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MILOS TO NAVPLION
That night, we traveled 202 nautical miles to Navplion.



NAVPLION
Navplion is a seaport town in the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It’s famous for being the first capital of modern Greece, from 1829 to 1834.

TOWN
Natalie and I were pleasantly surprised by Navplion’s old town, with its narrow cobblestone streets. It was probably my favorite port of all. That might have been because ours was the only cruise ship that had docked there, so there weren’t tour groups ahoy. But I did see a lot of British and Italian vacationers. The town is well preserved and governments could learn a lot here. There were plenty of boutique shops (no chains), outdoor cafes and historic sites like Kapodistriou and Constitution Squares and the Town Hall.

PALAMIDI CASTLE
The main attraction is the Castle of Palamidi, which is 708 feet (216 meters) high on a hill. It’s a medieval structure that was the last major construction of the Venetians in the 15th century but taken over by the Ottomans in 1715. To get to the top is either a five-euro taxi ride or an 852-step climb. TIP: If you opt for the climb, bring a hat, sunscreen and good walking shoes.

852 STEPS UP
Of course, we opted to climb. It took 10 minutes to get to the stairs from the ship and then we made the occasionally slippery ascent up the stone stairs. It took only about 20 minutes to get to the top but it felt longer because of the heat. But it wasn’t that bad since we left in the morning (around 11am) there was still plenty of shade.

HIGH UP
We only passed a handful of climbers but they ranged in age from roughly seven to 70. Given my fear of heights, at times it was a tad bit nerve-racking but it seemed going down would be much worse, which is why we took a taxi back. You can ask the gate keeper to call you one.

INSIDE THE CASTLE
The views every step up were breathtaking (literally) and at the top, they were even more unreal. There is a four euro (two euro if you’re a student) entrance fee. There are three castles in total, all linked by vaults, corridors and secret passages. There are no exhibits but there is a claustrophobic prison, a small church and crazy stairways, most without guardrails so be careful.

GELATO
On the ascent, we spotted our reward for the climb and we made our way to the oasis after first stopping to get an Italian gelato in town.

PATH TO BEACH
The walk to the beach was long, hot and sticky. But the wide paved sidewalk lined with cactus, pine and palm trees filled with tree frogs or crickets singing the quintessential song of summer, reminded me a lot of a dirt trail in Palos Verdes, California, near where I live.

LEAP OF FAITH
We ran into some Moroccan kids who were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors on the hot pavement, to see who would climb down the rocks and check how deep the water was before they all jumped in. I said, “If you guys jump, I jump.” The jump was about 20 feet high (Here’s the video). It was so much fun and it brought me back to my childhood days of the bluff bridge in Rowayton, CT.

BEACH
The beach was rough gravel/sand but the water was like heaven although it had a high salt content. There were ladders around the rocky cliff areas (I wish they had some where I jumped) and they had free showers. The snack bar sold not only ice cream and bottled water (just .70 euro) but bottles of wine and high quality food. Only in Europe.

NATALIE’S TAKE ON NAVPLION
If you want a woman’s perspective, here’s Natalie’s take on Navplion on her blog TrendyTravelista.com.

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