MyGreeceTravelBlog.com
Photos & memories from our trips to Athens, the Peloponnese, mainland Greece & Greek Islands — plus profiles of places we would love to visit

Admiring the Arcadian Gate and walking atop the 2,300-year-old wall at Ancient Messini

A segment of the 9.5-kilometer-long stone wall that was built in 369 BC to protect the ancient city of Messini. We walked sections of the circuit wall between three of its lookout towers.

The circuit wall was built with two gates — one on the east side of Ancient Messini and one on the west. This toppled stone lintel is a striking sight at the western portal known as the Arcadian Gate.

The Arcadian Gate has two entrances, each at opposite ends of a large circular courtyard. This is a view of one of the curved walls inside the courtyard.

Part of the extensive archaeological grounds at Ancient Messini, which is described as “one of the most important cities of antiquity” in a listing on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites webpage.

Mavromati is a small village that overlooks Ancient Messini from the lower slopes of Mount Ithomi. We stayed here for one night during our brief visit to the area in May.

Wall walking: Suffering from jet lag and lack of sleep after a 9.5-hour overnight flight to Athens, we didn’t expect to see or do much during the first day of our vacation in the western Peloponnese region of Greece in late May. We definitely didn’t anticipate walking around a village and historic sites for a few hours in hot temperatures and blazing sunshine. But since we had less than 24 hours to see Ancient Messini, we resisted the urge to take a nap in our hotel room, choosing instead to explore as much of the area as we could while our energy and enthusiasm lasted.

Our early afternoon arrival gave us an opportunity to wander the quiet streets of Mavromati village, admire the unique design of the Arcadian Gate, walk along sections of a two thousand year old fortification wall, view parts of the Ancient Messini archaeological site, see an historic monastery, and enjoy the fresh air and countryside before tucking into a delicious Greek dinner at a taverna near our hotel. We didn’t have enough time or stamina to visit all of the area’s fascinating attractions, but we enjoyed everything that we did get to see — and loved every minute of being back in Greece.

Please continue reading on page 2, where you’ll see more photos of the impressive Arcadian Gate, circuit wall, and Ancient Messini.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

July 1, 2017
Countdown to Kefalonia

The beautiful landscapes and scenery on Kefalonia look tremendously inviting even in winter, as this short film by Yiannis Prassadis reveals

Finally going: Kefalonia has been on our bucket list for quite some time, but we have never been able to fit a trip there into any of our past island-hopping holidays — largely since we were usually travelling in the Aegean or Dodecanese regions of Greece, too far away to conveniently slot any of the Ionian islands into our vacation schedule. We kept expecting that we would devote one entire holiday just to see Kefalonia and some of its island neighbours, but it never happened.

Notions of visiting Kefalonia were rekindled this past January when I discovered the Explore Kefalonia — Winter video (posted above) while working on my blog articles about snowfalls and severe weather conditions in Greece.

I was captivated by the video scenes of beautiful coasts and landscapes, and that led me to start watching more Kefalonia videos, almost all of which were filmed during the summer tourist period, rather than during the off-season winter months. Those videos, in turn, made me conclude that we had to bump Kefalonia higher up our “must see” list of places to visit sometime in the next five years.

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I never thought for a moment that we might get to Kefalonia as early as this year, but when friends invited us to join them on a road trip in the western Peloponnese this spring, and asked if we would like to go to Kefalonia from there, we couldn’t pass up the golden opportunity.

We will be on the island later this month for almost a full week — clearly not long enough to see all the fascinating places and attractions that have intrigued me so much in the videos. But if we do wind up loving it Kefalonia as much as we have enjoyed so many other islands, we’ll return another time to get to know it better.

Now it’s just a matter of contending with the steadily growing anticipation of finally getting there. With the countdown to our flight to Greece in its final days, we won’t have to wait much longer.

Below are three of the videos I enjoyed watching during the winter, never realizing that a trip to Kefalonia would be in the cards for us so soon.

James Brook published his Kefalonia video in October 2016

Greg Stachura released his Amazing Kefalonia video last November

Island Paradise was posted last summer by Buytheticketandgo.com

May 19, 2017
Views of Viotia

This film by Sheep Productions includes aerial views of some of the scenic towns, lakes and mountain areas in Central Greece’s Viotia region

Introductory visit: If all goes according to plan, we will be spending several days in the Central Greece region of Viotia during the final leg of our upcoming trip to Greece.

Truth be told, I had never heard of Viotia (also often spelled Boeotia) by its name until very recently, though I have long been aware of some of the top attractions in the area — including the UNESCO World Heritage site of Delphi, Mount Parnassus, and the town of Arachova.

But then the Viotia from Above video was brought to my attention, and after studying a map I realized we could arrange to spend two or three days in the area en route from Central Greece to Athens.

Viotia from Above runs just over two minutes and shows scenic drone views of two towns (Livadeia and Arachova), Kria Springs and Yliki Lake, the countryside at Lafysti, plus Mount Parnassus and Helikon Mountain.

The Viotia region is highlighted in pink on this Google map

After watching that clip, I found My Unique Arachova (below), a video posted by the Aegli hotel in Arachova. It runs for two and a half minutes and shows scenes from the town and surrounding area; mountain biking and skiing at Mount Parnassus; mountain and landscape scenery; and an aerial view of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Together, the two films enticed me into adjusting our travel plans so we can pass through Viotia after a road trip in the western Peloponnese and a visit to Kefalonia island.

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While won’t be doing any skiing at Parnassus, it seems clear there will be plenty of other things to keep us happily occupied in and around Arachova and Delphi — and anywhere else we might get to in Viotia. I’m sure we will wind up wishing we had considerably more time to explore the region more thoroughly, but our short stay will give us a taste of what’s there (and I’ve already been told by several people that the local food is divine) and what we will be able to see during a return visit on another holiday.

In case the videos pique your own interest in visiting Viotia, you can find some helpful general information on the Viotia page of Greece.com. Also worth a look is the article Arachova: A Cosmopolitan Greek Mountain Experience from the travel, culture and gastronomy website Greece Is.

You’ll see scenes from the town of Arachova, Mount Parnassus, Delphi and other places in Viotia in this video by YouTube contributor aegli-arachova.gr

May 19, 2017
A timely Greece travel guide

Greece gets cover treatment in the May 2017 issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

Cover glory: It may have been an omen, or simply serendipity, but whatever it was certainly happened at a good time.

When I popped into a local newsstand the other day to browse reading material for our upcoming flight to Greece, a photo of a beautiful Greek island beach instantly caught my eye.

At first glance I thought it was a picture of Zakynthos island’s world-famous Navagio beach (also known as Shipwreck Beach) that graces the cover of the May 2017 edition of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine. But after taking a closer look once I got home, I realized it’s a different beach altogether. Surprisingly, the magazine’s editorial page doesn’t identify the location — the photo states only that the image was photographed by Giovanni Simeone of SIME/4 Corners. But after a few minutes of Google searching, I discovered that the picture captures a small cove a short distance down the coast from Navagio.

With that little mystery solved, I took a quick peek through the magazine’s cover feature — a 24-page “Total Guide” to Greece.

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“Whether you’re after a jam-packed family trip, an indulgent break with friends, or a romantic laze on a step-back-in-time island, we’ve got your Greece right here,” the guide’s introduction pledges. And it certainly seems to fulfill its promises.

Among the guide’s dozens of destination profiles, tips and suggestions are articles describing:

♦ The ideal island-hopping break (to the Argo-Saronic islands)

♦ 3 ways to feel remote

♦ The ideal active holiday

♦ 5 ways to get off-season summer sun

♦ A girly break on Santorini

♦ The ideal crowd-free Athens break

♦ Our favourite scrummy seaside lunches

♦ The ideal family-friendly resort holiday

♦ Our favourite epic historic sites

♦ Our favourite beaches only the locals know

♦ 2 ways to visit a great little city

♦ The ideal timewarp trip (to Kythira), and

♦ Our favourite white sand beaches (Navagio ranks #2 on the list, right after Crete’s Balos beach, which I profiled in two blog posts last year: Escape to Crete’s exotic Balos beaches and lagoons, and Escape to Balos Part 2).

The guide provides plenty of additional information and helpful advice, and is packed with photos of beautiful and inspiring sights and scenes. See if you can pick up a copy at your local news outlet. Sorry, but you can’t borrow mine — I’m not letting it out of my hands!

May 18, 2017
The 10 things we loved most about Nafplio — in photos

Photo gallery: In my previous post, Falling for Nafplio, I described some of the elements and attractions that make the eastern Peloponnese port town of Nafplio one of our favourite places in all of Greece.

That report was packed with pictures, but since I had dozens more that I wanted to share, I have gathered many of them here to further illustrate why we enjoy Nafplio so much. I have grouped them into the 10 specific sights, features and attractions that we consider our favourites:

♦ the Old Town

♦ the scenery and views

♦ the waterfront

♦ the Arvanitia promenade

♦ the coastal path to Karathona beach

♦ the three castles: Acronauplia, Bourtzi and Palamidi

♦ the beaches and swimming spots

♦ the food and wine

♦ the hotel we stayed at, and

♦ Nafplio’s convenient location for daytrips to other places in the Argolida region of the Peloponnese.

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There are far more than 10 reasons why Nafplio is worth visiting, of course, but I will leave them for you to discover and experience yourself. I’m certain there will be plenty of things you will like about Nafplio besides those shown in our pictures.

Please click on the link below to see the photo sets on page 2.

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May 17, 2017
Falling for the historic Old Town of Nafplio in the Peloponnese

The Old Town of Nafplio rises on the north side of a steep peninsula, directly beneath fortification walls and buildings of Acronauplia — one of three castles situated in the historic town. Nafplio was the capital of Greece from 1821 until the country’s Parliament relocated to Athens in 1834.

Fast favourite: It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was pretty darned close.

Within minutes of arriving at Nafplio and walking from the waterfront car park into the historic Old Town area, we couldn’t help but wonder why it had taken us so long to finally visit what is widely considered one of the prettiest and most romantic towns in Greece. In person, Nafplio looked more beautiful and impressive than it did in the countless pictures and videos we had seen, and the Old Town’s historic ambiance instantly made us feel comfortable and welcome.

As we wound our way down narrow lanes and alleys then up steep stairs to our hotel, we felt eager to drop off our luggage so we could get out and about to explore our scenic surroundings — even though we were sluggish and jet-lagged from our overnight transatlantic flight. Napping would have to wait — we didn’t want to waste any time getting acquainted with Nafplio!

After going for lunch with a friend and wandering around the town, we realized we were falling for Nafplio — in a big way. We had been there only a few hours, and yet Nafplio had quickly charmed its way into our hearts. By dinnertime, we were telling our friend how Nafplio had already become one of our favourite places in Greece. We had suspected that we were really going to like Nafplio — she had long assured us we would — but we’d never expected that we were going to love it so much, or so fast.

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That was late May 2016 and, after more than a dozen years of island hopping holidays that usually concluded with time in Athens, we were making our first foray into the Peloponnese. We had scheduled Nafplio for the first full week of our vacation itinerary, but were concerned this might be too long. Would there be enough attractions and activities to keep us interested and occupied for seven days?

Although I had read hundreds of online travel reviews and commentaries describing Nafplio as ideal for a daytrip from Athens, an overnight stay, or a weekend getaway, I couldn’t recall anyone recommending it for a week-long stay. But we didn’t get bored for a minute, and when it came time to depart for our next destination, we realized there were still quite a few sights and attractions we didn’t manage to see. We even felt a tinge of regret to be leaving with so much left unexplored. For us, one week in Nafplio simply had not been long enough.

Now, nearly a year later, we continue to talk about how much we loved Nafplio, and we often discuss what we would like to see and do whenever we go back.

Behind this palm tree at Syndagma Square stands the first Greek Parliament building. Towering above it on the hilltop are the clock tower and a stone fortification wall of the Acronauplia fortress.

So what exactly did we like about Nafplio? It would be difficult to name just one or two main reasons, since there were so many appealing characteristics and elements that combined to make Nafplio such a perfect vacation destination for us. But I can easily describe the Nafplio features that rank among our favourites.

There’s the Old Town, of course, which fascinates with its colourful streets and buildings, attractive parks and squares, historic sites and monuments (including three castles), and an extensive selection of shops, restaurants, bars and hotels.

We also enjoyed the long waterfront walkways, the scenic coastlines offering plenty of places to swim in the tempting turquoise waters of the Argolic Gulf, and the exhilarating views of hills, mountains, sea and sky.

I describe those features, and others, with a series of photos on page 2 of this post. Click here to see and read more about why we fell for this amazing and enchanting place.

If you haven’t been to Nafplio before, this 10-minute video will show you exactly what you would see if you were to wander the Old Town’s charming streets, lanes and squares. The film was published in February 2017 by YouTube contributor Le Monde en Video.

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May 9, 2017
Visiting Delos in 2017

This short video includes aerial views of Delos island, film of the excursion boats that ferry visitors between Mykonos and Delos and, at the 1:39 mark of the clip, a schedule of boat trips and prices for tickets and guided tours in 2017

Time changes: If you’re visiting Mykonos this summer and hope to take a daytrip to explore the historic ruins and museum at nearby Delos island, take note there has been a slight change to the time excursion boats will return from Delos in the evening during 2017. The last boat back to Mykonos will now depart Delos at 7:30 p.m., a half hour earlier than last year.

That’s the only significant change (so far, at least) to the information provided in my Visiting Delos in 2016 blog post. Prices for the boat rides remain at €20 per adult and €10 for children aged 6 to 12. Kids under 6 can still ride for free.

Guided half-day tours still cost €50 per adult and €25 per child between 6 and 12 years of age. There is no charge for kids under 6 to join the guided tours, which are available from May 2 until the end of October.

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The ferry ticket and tour prices do not include the government-imposed fee for admission to the Delos archaeological site, which is €12 per person again this year, and which is payable at the entrance gate on the island.

For full details about Delos excursions from Mykonos, consult the website for Delos Tours — the company that operates the boat service between the islands.

For photos and information about what you can see and do on Delos, check out my previous articles about daytrips to the island.

In the meantime, take a look below at the three videos I have posted to inform and inspire you prior to your Delos visit.

This 2.5-minute clip, flimed by www.sky-net.co.uk, shows drone views of the Delos archaeological site

This 6-minute film, by sitesandphotosvideo, offers an overview of some of the most significant sites on Delos

Learn more about Delos and its fascinating history in this beautifully-filmed 23-minute video by Andonis Kioukas

March 6, 2017
Trifilia’s enticing attractions

This film by Achillefs Jorjini spotlights more than 30 stunning destinations in the western Peloponnese area of Trifilia

Treasure trove: Plans for our next Greek holiday are gradually coming together, and a visit to part of the Peloponnese is on the itinerary for the second year in a row.

Last year’s vacation took us through the regions of Laconia and Arcadia in the eastern Peloponnese, where we spent time in Nafplio, Monemvasia, Sparta, and Tolo, and saw numerous other places along the way.

This time, a road trip will take us through Messenia in the western Peloponnese, where we will get to see parts of the municipal region of Trifilia. I am familiar with Messenia, since I know people who live in the area and many others who have travelled there. But I had never heard of Trifiliam by that name at least, until I discovered the video I posted above. And what good timing it was to find the film, since it spotlights a virtual treasure trove of enticing destinations, many of which I knew nothing about.

Entitled Explore Trifilia 2017, the 10.5-minute video by Achillefs Jorjini takes you on an alluring aerial tour above nearly three dozen different places in the area, including scenic towns and villages, breathtaking coastlines and beaches, impressive natural scenery and important historic sites and monuments.

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Among the gorgeous beaches and coastal areas shown in the video are:

♦ Voidokilia

♦ Golden Beach Mati

♦ Vromoneri

♦ Barlas

♦ Lagouvardos

♦ Agia Kiriaki

♦ Stomio

♦ Agrilis

♦ Kyparissia

♦ Kalo Nero

♦ Elea, and

♦ the Vourlia peninsula on Proti island

Screen capture of the video’s pass above Kalo Nero beach

Villages and towns seen in the film include:

♦ Koroni

♦ Pylos

♦ Kyparissia and the Kyparissia Old Town

♦ Agia Sotira

♦ Tragana

♦ Gargaliani

♦ Marathopoli

♦ Filiatra

♦ Kalo Nero

♦ Kopanaki

♦ Sidirokastro, and

♦ Aetos

Screen capture from the video’s view of the coastal village of Marathopoli

Views of significant landmarks and attractions include:

♦ Ancient Messene

♦ the monastery on Proti island

♦ the fortress at Methoni

♦ the Neokastro and Palaiokastro fortresses at Pylos

♦ the Palace of Nestor

♦ the waterfalls at Polilimnio and Valtas

♦ Analipsi church at Filiastra

♦ Byzantine monuments at Agia Sotira

♦ the Mycenean tomb at Peristeria

♦ the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, and

♦ the Neda River

Screen capture of the video’s flight around the Methoni fortress

The only drawback to watching the video was that it revealed far more sites and attractions than we will have time to visit, which I found a little disappointing. I wanted to see everything, since it all looked so picturesque and appealing! The upside, of course, is that there will be plenty of places to see on another trip to Messenia. And I have a strong hunch there will indeed be a return visit.

February 28, 2017