Greece - 5 Day Tour: Day 1 - Nafplio (Short stop)

After the visit to Epidaurus ( the Ancient theatre and the Museum), our next stop is Nafplio.

Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf.



Nafplio enjoys a very sunny and mild climate, even by Greek standards, and as a consequence has become a popular day or weekend road-trip destination for Athenians in wintertime.

Nafplio is a port, with fishing and transport ongoing, although the primary source of local employment currently is tourism, with two beaches on the other side of the peninsula from the main body of the town and a large amount of local accommodation.

Here are some pictures of this city.

Nafplion maintains a traditional architectural style with many traditional-style colourful buildings and houses.

Around the city can be found several sculptures and statues. They are related mostly with the modern history of Nafplion

Nafplio is a port, with fishing and transport ongoing, although the primary source of local employment currently is tourism

Go here to see My 5 day Greece vacation itinerary.

Greece - 5 Day Tour: Day 1 - Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus

A short walk from the Epidaurus theatre is the Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus.

The museum, noted for its reconstructions of temples and its columns and inscriptions, was established in 1902 and opened in 1909 to display artifacts unearthed in the ancient site of Epidaurus in the surrounding area.

Inside, the exhibitions are split between two halls, displaying artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations dating back from the Archaic to the Roman eras (700 BC - 324 AD). The displays include items from the Asclepius cult such as medical tools, and architectural fragments from significant buildings (like the Temple of Asclepius, the Temple of Artemis, and the Tholos).

The column of a temple in Epidaurus with interesting decoration. 

Reconstructions of temples and its columns and inscriptions

Beautiful display of artifacts unearthed in the ancient site of Epidaurus 

Statue of Asklepios.
Plaster cast of the statue of god Asklepios, represented standing, with the sacred snake curling up on his stick. 

Next stop is Nafplio.

Go here to see My 5 day Greece vacation itinerary.

Greece - 5 Day Tour: Day 1 - Epidaurus Theatre

The Corinth canal was just a short stop.

Next we head to Epidaurus which was a small city (polis) in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. The highlight of this polis is the Epidaurus theatre.





Among all the ancient theatres, Epidaurus theatre is the most beautiful and best preserved. Destined for the fun of the patients of Asklipieio, it had a capacity of 13,000 spectators. It was divided into two parts: A 21-rows of seats part, aimed for the citizens and a 34-rows of seats part aimed for the priests and rulers.

Here are some pictures of the Epidaurus theatre.

Designed by Polykleitos the Younger late in the 4th century BCE, the theater is well known for its near perfect acoustics.

 It had a capacity for 13,000 spectators

Epidaurus theatre is the most beautiful and best preserved.

Epidaurus history

Epidaurus was a major city in Ancient Greece famed as a centre for healing. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Epidaurus thrived as a sanctuary devoted to the healing deities including Apollo, Asklepios and Hygeia and contained hundreds of spas, the remains of many of which can be seen today.

The main sanctuary area, called the Asklepieion, contains two such spas where a variety of healing rituals took place, including hypnosis. This was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. There is also a shrine to Asklepios and the remains of rooms for patients.

Probably the most impressive of the sites at Epidaurus is the fourth century BC theatre, which was built to accommodate approximately 15,000 people and still extremely well preserved.

Whilst most of the sites at Epidaurus were constructed in the fourth and fifth centuries BC, when the city was at its peak, some of them date back as far as the Mycenaean period and others were also adapted later by the Romans. The theatre is one example of such refurbishments.

The next destination is the Epidaurus Museum

Go here to see My 5 day Greece vacation itinerary.

Greece - 5 Day Tour: Day 1 - the Corinth Canal

We stayed in the Arethusa Hotel
Μητροπόλεως 6-8, Αθήνα 105 63, Greece.

Arethusa Hotel is centrally located next to Plaka, the scenic Old Town of Athens and stands within 50 metres from the Syntagma Metro Station.




It is a sort of a boutique hotel and the rooms are reasonably comfortable. The Acropolis, a 15-minute walk away. Ermou Street with many shopping facilities is nearby, 50 metres away.

Entrance to the hotel.                                                                                                                                      Source: booking.com

The next morning, midi-bus came and picked us up in our hotel at about 8.30 am and we set off for the 4 Day Classic Greece Tour. First we set off for the Corinth Canal.

Similar to the Panama Canal but on a much smaller scale, the Corinth Canal is between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf.

Use of the Canal started on Oct 28, 1893

It saves sea-going vessels immense amounts of time as it provides a much shorter nautical route to the west from Athens and the port of Piraeus, the largest and most important port in Greece.



Completed in 1893, this canal effectively makes the Peloponnese Peninsula an island. The canal is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) long and has a water depth of 26 feet (8 m). Its width varies from a minimum of 69 feet (21 m) at the bottom to 82 feet (25 m) maximum at the water's surface.

History of the Corinth Canal

Before it was built, ships sailing between the Aegean and Adriatic had to circumnavigate the Peloponnese adding about 185 nautical miles to their journey. The first to decide to dig the Corinth Canal was Periander, the tyrant of Corinth (602 BCE).

Such a giant project was above the technical capabilities of ancient times so Periander carried out another great project, the diolkós, a stone road, on which the ships were transferred on wheeled platforms from one sea to the other.

 Dimitrios Poliorkitis, king of Macedon (c. 300 BCE), was the second who tried, but his engineers insisted that if the seas where connected, the more northerly Adriatic, mistakenly thought to be higher, would flood the more southern Aegean. At the time, it was also thought that Poseidon, god of the sea, opposed joining the Aegean and the Adriatic.

The same fear also stopped Julius Caesar and emperors Hadrian and Caligula.

The most serious try was that of Emperor Nero (67 CE). He had 6,000 slaves for the job. He started the work himself, digging with a golden hoe, while music was played. However, he was killed before the work could be completed.

In the modern era, the first who thought seriously to carry out the project was Capodistrias (c. 1830), first governor of Greece after the liberation from the Ottoman Turks. But the budget, estimated at 40 million French francs, was too much for the Greek state.

Finally, in 1869, the Parliament authorized the Government to grant a private company (Austrian General Etiene Tyrr) the privilege to construct the Canal of Corinth. Work began on Mar 29, 1882, but Tyrr's capital of 30 million francs proved to be insufficient.

The work was restarted in 1890, by a new Greek company (Andreas Syggros), with a capital of 5 million francs. The job was finally completed and regular use of the Canal started on Oct 28, 1893.

Here are some photos I captured.

The canal can bee seen from this bridge

The canal is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) long

Its width varies from a minimum of 69 feet (21 m) at the bottom to 82 feet (25 m) maximum at the water's surface.

Our next destination is  the Epidaurus theatre. 

Go here to see My 5 day Greece vacation itinerary

Greece - 5 Day Vacation Itinerary

Greece is full of history. The whole country is actually a living museum. Since we are in Europe for 21 days, we carve out 5 days to visit this majestic country ( 20 to 24 July ).

We look forward to the opportunity to trace the “fingerprints” of Greek history from the Paleolithic Era to the Roman Period in the hundreds of archaeological sites, as well as in the archaeological museums and collections that are scattered throughout the country.

In order to see the country in the most efficient way, we decided to join a tour package offered by Keytours which received very good reviews from Tripadvisor.

We took the 4 Day Classical Greece Tour package and one of their 1-Day Island hopping tours which covers Poros - Hydra - Aegina Cruise from Athens.

4 Day Classical Greece Tour:

Day 1  - Starts from Athens at about 8.30am (A)
           -  Corinth canal (short stop)
           -  Epidaurus (B. visit the Ancient theatre and the Museum)
           -  Nauplia (C. short stop)
           -  Myceane (D)
           -  Olympia (E. Overnight stay)

Day 2  - Olympia archaeological site
           -  PATRAS (short stop)
           -  RION
           -  Delphi (F. Overnight stay)

Day 3 - Delphi archaeological site, and, the Museum of Delphi
          - Lamia ( G. short stop)
          - Kalambaka ( H. Overnight stay)

Day 4 - Meteora to visit the BYZANTINE MONASTERIES (H)
          - Leonidas of Sparta at Thermopylae.
          - back to Athens

Taiwan 12-Day Vacation ; Day 9 - Sun Moon Lake - A Walk on the Edge

To check My Taiwan 12-Day Vacation Itinerary - See Link

Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is indeed beautiful at this time of the year in March.

We took the opportunity to take a walk on the edge of the lake to soak in its beauty and splendour.

The weather was good, a bit misty and the sky overcast. There was a nice cool breeze and it makes walking so much more enjoyable.

Here are some photos of the views of the lake. Enjoy ....