{"id":80223,"date":"2026-04-18T17:21:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pourquoi-pas-nous.com\/how-to-visit-mycenae-nafplio-and-epidaurus-from-athens\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:52:44","slug":"how-to-visit-mycenae-nafplio-and-epidaurus-from-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pourquoi-pas-nous.com\/en\/how-to-visit-mycenae-nafplio-and-epidaurus-from-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"How to visit Mycenae, Nafplio and Epidaurus from Athens?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Would you like to discover the north-eastern Peloponnese, but don’t know which towns or sites to choose? Mycenae, Nafplio and Epidaurus form one of the most beautiful summaries of mainland Greece, combining history, scenery and the good life. <\/p>\n\n

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For our part, we spent three months in Greece during our tour of Southern Europe<\/a>, and loved discovering the region. Mycenae is clearly a must-see, Epidaurus is impressively well-preserved, and Nafplio remains our favorite Peloponnesian city. We even spent almost a week there. In this article, we tell you how to explore these 3 sites from Athens. <\/p>\n\n

How to get there from Athens<\/h2>\n\n

From Athens, you have 3 options for organizing this discovery of the northeastern Peloponnese:<\/p>\n\n

Organized excursions<\/h3>\n\n

If you don’t want to drive and want to simplify logistics completely, opt for an organized tour from Athens<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

Departing from the center of Athens, you’ll visit all 3 sites – Mycenae, Nafplio and Epidaurus – without worrying about timetables, giving you a real overview of this part of the Peloponnese.<\/p>\n\n

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By public transport<\/h3>\n\n

Public transport is possible, but requires a little more organization. KTEL buses easily connect Athens to Nafplio, with a journey time of around 2 hours 10 minutes. For Mycenae, aim for Fichti, then head for the site. Epidaurus is the most demanding part if you want to combine several visits in a single day. <\/p>\n\n

By car<\/h3>\n\n

Car rental in Athens<\/a> is still the best solution if you want to sleep in Nafplio, stop whenever you like and add other places to your itinerary. Driving times from Athens to the various sites of the Peloponnese are reasonable. <\/p>\n\n

We recommend this option if you like to travel at your own pace, take photo breaks and keep your schedule flexible. <\/p>\n\n

👉 O ur complete guide to renting a car for your road trip in Greece<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n

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Mycenae, a major visit to the Peloponnese<\/h2>\n\n

Mycenae, a UNESCO World Heritage<\/a> site, is not just a great archaeological site. It’s also one of the most charged places in the Greek imagination. <\/p>\n\n

In Homer’s stories(the Iliad<\/strong> and the Odyssey<\/strong>), the citadel is associated with King Agamemnon, the great figure of the Trojan War. But myth aside, Mycenae is above all one of the most powerful centers of the Mycenaean world, a civilization that dominated part of the eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze Age and played an essential role in the development of later Greek culture. <\/p>\n\n

From the moment you arrive, the site will impress you with its commanding position, its Cyclopean walls and the famous Lioness Gate<\/strong>, which remains one of the strongest symbols of pre-classical Greece. The visit really does give you the feeling of stepping back in time, long before classical Athens and the temples we most often associate with the country. It’s this historical depth, as much as the monumentality of the remains, that makes Mycenae so striking. <\/p>\n\n

Lieu can be discovered in 3 complementary stages:<\/p>\n\n