Notes on Nafplio, Greece

Nafplio is a lovely town by the sea with a gorgeous beach nearby, great food and three forts! A definite highlight in our three week trip in Greece.

We were in Nafplio towards the end of September 2022 as part of a 3 week trip, so all my notes are based around my experiences at that time. Links are to websites if I can find useful ones, or Google Maps locations if not, so you can see where they are. Please also note this post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

Instax photograph of Bourtzi Fortress, Nafplio, Greece, shown across the sea with a yellow buoy bottom left, mountains and stormy clouds above. The print is dark to the right as a storm is approaching. The Instax print is on a grey background.

You can read my notes on what we got up to below, but if you are short on time here are my top recommendations on what to do in Nafplio, plus you can take a look at my more general notes on travelling in Greece: Athens, the Peloponnese and a few islands, too:

Travel:

KTEL Argolida: buses between Athens and Nafplio. We came from Olympia so we used KTEL ILIAS S.A. for that journey, which you can read about in my notes about Ancient Olympia.

Do/see/visit:

Palamidi Path: stunning coastal path leading from Nafplio town to Karathonas Beach.

Karathonas Beach: Huge beach with plenty of options for all beach-goers – beachside bars with loungers and parasols (prices get cheaper the further away from Nafplio you go), picnic areas for campers and accessible changing and toilets on the beach itself.

Palamidi Fortress: climb the 1000ish steps or get a taxi up for great views across the city and sea.

Akronauplía: a smaller fortress in the town with yet more stunning views.

Use Rick Steves’ ‘Greece: Athens & the Peloponnese*’: for planning, self-guided walks and useful information.

There are some big sites nearby but if you’re planning to visit them by public transport make sure you plan to do that on days when the buses are running, unlike us who had planned to go to Mycenae on a Sunday but couldn’t because the buses weren’t running.

Drink:

Sokaki Café: Sadly now seems to be closed, but if it does reopen it was good for relaxed draft beer!

Kontogiorgos Café and Illiostastio: for drinks on the harbour.

Sambåla Beach Bar: €5 for two sun loungers under a parasol and a very ‘on it’ waiter.

Eat:

Kastro Karima: really tasty food – I recommend the local pasta with prawns – delicious!

Aiolas Tavern: very tasty food – we ordered loads of starters to try lots of different things.

Antica Gelateria di Roma absolutely wonderful gelato

Σκλαβενιτης: lovely supermarket where we got breakfasty things.

Central Bakery Old Town: great selection of pastries and other tasty-looking treats.

Stay:

Hotel Byron*: lovely hotel in a great location.

Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, looking through trees to the sea, with rocky cliffs, mountains in the distance and blue sky above.

Travelling to Nafplio

We came to Nafplio from Ancient Olympia via Tripoli, which was an intense day of travelling and waiting that you can read about at the bottom of my Ancient Olympia post. It’s probably much easier from Athens.

The bus from Tripoli to Nafplio had great views through the mountains and around the coast, which we enjoyed from seats at the front of the bus (by pure luck).

Photograph taken through the windscreen of a bus, with a dreamcatcher hanging down inside to the left and outside a large road with plants either side, a distant view of the sea and mountains and blue sky and clouds above.

How we spent 2.5 days in Nafplio: first afternoon

City walk, drinks, dinner

We arrived in Nafplio at about 17:30 and found our way to Hotel Byron*, although Google Maps struggled a bit with all the streets being so close on hills.

The hotel was lovely and our little room had a great view over the church and rooftops as well as a funny little window in the bathroom that made me feel like a borrower when I looked through it, especially when a cat ran past!

We set off to do good ‘ol Rick Steves’* orientation walk to explore the beautiful town, pink bougainvillea climbing across pathways above us; the fort looking like a sandcastle in the sea; the most gigantic chandelier I think I’ve ever seen, in the Church of Panagia. A really lovely place!

We wandered a bit more and noticed it was looking pretty stormy on the horizon and getting darker coming towards us, so we looked for a bar and went into Sokaki Café, which was very pleasant with music playing, comfy seats and draft Regina beer with complementary snacks. I’m sad to see it now appears to be closed, according to Google!

For dinner we opted for Kastro Karima, near our hotel. It was lovely, and we both had prawns with fresh local pasta that we enjoyed with a carafe of house wine. The prawns were huge and the best I have ever tasted! The sauce was delicious too, so fresh and tasty. They gave us grapes and nectarine slices and we headed off to Kontogiorgos Café, a bar on the harbour for G&Ts to soak up the atmosphere.

Photograph of rooftops in the foreground, looking out across Nafplio to see a slither of sea in the port, and mountains in the distance with clouds above.
The view from our hotel room
Photograph of Papanikolaou street, with buildings either side and Greek flag bunting between, with a sign saying 'Byron Hotel' on a wall to the left.
Photograph of Philellion Square, with the Fortress of Palamidi visible on the hill in the background and hazy blue sky above.
Photograph of Bourtzi Fortress, Nafplio, Greece, shown across the sea with a yellow buoy bottom left, mountains on the horizon and stormy clouds above.
Bourtzi Fortress
Photograph of the sea with a small blue and white boat in the foreground and land in the distance in shadow with rain falling from the stormy looking clouds above.

How we spent 2.5 days in Nafplio: first full day

Coastal path, gelato, nearly 1000 steps up a hill to a fort

There was a really lovely supermarket near the bus station where we bought yogurt and fruit juice for our breakfast, which we ate sitting on a bench in the port. A lovely way to start the day!

We then headed round the peninsula on the coastal path, the Arvanitia Walking Area, and it was stunning! Amazing bluey green water, incredible cliffs and deep blue sky. We stopped at Arvanitia Beach and dangled our feet in the sea, watching fish pass by and go wild for pieces of sausage the people next to us threw in. It looked like it had once been a really slick seaside area with a fancy hotel above but only the empty shell was left – it was stripped of everything including electrics now.

We carried on along the Palamidi Path, thinking the big sandy beach was nearby but it was further than we thought, so we turned back, knowing we’d be walking more later.

Back in the town we went for gelato at Antica Gelateria di Roma, an amazing Italian gelateria run by a great Italian man who sussed out what language each person spoke and explained exactly how it all worked: you pick a cone size (we went for the ‘normal’ two scoops, €5) choose your gelato (you can have more than one flavour – I had the apparently famous combination of dark chocolate and hazelnut), whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top all included. The best I’ve ever had! We enjoyed it in the café amongst the Italian produce. Excuse the hurried photo, I was in a rush to eat it before it melted!

Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, looking through trees to a jetty in the sea, with blue sky above.
Selective focus closeup of brown pine needles on branches, with blue of the sea visible in the background.
Room with a view. Photograph of an abandoned shell of a hotel, with a view of the sea and mountains behind.
Room with a view
Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, with a wide paved path leading to a tunnel through the cliff, sea, beach and hill to the right with blue sky above.
Detail of a dry flower, with brown background out of focus behind.
Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, with the path to the left, sea to the right with a hill ahead and blue sky above.
Photograph of Antica Gelateria di Roma, with bins in the shape of cones of icecream either side of the building.
Photograph of a hand holding a large waffle cone filled with dark chocolate icecream, whipped cream, two waffle pieces sticking out either side, a green plastic spoon poking out the top and a maraschino cherry on the top.

We then sat in a shady cafe in the square where I had a lemonade and Tim had a Nescafé frappe, hoping it’d be the lovely-looking drink he’s seen around but finding it was indeed just cold instant coffee. We knew for next time to order a cappuccino freddo, though!

We were torn whether to climb the steps up to Palamidi Fortress or to get a taxi, but we decided to climb in the end. Nearly 1000 steps but it wasn’t too bad. We looked a bit red and sweaty at the top but the sense of accomplishment was great and the views were stunning! For some reason it was free entry that day (which was a relief as it was a bit sparse on info) so we wandered around and took in the views before heading back down.

We popped back to refresh before heading to the harbour and a couple of beers watching the sun set at Illiostastio, resting our weary legs.

For dinner we went to a place we’d seen bustling near our hotel, which had nice food with nice seating but could have done with an extra member of waiting staff.

We headed back to the hotel, pretty wiped!

Photograph of steps leading up to the Fortress of Palamidi in Nafplio, with three alcoves in a wall at the top and blue sky above.
Photograph through an aperture in a stone wall on the way up to Fortress of Palamidi, showing the sea and town of Nafplio below and mountains in the far distance.
Photograph from Fortress of Palamidi looking over Nafplio, with the peninsula and town in the foreground and sea and mountains in the distance with blue sky above.
Photograph of a small pink cyclamen plant with two flowers, growing between stones in the steps leading up to Fortress of Palamidi in Nafplio, Greece.
View from Fortress of Palamidi in Nafplio, Greece, looking over vast sea with mountains in the distance and part of the wall and hillside with plants to the bottom left.
Fortress of Palamidi, Nafplio, showing part of the fortress in the foreground and mountains in the distance on the horizon.
Structures on the way up to the Fortress of Palamidi, Nafplio, Greece, with plants in a walkway and golden light from the late afternoon sun.
Photograph of Bourtzi Fortress, Nafplio, Greece, shown across the sea just after sunset. The fortress is lit with lights and a pink-deep blue gradient appears in the sky behind silhouetted mountains on the horizon.

How we spent 2.5 days in Nafplio: second full day

Scuppered plans, coastal walk, beach day, lots of appetisers

The plan was to go to Mycenae today but upon arrival at the bus station it turned out they didn’t run on a Sunday – we should have checked in advance. We tried to get breakfast from the supermarket but that was closed too, so we got huge apple pastries from Central Bakery Old Town and ate them in the port with strawberry juice, not a terrible hardship!

We decided to visit Akronauplía, the other fortress in the town, which is smaller than Palamidi, free and with more great views from a different perspective.

Next we grabbed our swim gear and headed to Karathonas Beach, via the beautiful Palamidi Path. It was a proper Sunday with families picnicking, people swimming or just relaxing – truly lovely.

On the beach there were sections with parasols and chairs varying from €20 at the closest point to Nafplio, down to nothing at the furthest. We opted for Sambåla Beach Bar, which was €5 a spot and a very ‘on it’ waiter. Tim finally got his cappuccino freddo and I had a sour cherry juice. It was all lovely and very relaxing!

We sat for a while, gazing at the sea, taking it all in and then used the toilet block (no locks but okay otherwise) to change into swimwear and went for a dip. A little chilly at first but heavenly to swim about in, it was shallow for a really long way so great for just paddling about in, too. We sat for a while to dry out, a butterfly joining me on my lounger, then headed back on the coastal path to shower before dinner.

View from Akronauplía, Nafplio, Greece, showing the fortress on the cliffside to the right and sea with mountains on the horizon to the left.
Akronauplía
View at the top of Akronauplía, with a dusty path in the foreground, leading to trees with part of the fortress visible behind and blue sky above.
View from Akronauplía of Arvanitia Beach, with prickly pears visible in the foreground, abandoned resort structures along the edge of the sea, which has swimmers in.
Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, with the path and trees to the left, sea to the right with a hill ahead and blue sky above.
Karathonas Beach, Nafplio, Greece, with sand in the foreground, sea and a hut with two flags just below the centre of the image and blue sky above.
Karathonas Beach
Old broken boat in front of some trees at the side of Karathonas Beach.
Port at Karathonas Beach, with boats at jetties to the left of the image and palm trees to the left, with mountains and blue sky in the distance.
Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, showing dramatic cliff sides with the sea to the left and blue sky above.
Photograph taken on the coastal path in Nafplio, with the wide gravel path leading through the centre, with trees either side and blue sky top left.

We’d walked a long way so we headed straight for a restaurant, deciding on Aiolas Tavern in a beautiful street parallel to the harbour. We decided to order a selection of appetisers to share so we could try lots of things: Taramasalata, bread with olive oil and thyme, marinated sardines (the best thing, I think), beef-stuffed vine leaves, bouyiourdi (baked feta), giant beans and it was all delicious!! As it was attached to a wine bar I had a glass of local red, much higher quality than we’d had in carafes with a price to match so I just had a 150ml glass but I savoured it all! They gave us sliced apple with honey and cinnamon and we headed back for an early night after lots of walking, and lots of travel to come tomorrow.

Photograph of a plate of marinated sardines, topped with chopped peppers.

Leaving Nafplio

We got up and checked out of the hotel at 9ish, had a last breakfast on ‘our’ bench in the harbour and a bit of a walk around for the last time. We waited for the bus at the KTEL station for our 11:00 bus to Athens, which was fine, then arrived at KTEL Bus Terminal A, Kifisou just after 13:00.

We were headed back to Piraeus again to catch a ferry and decided to get a taxi again as it had been so easy before with the BEAT app.

Photograph of Bourtzi Fortress, Nafplio, Greece, shown across the sea with a yellow buoy bottom right, mountains on the horizon and clear blue sky above.

Nafplio was another favourite on this trip and I’m glad we got to spend a couple of days there. The food is great, we enjoyed wearing ourselves out climbing around to see all the views and relaxing by the gorgeous sea. Definitely recommend including it if you’re planning a similar trip.

Next stop: Mykonos

Notes on Travel is a blog by photographer Jayne Lloyd, noting the things I found useful to know when I was visiting Ancient Olympia in September 2022 as part of a 3 week trip around Athens, the Peloponnese and a few islands. I’ve tried to be accurate but please do check for up-to-date information before going as things are always changing! I apologise for any mistakes, please do let me know if you have more recent info.

* This post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

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