Epidauros- Drepano- Nauplio: all in one relaxing weekend!

Epidauros- Drepano- Nauplio: all in one relaxing weekend!

What could be better than a weekend excursion in the beginning of the summer at a Greek seaside combined with a slice of cultural entertainment? Difficult to answer, since that weekend in June is still in my mind as a totally refreshing one that combined every type of entertainment.

My initial incentive was my desire to watch a play in the ancient theater of Epidauros. I believe it's an experience everyone should live and feel awe and glory that an ancient place like that creates. The theater is from its own great and can make even the simplest play to seem interesting.

The green and quite wild natural environment that surrounds the theater makes it even better. When reaching it, the audience has to pass through a path in the nature that is said to have a purpose. Ancient Greeks built it like that, in order to be an intermediate stage between the real life and the play, so that the audience could prepare themselves.

beach at Drepano

Since Epidauros is almost 2 hours away from Athens my friends and I decided to stay for 2 days at a camping somewhere near and meet some of the beautiful places that Peloponissos has. Therefore we stayed at a camping in Drepano village, half an hour from Epidauros. The beach over there was really nice and well organised, with special sunbeds that made us enjoy a whole day in the sea. 

view while climbing Palamidi

Apart from our relaxation on the beach, we could do nothing but take advantage of the beautiful and historically interesting city of Nauplio. Nauplio was only 10 minutes away from our camping resort. It is ideal for walks through the quaint alleys with the local and tourist shops. There are many places for excellent food and others for delicious sweets.

Despite all these, exercise and serenity were also part of our excursion in Nauplio. In the city there is a castle, called Palamidi, which has 999 steps to reach it. It is not as tired as it may seem to be... The beautiful landscape with the breathtaking view down to the sea and the city makes you feel great and completely relaxed, away from any problem. Apart from the landscape, a tour in the castle was a great idea. What impressed me most was a prison cell that we got in, so small that we couldn't even stand straight. This cell is said to have been the one that Kolokotronis, the leader of the Greek War of Independence, was imprisoned by the Greeks themselves!

And all these were just a weekend... Peloponissos has plenty of other beauties that I am looking forward to meet in the future...!