Crowd-Free Sites and Quiet Beaches: Out of Season on the Peloponnese Peninsula

You only have one full day in Athens, so there’s not a moment to waste. After a hearty breakfast at the hotel this morning you’ll be met by a friendly local guide who will be taking you on a grand tour of the city. This is a great opportunity to not only see some of the city’s most beautiful sites, but also to learn about daily life in Athens, local customs and traditions and anything else you’re keen to find out about. Later this afternoon you’ll be met by another local guide who knows everything there is to know about the archaeological history of Athens. In their company, you’ll head off on an electric bike ride to the Acropolis (a fortress and military base during the Neolithic period). After soaking in the sites of this fascinating archaeological site, continue on to the districts of Thission, Psiri, Monastiraki and Plaka, also by electric bike.

Today you’ll be swapping the hustle and bustle of Athens for the coastal calm of one of the region’s most beautiful cities: Nafplio. After a delicious fresh breakfast at the hotel this morning, collect your hire car and travel two hours around the scenic Saronic Gulf to your next hotel: a classic guesthouse in the centre of the city, where you’ll be staying for the next two nights. Spend the rest of today soaking in your new coastal surroundings. You’ll be staying near Syntagma Square, a beautiful hub of activity where elegant terraced restaurants rub shoulders with important historical buildings. We recommend going for a stroll around this part of town before heading over to the Archaeological Museum and the nearby beach. If you’d rather get into the wilderness, we could also arrange for you to head out on a guided hike along ancient paths leading to viewpoints overlooking the Gulf of Argolis.

The classic Mediterranean landscapes of Nafplio seem to have hardly changed since the founding of the city by Nauplios, son of Poseidon and Amymoné, one of the Danaides, in antiquity. Today you’ll be heading into the heart of the old town in the company of a knowledgeable local guide. The walk is relaxed and based around you, so can be entirely spontaneous. We recommend strolling the narrow streets of the centre and admiring the Venetian influence of certain buildings before continuing on to the two fortresses that stand out against the pure blue of the sky: Acronauplia and Palamidi, built at the beginning of the 18th century by French engineers. The rest of the evening is yours to spend at leisure. You could continue exploring the city, find somewhere for a delicious bite to eat or simply kick back and relax at the hotel. We could also arrange for you to spend the afternoon touring a nearby olive grove and oil mill or visiting a local beekeeper’s honey farm.

Your tour of the Peloponnese Peninsula continues today. After a hearty fresh breakfast this morning, hop back into your hire car and travel to Olympia, one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, a three-hour drive away. Settle into your comfortable, contemporary hotel, where you’ll be staying tonight, which is within walking distance of Olympia’s fascinating UNESCO-listed archaeological site. Then head out and spend the rest of today discovering this ancient wonder. Olympia was a national shrine of the Greeks, a sanctuary for worshipping Zeus and, of course, the home of the ancient Olympic Games. The site was home to several treasures of Greek art, including temples, monuments, altars, theatres and statues, the vestiges of which can still be admired today. You can explore Olympia at your own leisure or we can arrange for a knowledgeable local guide to lead you through the site.

You’re back on the road again today, this time to your final destination in the Peloponnese: the picturesque coastal town of Galaxidi, a three-hour drive away. Along the way you’ll drive across the Charilaos Trikoupis bridge, which crosses the Gulf of Corinth. On arrival, settle in for two nights in a beautifully-designed hotel in the heart of town. Spend the rest of this afternoon discovering Galaxidi. You can take a tour of the museum, which presents a collection of local archaeology and documents the important maritime trade that took place from here in the 19th century.

Your last full day in Greece is all about discovering nearby Delphi, a beautiful town lying on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. This morning you’ll be met by a clued-up local guide and whisked into the heart of this archaeological gem. In ancient times, Delphi was considered the navel of the world, a place of worship, where governors and common people met. The site is home to plenty of fascinating vestiges of its ancient past, including an amphitheatre and a sanctuary that once attracted crowds of pilgrims. There is also an archaeological museum detailing the history of the famous Delphic sanctuary and the most prominent Oracle of the ancient Greek world.