Strolling in the old city of Nafplio

One of the best characteristics of Nafplio is that everything in the Old Town is within walking distance. In fact you can walk from one end to another in less than 15’, and that’s why you can see couples in love, happy kids, and large groups of friends everywhere in the town, at the port, in the alleys, always walking around and enjoying every part of the town. Because of the small distances and the paved ways, there are few areas cars are allowed to pass, and there is no bus service in the old part of town, only the central station that takes you to the new part of the town and the rest of the prefecture. So, leave the car in the parking and enjoy walking around Nafplio all year round. Alternatively, you can take the horse carriage or the small train for a tour in the town.

Palamidi

Climb 999 (in reality 857) stairs to the castle of Palamidis. You may get tired but the view is said to be worth it. We walked the paved road down to the crossing and went right down to "Karathona Beach". From "Karathona Beach" there is a walking path along the coast-line back to "Arvanithia Beach" and Nafplio. Its a nice scenic walk and takes about 1 hour.

Psaromachalas

During your strolls in Nafplio, it is worth adding 10 minutes to your schedule to walk around Psaromachala (meaning fishermonger's), the area under the rocky hill of Acronafplia. In contrast with the large, classical style mansions and open spaces of the main parts of the old town, here you will see small, white houses, with yards filled by flowers, narrow alleys and stairways, cats lurking and mewing, and in general the feeling of a small, traditional neighborhood, reminding to many the Greek islands. Add to the picture some larger mansions that have been renovated and turned to guesthouses and hotels and you have a unique part of Nafplio, with great view and good hospitality.

Enjoying the sea

Very close to the town is the quiet sandy beach of Karathona, just south of Palamede castle hill. There the locals gather to enjoy swimming in this blue flagged[5] clean beach.

To an uneducated traveler, Nafplio looks like an Italian city because of its architecture and the colourful houses. More fundamentally, Nafplio has a quite an interesting architecture, with many traces of eighteenth century european towns, byzantine and ottoman influences. Many of the old town's buildings are traced back a hundred or two hundred years ago. Characteristic are :

• Vouleftikon, the first parliament of the Greek Nation, right south of the Syntagma sq, earlier used as an ottoman Jami.
• Venetian Headquarters on the same sq, now an archeological museum
• St Spyridon church, (1702) where the first governor of Greece was killed, with traces of the killing bullet,
• St George, (17th century), the metropolis of the town, on Plapouta str
• St Nicolaus, (18th century)
• Small Jami, on the east of Syntagma sq, now used as a theater

There are also five museums: the Archeological museum, the War museum, the Folk museum (PLI), the Komboloi museum and the Ouzo myseum.

The Archeological Museum

The museum is right on Syntagma Square, in a Venetian building of 1714 with impressive stone arches. Recently renovated and restored internally and externally (reopens October 2008 after 5 years), it includes new showcases and exhibits, accessibility and facilities for people with disabilities, and air-conditioning. In the new multimedia hall you can see documentary films, whereas children can take part in the regular programs that take place. The most important exhibit of the museum is the impressive bronze armor suit dating back to the 13th century B.C. and once worn by a Mycenaean soldier. Get the full story in the multimedia hall and travel through time to the era of ancient Greece.

The Komboloi Museum

The first Komboloi (or worry-beads) Museum – said to be the only one worldwide – was founded in Nafplio in 1998 by Aris and Rallou Evangelinos, who have been collecting and studying the history of komboloi since 1958. The museum has had more than 55.000 visitors so far and the unique collection consists of approximately 1500 kombolois (from Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Persia etc) that date from 1700 to 1950 and are made of various precious and rare materials. On the ground floor there is the workshop where old kombolois are repaired and new, either original or copies of the old ones, are produced. Museum & shop open: Monday to Sunday 09:30 – 21:30 Entrance fee for the museum: € 3,00

The Peloponnesian Folklore Museum (PLI)

The permanent exhibition at the museum is dedicated to the “Greek town – Nafplio 1822-1922”. On the ground floor, miscellaneous museum items are presented in a daring and free arrangement in order to emphasize on the multiformity of the collections, while one can also visit the new expanded museum shop. At the old Nafplio railway station, Stathmos (station), the first childhood museum in Greece, houses daily educational programs for children. Exhibition – Museum shop opening hours: 09:00 – 14:30 & 18:00 – 21:00 Exhibition: Closed Tuesday morning Museum shop: Closed Sunday afternoon

The Ouzo museum

belonging to Karonis distilleries, it is located at Ag. Paraskevi area[4].

Nafplio is a good base to head out to the numerous archeological sites surrounding it. Tiryns are just some of them. Nearly all towns villages and tourist spots are serviced by local buses at all times.

The bus station is at the end of the park, just before the old town, at Sygrou str 8. For tickets/schedules check the link[3]. It is here you may catch the bus to the ancient (but still servicing) theater of Epidaurus, the ancient town of Mycenae.

Very close it is Argos, the most ancient town of Europe, now a quiet agricultural town. It has a castle overlooking the town, the ruins of its theater and the remainders of ancient settlements, and some interesting nearby monasteries.

It is also worth exploring the quiet nearby fisher-villages such as Vivari (with its lagoon and its wonderful sandy beach Kondyli), Hermioni town, Porto Heli with the ancient port of Aliis, the small fisher port of Koilada with its adjucent prehistoric Frahthi cave and the miniature churches in the doline wells near Didyma.

Nafplio has a history of Greek traditional culinary products, based on the tradition of locally produced crops.

In the last decades it has also become famous for its kombolois[6], or else worry-beads, made from amber and other materials. There is a museum for kombolois as well as many such shops.

Snack

One has to try some of the goodies served in the various traditional bakeries around the town. The hit of the period is the bakery "Alevri+Zahari" at the middle of Sid. Merarhias str.

One should also try the locally made ice creams.

Budget

Zorbas the Greek: family run, staff very nice. Salad, drinks and main for two persons about €27.

There is also the usual choice of the greek fast restaurants, best exemplified by Goodie's, at the west end of the park, just before the end of the old town, a hundred meters from the bus station. Of course also numerous souvlaki and pizza spots, most around the north of the park area.

Mid-range

There are many restaurants with medium quality, usually targeted around the greek tradition. A lot of them are spotted across Staikopoulou str. in the old town, or in the streets near the promenade. A few proposals:

• Kipos (Garden) is probably one of the best choices, just over Philellinon sq or one block west of Syntagma sq. (Ethnikis Antistaseos str. 5),
• Omorfo Tavernaki is a good medium priced choice (if you manage to get a table), at the first parallel behind the port, Kotsonopoulou and Vas. Olgas str,
• Allaloum next to the Saint Nicolas Church.

Splurge

The top ranged hotels of the area host some of the best reastaurants of the town, mainly for their settings and views.

• iliostasio a cafe & cocktail bar opposite to bourtzi, a beautiful and romantic place, at the end of the promenade,

• to Lathos (the Wrong), one of the most atmospheric-psychedelic bars in Greece(!), at Vas. Konstantinou str, a few meters east of Syntagma Sq. Great Gin & Tonics.

• the cafeterias in the Syntagma sq, a quite atmospheric place for all times, where a lot of locals gather,

• the cafeterias by the sea, west of Philellinon sq, offering superb views of the Bourtzi castle and the sea, but a little more pricey,

• the train station cafe, within the park, not very much known, but keeping something from the old times of the area.