Every time I say Nafplio I say it wrong.
Every time I see it written it’s spelt differently.
But who cares this place is a gem.
You’ve heard all the popular islands of Greece like Santorini, Crete and Mykonos and now I’m going to introduce you to Nafplio. The first capitol of Greece, a mainland town with a picture book island feel.
A place we found purely by how far we felt like driving from Athens. Which in this case was 2 hrs.
This little drive lead us to so many more adventures…
Corinth Canal
The Corinth Canal is a split in mainland Greece about an hour out of Athens.
It allows boats a shortcut passage between the Ionian and Aegean seas.
Today she’s mainly a tourist attraction but still in use as well.
Look at us, front and centre on the bridge. No people around us.
Best seat in the house – November. The benefits of travelling in off season.
The Corinth Canal is a man made structure that measures:
- 6.4 km long
- 80 feet wide
- water depth of 26 feet
How did they engineer this in 600 BCE? Lots of fascinating historical tidbits on this landmark so why not give it a google.
Back in the car and off to our destination Napflio!
The Victorian Hotel
Once we got to Nafplio we shopped around for our hotel.
Criteria: best value for location.
Preferably not smack dab in the middle of a strip club area like here
We gave up on Booking.com and started knocking on doors.
Lookie at what we found!
The Victorian Hotel is right on the edge of town with a view of ancient ruins rising in the distance.
Runs about 60 euros/ night in off season.
Checked all the boxes.
Actually posting it here cause maybe one day we’ll be back and if we are, we’ll stay here 🙂
Afternoon delight ❤️
Food here is like art. Not just delicious but beautiful too.
Greek salad, souvlaki, 2 or more icy draft beers, some snacks and you can just sit in the sunshine and people watch the day away.
Which is what we did. More than once.
A multitude of restaurants are the audience background to your Mediterranean seaside town escape.
Nafplio is perfect for a romantic getaway, soul searching solo or girls weekend.
Not sure there’s much opportunity to hook up here as it doesn’t give off a big party town feel but I’m in bed by 11pm so what do I know.
The Harbourfront
When you wander outside the downtown area you end up here:
It’s a stunning boardwalk which must be just LOADED with people in the summer months.
I like it like this ⛅️ ⛵️
If you look past the boat in picture below you will see what appears to be a floating building.
This is the Bourtzi Fortress.
It’s an island all unto itself.
A fortified castle sitting at the entrance of Nafplio with some cool features.
A small harbor on the north-eastern side offered easy and safe access to the fortress. To get protected by their enemies, the Turks had laid the surrounding sea bed with a large barricade of stones that made it impossible for large ships to approach the island and the fort.
Here’s the down side to off season travel – some places close. We got to enjoy this visually from afar.
Fancy shmancy option
Just down the way from the boardwalk you’ll find this more upscale accommodation option.
The Hotel Amphytryon is impressive and overlooks the sea.
This is the view:
Our hotel is a 6 minute walk from here and a $170/night difference higher than our spot.
Hey, if you got it, make it rain. You can’t take it with you.
a different view
Greece is a funny place.
You have these elite hot spots with a spattering of wtf happened here?!
Like this pool. Prime real estate. Great view.
Now a scenic 3D graffiti room. These stories are everywhere and we came across a lot of abandoned dreams and investments along the way. More to come!
the highest high
Here we are atop Palamidi Fortress.
They did there town a solid. I mean you can see forever from here.
No one’s sneaking up on you in a boat.
And if they continue to come at you, you just ring up the Bourtzi Fortress to prepare for a showdown.
Look how teeny tiny it looks in the distance.
It’s just a little spot from this vantage point.
Look at the stonework here.
How?!
It’s ironic that we sit here and take scenic selfies when so many must have:
a. Spent their lives building this and probably died here.
b. Stood watch in trepidation as enemies approached defending this fortress and probably died here.
In summary a lot of back breaking work, fear, bloodshed and ultimately death.
But look at this awesome picture of me sitting in the sunshine above a sparkling sea!
That’s a castle/ fortress for you.
Standing in the sun in appreciation of the beauty now whilst feeling the dark energy of a time long ago.
We must take time to learn the history.
knot anchored 