beach and with on-site parking. The hotel serves a buffet breakfast complete with pastries, cereal, eggs, charcuteries and fruit. What else could you want?
A seafood restaurant - in line with the fishing village background of the villages in this area. Apparently the seafood was exquisite, as a vegetarian, I ordered a greek salad and stuffed vine leaves. Semi-vegetarian friendly.
Another seafood place but much better equipped to cater to vegetarians. They had some vegetarian items on the menu but they also very generously made me a vegetarian version of a seafood dish that I was interested in as well.
Honestly, when I saw the blue lights that are near to this bar I thought it would be a dive but it was the cutest cocktail bar, with delicious cocktails, an amazing view of the bay and a really friendly owner. Turned out to be a highlight.
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Day 3 - Beach day
Experience costs:
Sun loungers - Free (Because it rained, otherwise they would have been €10 for two)
Nothing fancy, we just sat on the beach, read our books, ate food and drank beer. It was lovely, even despite the rain!
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Day 4 - Delving into Diros
The mani peninsula is formed out of limestone, under which is a complex and largely unexplored cave system. Some of this is walkable and some is submerged by a large underground river system, which you can take a boat through to see all the limestone formations that have been carved out or created by water.
There are two options - a short tour (approx 15 mins) and a long tour (approx 40 mins) but the long tour is only available when conditions allow. The tour takes you on a boat through an underground cave network where you disembark and walk the remaining 5-10 minutes. The cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites - but fully lit so don't worry if you're not a fan of the dark!
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We drove through Limeni on our way to the caves so thought we'd stop by on our way back. It's a beautiful place to stop for an ice-cream and take a dip in the crystal blue water - apparently sometimes the turtles come to join you!
Day 5 - Stopping in Sparta, moving around Mystras and loving life in Langada
This full day trip exploring sites between Limeni and Kalamata is well worth taking the slow route. You can take the highway but you'd be missing some absolute gems!
(Whilst all the photos in this guide are my own, this one is worth mentioning as this has zero editing and is an unaltered impression of the scenery we saw - and it doesn't even do it justice!)
Sparta (made famous by the films Sparticus and 300) is a free attraction (great) with a few historic sites and information boards. They are still working on uncovering some of it but it's cool to see the historical acropolis adjacent to the modern town.
It's right off the main road connecting Limeni to Kalamata and a perfect point to stretch your legs.
A byzantine dream! Exploring here feels like I'm walking through the lands in Hogwarts Legacy (niche but true).
There are two entrance points (one halfway up the hill and one at the top) at the moment the two entrances aren't connected due to restorations so stop off at the halfway up entrance first and hold on to your ticket for free entry at the top entrance.
I think this is the most spectacular road I've ever driven on. Not to sound lame but I nearly cried it was so beautiful!
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1 night in Kalamata
Famed for it's Kalamata Olives, we made a pitstop here for an olive oil tour but were pleasantly surprised by the history in the city and the nearby beach
A good sized, clean and extremely comfortable place to stay in a quiet, safe neighbourhood with good access to the town centre and easy access in and out of Kalamata
This hotel is well located near to the beach and offers free parking and breakfast. The reviews suggest there used to be an issue with the AC but recent reviews don't mention this so perhaps it's resolved!
A brilliant breakfast spot, suitable for vegetarians with HUGE portion sizes!
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Day 6
Kalamata Olive Oil Tour - €60 per person
Dimitra was such an amazing host and we learnt so much about olive oil - the flavour profiles (similar to how wine has differences) and the importance of olive oil to the culture of rural Greece. Definitly don't give this a miss.
The whole city is basically an open air museum under the shadow of the pinnacle of historic architecture: The Acropolis. You won't be bored here, that's for sure!
Returning the hire car
Before reaching Athens city, you'll need to return your trusty car. If you booked airport drop off check your hire car instructions, we were able to drop the car at the hire car depot and get a lift to the nearest translation. We then jumped on the train (approximately 45 minutes) to take us to the city.
Where to stay
Budget Option - This is where I stayed
Acropolis View Villa Free Cancellation Rooftop Terrace
This place is run like a hostel but the room is a self contained bedroom with it's own bathroom and kitchen. Great value in a good location in Athens, The only thing I'd say that's negative about the place is that because there are some floors that are hostel style, it can be a bit noisy into the night.
Locationwise, it doesn't get better than this. They offer breakfast is and there's a rooftop terrace too! Better still, as always, I've read through all the reviews and the worst one was, from what I could tell, a booking confusion
This hotel is in the heart of the historic and tourist centre of Athens (10/10) and the booking includes breakfast! All rooms come with a balcony and the reviews all sing the room's praises: cleanliness, size, style. The worst review mentions a power cut and an issue with communication about breakfast.
Not a very friendly vibe. We went here for convenience and the food was fine but it's very touristy and they weren't flexible or generous catering to a vegetarian.
This is a beautiful place to go for a drink - sat on the rooftop, looking out to the Acropolis... 10/10. The food looked great (but we didn't eat here) and it was fairly affordable. The atmosphere was perfect, not too loud but a nice vibe. We also managed to get a table fairly easily without booking.
A very lively cocktail bar on one of the main thoroughfares to the historic centre of Athens. The music was very loud so we sat outside but the cocktail was perfect.
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Day 7 - Acting like Archaeologists
Experience costs:
Roman Forum of Athens - €8
Temple of Olympian Zeus - €8
National Garden Walking Route - Free (but see my review because even though it's free it's not really worth time/energy)
Ancient Agora of Athens - €10
Acropolis - €20
Athens Open Air Theatre - €25
*Top tip* Instead of paying for entry to all of the ancient sites individually, you can buy a multipass ticket for €30 per person.
This was a good place to start our sightseeing in Athens. It is fairly small scale so a good place to get a perspective of life in ancient Athens without too many crowds
Again, I visited this before I visited the Acropolis or the Ancient Agora of Athens so it was interesting and not underwhelming (although it might be if you visited this afterwards!) There were water fountains within the site so we were able to take a moment to enjoy the sun in Athens in a quiet area
It's honesty time - Don't bother with this. I've included it as I did do it and thought you might see it and be interested. It's a nice enough place to be but definitely not work going out of your way. Plus it was full of mosquitoes when we went there so we just walked around a bit and got bitten loads.
This was an amazing place. I would recommend leaving a couple of hours to fully explore this ancient city! Also, the Rick Steves guidebook is brilliant for bringing the city to life!
I think this is the ultimate sight in Athens. It's overwhelmingly spectacular. You need to book a time slot however, you book your tickets and they are pretty strict with this. There is a water fountain within the site but only near the entrance gate.
I didn't want to spend the money to go in here after seeing the Parthenon but it is a really well designed space that takes you through the history of the Acropolis and the Parthenon. I appreciated the free audio tour that comes with the ticket.
This is the capital of Santorini and the most accessible place to stay in Santorini. All buses on Santorini run in and out for Fira so it's a very convenient place to stay. Upon arrival, you can get a bus directly from the airport to Fira, the bus costs €2 and they will only accept cash. The journey takes approximately 15 minutes and will drop you at the bus station in the new town in Fira.
The best food in Greece is a simple gyros and it helps keep costs down too! This is a useful gyros place to know about in the old part of Fira. Delicious, very affordable food
Extremely friendly service and we had a delicious flat bread and hummus snack with olives and taramasalata. The food was affordable and yummy, the views were amazing and the wine was delish!
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A handy supermarket to pick up bits and pieces, we ate dinner in the room one day to keep costs down.
An easy, enjoyable, free walk starting in Fira and ending up in Imerovigli. You can continue the walk up to Oia if you like, but wear sensible shoes and make sure you have lots of water, and prepare for lots and lots of tourists. Imerovigli was more than enough for us!
We walked from Fira to Imerovigli. It was a relatively easy and manageable walks (even in flip flops) and fairly pleasant. Imerovigli was pretty and very photographable, although there were plenty of tourists. I can't imagine how busy Oia would have been.
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Day 10 - Adventuring in Akrotiri
The historic city of Akritiri is Santorini and Greece's answer to Pompeii. Physically, the city was preserved in the same way that Pompeii was hence the analogy, however, as a tourist attraction, it leaves a lot to be desired. However, Santorini's Red and Black beaches are very close by and you can get a €2 single bus ticket from Fira's bus station to the entrance of Akrotiri, and then a short 15 minutes walk to the beaches.
This place is listed as the "Pompeii of Greece" and it might be but as a visitor attraction it's got a long way to go. It looks like there is a lot of interesting archaeology to be found here but the site is paired with 2 museums on the island and lots of the relics have been moved so you can't see them in situ, which really detracts from the immersive historical experience that the actual Pompeii offers
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Day 11 - Feeling fancy in Fira
Santorini is known for its wine and there are plenty of wineries to choose from across the island. We didn't have a car so we chose a vineyard that was a walkable distance from the hotel and at the top of the hill in Fira.
This delightful winery runs wine tastings and wine paired set meals. Very professional set up and very informative, if a little bit rushed through.
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Happy travelling!
You're going to have a great time on this adventure, and honestly I'm a little jealous you'll be getting to experience all of this for the first time.
Make sure you check out my blog to keep up with my future travels or take a peak at some of my previous trips (for inspiration and links to lots of other useful tips for travelling and life hacks
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Did I miss anything?
If you've done this trip and found anything extra that I've missed, or perhaps you've stayed in a different hotel, please let me know so I can include it here and help more adventurers like yourself!
Hi, I'm Kristina. I’m a regular 9-5er by day, but by night I’m a Lone Ranger exploring the deepest darkest depths of the jungle, or I’m a cowgirl galloping across the plains under the shadow of the mountain, or I’m snorkelling over the reefs duck diving with turtles and tropical fish. In essence adventure is in my blood and I love love LOVE planning my next trip.
All my itineraries are filled with adventurous experiences ticking off all the main sights, eating the best food and getting some time in nature in, and I don't like to break the bank.
Everything I have published has been planned for my own travelling so you can be sure I've tried everything that I share to make sure that a) it's actually fun to do, b) all the sight seeing stops and activities are achievable and c) it's a truly cost effective trip.
Take a look at some of the adventures I’ve planned and help yourself to some free guides to give you a taste of the level of detail and care I put into every single one of my published guides and itineraries and see how committed I am to sharing my experiences with the world and slowing as many others as possible to access them too!
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