In my Destination Greece Part 1 post I talked about our visit in Athens. I was in Greece on a vacation with my wife, and first we spent three nights in Athens. From there we rented a car and went for a road trip.
The car rental was effortless. There was a Sixt car rental office at the Hilton Athens hotel, which made the drop off at the end of the rental period convenient because that’s the hotel where we spent our last night in Greece. I booked a small Toyota car but I got a free upgrade to a BMW X1. Such a smooth ride! This was only my second time renting from Sixt but I have a good status with the company as I explained in my post Pilot’s Guide to Hotel Benefits.
With the wheels under us we were ready for a road trip!
Ancient Corinth
Leaving Athens we were planning to spend our next night in Nafplio, which used to be the capital of Greece long time ago. But it was only 150 kilometers away and there was an ancient city on our way… Ancient Corinth. Got to see it, no question about it! I am no history buff but I recognized the name. Corinth and the Corinthians has been mentioned several times in the Bible, and the city-state used to be one of the largest and most important cities in Greece until the Romans destroyed it over two thousand years ago.
Leaving Athens
This was my first time driving in Greece. The traffic in Athens was quite horrible and just getting out of the city proved to be the most difficult part of our road trip.
I had a local data card and gps in my phone so I knew where to go, but there were only oneway roads and roads were jammed with traffic. It took us over 30 minutes just getting out of town.
On the Highway
It was such a good feeling leaving all the traffic behind. The traffic was flowing nicely outside of downtown, and Greece had surprisingly good highways. The highways seemed to be brand new with barely any traffic. Speed limit was 130 km/h most of the time, and most people were driving way faster. I kept on the cruise control at 130 kmh for 100 kilometers and never had to touch to break or accelerator. Only few times had to changes lanes for passing or giving way for traffic.
Ancient Corinth
We passed the modern city of Corinth without stopping. There was sign pointing to the Ancient Corinth and we followed. Off the highway we followed the route on my gps. It took us through some narrow streets to a public parking area behind some restaurants.
There was quite nice restaurant area just next to the archeological site of Ancient Corinth. We chose a restaurant randomly and were happily surprised. The restaurant had a seating on a rooftop terrace with a panoramic view of the archeological site. The food was good and the view was great.
After our lunch we walked to the entrance of the archeological site. On the way there were many souvenir shops and more restaurant.
View of the Ancient Corinth during our lunch. Acrocorinth in the background.
The Archeological Site
We started our tour of the site by visiting a museum that was included in the entrance fee. The museum was well organized and displayed many interesting findings.
After spending some time reading about the history of the site we stepped back outside and walked around the site.
Dominating the view was the Doric temple of Apollo with several columns still standing.
It was interesting to walk among the ruins after reading about the history, otherwise you couldn’t fully appreciate what you are seeing.
Ancient helmet at the museum.
Temple of Apollo at the Ancient Corinth.
Ruins at the Ancient Corinth.
Acrocorinth
Behind the city of Ancient Corinth there was rock, or a mountain, called Acrocorinth. It is one of the largest and oldest fortresses in the Peloponnese peninsula.
Driving up there took us about 15 minutes. Entrance to the fortress was free, so it was well worth visiting.
Unfortunately we got up there only 15 minutes before closing time. We still had time to climb up to and enjoy the views, but didn’t have time to see all the buildings at the top. Nevertheless I’m glad we drove up there even just for the views.
Nice views from the fortress at Acrocorinth.
Definitely worth hiking up the Acrocorinth for the views.
Acrocorinth Fortress
Corinth Canal
After leaving the Acrocorinth and the Ancient Corinth we decided to still check out one attraction in the area; the Corinth Canal.
We had passed it on our way to the ancient Corinth and it wasn’t far. The Corinth Canal is a manmade canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. It essentially makes the Peloponnese peninsula an island.
The canal is mostly a tourist attraction as it is too narrow for any heavy traffic. I had read about bungee jumping from a bridge over the canal, but unfortunately the jumping season was over in November. 🙁 Maybe next time.
We parked next to a foot bridge and walked across the canal. After taking some photos we continued our trip towards Nafplio.
Corinth Canal
Conclusion
Ancient Corinth is definitely a place worth stopping if you are in the area. It is easy to visit the site if you have your own or rented car. But from Athens you could also join a guided tour for a day trip. A guided tour would also have the benefit of someone explaining the history of the area instead of self studying everything.
There would have been other archeological sites and attractions in the area, but due to time constraints we limited ourselves on the three places we were mostly interested in.
From Corinth we continued our trip to Nafplio, which I will cover in my next travel post.
Thanks for reading!
∼FunkyTraveler Vesa
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