Olympia

Walking the Altis and the stadium tunnel before the coaches

Ancient Olympia is a one-day visit if you start at opening time. Walk the Altis first, from the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Hera past the treasuries to the stadium tunnel, before the cruise coaches arrive, then spend late morning in the Archaeological Museum with the Hermes of Praxiteles and the Nike of Paionios.

Be at the gate when it opens. Walk the Altis first, starting with the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Hera, then pass the treasuries on the slope of the Kronos hill and go through the tunnel into the stadium before the cruise coaches pull in. On the way out, find the workshop of Pheidias, which was later turned into a church, and the round Philippeion beside it. Carry water from the start: once inside the Altis there is little shade until you reach the museum.

Eat in town and rest through the heat, then visit the small museum of the ancient Games or drive out to Olympia Land for a tasting. If you stay the night, a second walk round the site in the last hours before closing shows it in softer light.

Coach-hour lunches and the Olympia Land winery

Lunch in Archaia Olympia follows the coach timetable, with fast set menus on the main street, so make dinner your main meal once the groups leave. Ask for local olive oil on a horiatiki salad and whatever is grilled that evening, and taste local grapes at Olympia Land winery at Koskina, 1.5 km out.

At lunchtime the tavernas on the main street feed tour groups fast, with set menus of Greek staples; the same places are calmer and more relaxed after the last coaches leave, so make dinner your main meal of the day.

The countryside of Elis is the real larder. Olive groves, citrus orchards and vineyards cover the hills around town. Olympia Land, a winery at Koskina about 1.5 km out, pours wines from local grape varieties in a modern tasting room, and makes a good late-afternoon stop once the ruins are done. Nightlife is minimal: Kalypso, a small club popular with young visitors, shuts at midnight, and most of the village is asleep well before that.

Katakolo, Bassae and the Zakynthos ferry with a car

With a car, Olympia is a base for the western Peloponnese. Katakolo, the cruise port near Pyrgos, suits a fish supper once the ships sail, Kyllini has ferries to Zakynthos, and the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassae, a UNESCO site under a protective tent, makes a long but rewarding day inland.

Katakolo, the cruise port near Pyrgos, is a small harbour village worth an evening once the ships have sailed, with a seafront for a fish supper. Further north, Kyllini is the ferry port for Zakynthos, so you can pair the sanctuary with a few days on the island.

Inland to the southeast, the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassae stands alone on a mountain slope near Andritsaina, sheltered under a protective tent during long-running conservation work, a UNESCO site and one of the best-preserved temples in Greece; it is a long, winding drive, so make a full day of it. Patras, about two hours north by bus, has ferries to Italy and the long Rio-Antirrio bridge across the gulf. For something gentler, stay in the hills around town: the farms of Elis grow olives, grapes and citrus, and the views open out toward the Ionian Sea as you drive.