The first half of the day's ride was great - a rolling ride along the Arcadian coast, with the usual brilliant scenery and little traffic to distract us from it. About half way to day's end at Nafplio though, we merged in with the main highway coming in from Tripoli to the west; and the remainder of the ride was busier than we'd have liked, forcing us to watch the traffic as much as the landscape.
All our traffic frustration fell aside though when we reached central Nafplio. Nafplio is beautiful, and proved to be our favorite town in the Peleponnese. It has a terrific setting at the head of the Saronic Gulf, watched over by the Palamidi, an impressive Venetian fortress from the 1600's. Its old town is gorgeous, with its array of floral lanes and colorful staircases.
Our favorite hotel of the tour, the Amfitriti, was well up the hillside along one of these staircases, and we labored more than a bit with our bikes and luggage in reaching it. It was well worth the effort though, and we luxuriated in our two night stay there, enjoying a pair of great breakfasts and lounging around on its rooftop salon overlooking the world below and above.
Amphitriti Hotel, our lodging in Nafplio. This was one of our favorite accommodations in Greece, other than for lugging our bikes and luggage up these steps.
