Greece
Nafplion, Greece
Nafplion: Greece's First Capital, Below the Palamidi Fortress
Nafplion stands on a rocky peninsula at the head of the Argolic Gulf, in the Peloponnese, about two hours by road from Athens. Inside the old town the streets are paved and there are few cars and no buses, so plan to see it on foot.
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What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Nafplion
Nafplion's harbor runs along the north side of the old town, and you can walk from one end of the old town to the other in under 15 minutes. Ask your ship whether you will come ashore by tender or step off at the quay.
- Syntagma Square is the old town's main square, with the Archaeological Museum on it and the Vouleftiko, Greece's first parliament building, just to the south.
- Philellinon Square, by the sea, has the old Customs building.
- The regional bus station is at the eastern edge of the old town.
Nafplion on Your Own
You can spend the whole day in Nafplion without a vehicle: the old town, the waterfront and the Palamidi fortress are all reached on foot. Tiryns, a Mycenaean citadel about 4 km away, is reached by the regional bus to Argos.
- The old town: Below the Akronafplia rock, the Psaromachala quarter is a small neighborhood of narrow lanes and stairways.
- Palamidi: You can climb to the fortress by its long stone stairway or reach the gate by road.
- Tiryns: The citadel is walled, and it is a World Heritage site, as are Mycenae and the theater of Epidaurus.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
- Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match the local clocks or your phone. Greece keeps Eastern European Time, an hour ahead of Central European Time in Italy.
Getting Around Nafplion and the Argolid
Inside the old town you walk. For Mycenae, Epidaurus and Tiryns, use the regional KTEL buses or a taxi.
- KTEL Argolida buses leave from the bus station at the eastern edge of the old town.
- Regional routes link Nafplion with Tiryns and Argos and with Mycenae; the bus to the theater at Epidaurus leaves only once on weekdays and not at all at weekends, so check the timetable first.
- Mycenae lies 11 km north of Argos.
- A road climbs to the Palamidi fortress, so you can ride up and walk down.
What to Eat in Nafplion
Restaurants and tavernas fill the old town's lanes, with many on Staikopoulou Street, and cafés line Syntagma Square and the waterfront. The fertile plain around Nafplion grows oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, olives and almonds.
- Look for the town's traditional bakeries and its locally made ice cream.
- The seafront cafés west of Philellinon Square face the Bourtzi and charge a little more for the view.
- Souvlaki and pizza places cluster on the north side of the town park.
Tipping in Greece
Tipping in Greek restaurants is traditionally not customary, though customers often leave a little change on the table.
- Tipping taxi drivers is uncommon.
- Greece uses the euro (EUR).
Venetian and Ottoman Nafplion
Nafplion's old town still shows its Venetian and Ottoman centuries: a Venetian fleet warehouse now holds the Archaeological Museum, and two former mosques served as Greece's first parliament and as a school.
- The Vouleftiko: Greece's first parliament met in this former Ottoman mosque, just south of Syntagma Square.
- The Trianon: Another former mosque on the square once housed a mutual-teaching school and is now a theater.
- The Archaeological Museum: Its home on Syntagma Square was built by the Venetians as a warehouse for the fleet. It opens from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., is closed on Tuesdays, and is free to enter on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, 28 October, the last weekend of September, and the first and third Sundays from November to March; check before you go.
- The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation: Its museum, at 1 Vasileos Alexandrou Street, has a permanent exhibition on Nafplion as a Greek town from 1822 to 1922.
From Port of Argos to First Capital
Nafplion was the ancient seaport of Argos, and over the centuries Franks, Venetians and Ottomans each fortified it. Greek forces took it during the War of Independence, and from 1827 to 1834 it was the first capital of the modern Greek state.
- Antiquity: Nauplia served as the seaport of Argos.
- 1212: French crusaders of the Principality of Achaea took the town.
- 1388: The lordship of Argos and Nauplia was sold to the Republic of Venice.
- The 1470s: The Venetians built the Bourtzi on the islet at the harbor entrance.
- 1540: The town surrendered to the Ottomans.
- 1680s to 1715: The Venetians retook Nafplion, built the Palamidi fortress between 1711 and 1714, and lost the town to the Ottomans again in 1715.
- 1822: Greek fighters captured Palamidi late in the year, during the War of Independence.
- 1827 to 1834: Nafplion was the capital of the new Greek state, and Ioannis Kapodistrias, its first head of state, first set foot on the Greek mainland here on 7 January 1828.
- 1831: Kapodistrias was assassinated at the church of Saint Spyridon.
- 1833: Theodoros Kolokotronis, a hero of the war, was imprisoned in Palamidi and released 11 months later on a pardon from King Otto.
- The 1930s: The Bourtzi was restored and opened as a hotel.
- To learn more ashore: The Archaeological Museum of Nafplion is on Syntagma Square, in the old Venetian fleet warehouse.
Nafplion with Children and Families
Nafplion's old town has few cars, and a boat ride, a fortress and a swim can fill a family day without a long drive. Older children can add Mycenae, where the Lion Gate still stands.
- Younger children: Small boats from the harbor take about five minutes to reach the Bourtzi, the island fortress.
- School age: The War Museum at 22 Amalias Street, in the building of Greece's first military school, shows weapons, maps, paintings and photographs from the War of Independence to the Second World War.
- Teenagers: The stairway to Palamidi is a proper climb, with a view over the town and the Argolic Gulf from the top. At Mycenae, the Lion Gate of about 1250 BC is the only monument of Bronze Age Greece whose sculpted image survived without being buried.
Accessibility in Nafplion
Distances in the old town are short, but the fortresses sit on steep hills. Palamidi's stairway has 857 steps, so if stairs are a problem, take a taxi up the road instead.
- Coming ashore: Ask your ship how you will come ashore and, if it is by tender, how it handles wheelchairs.
- The Archaeological Museum: It reopened in 2008 after a renovation that added facilities for visitors with disabilities.
Shopping in Nafplion
Nafplion has become known for the komboloi, the Greek string of worry beads, with many shops selling them and a museum of its own.
- The Komboloi Museum, at 25 Staikopoulou Street, was founded in 1998 and holds about 1,500 sets of beads made between 1700 and 1950, with a workshop on the ground floor.
- The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation museum has a shop of its own.
Beaches Near Nafplion
Two beaches lie just south of the old town, beyond the fortress hills: Arvanitia, about a 10-minute walk away, and the sandy Karathona farther on. Larger resort beaches, such as Tolo, are reached by local bus or car.
- Arvanitia takes its name from 1779, when Hasan Pasha had Albanian raiders, the Arvanites, thrown from the heights of Palamidi.
- A path along the coast links Karathona with Arvanitia, a walk of about an hour.
- Karathona is the beach where local people go to swim.
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