On the steps of Syntagma Square in Athens, with the changing of the guard drawing a small crowd, many travelers pull out a map and look for the Peloponnese. Nafplio, the old harbor town on the Argolic Gulf, is the name that keeps coming up. The way there is by road, either behind the wheel of a rental car or by public transport, and each choice shapes how your Athens morning starts.
How do you get from Athens to Nafplio?
You get from Athens to Nafplio by road, either driving yourself or relying on public transport that begins in the Athens network. Nafplio is a coastal city in the northeast Peloponnese, on the Argolic Gulf, so the trip leaves the capital behind and ends at a town built around its harbor.
Both ways have a first step inside Athens, and that is where most of the practical details sit. A car means paperwork before you turn the key. Public transport means knowing how the metro and buses of the capital behave.
If you drive yourself
U.S. visitors driving in Greece must carry a valid U.S. driver’s license and an international driver’s permit, known as an IDP. The permit is required even if the rental company does not ask to see it, so the counter clerk’s silence is not a reason to leave it at home.
The U.S. Embassy in Greece does not issue IDPs. Travelers obtain theirs in the United States from the American Automobile Association (AAA) or the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA). That means the permit is something to sort out before you fly, not a task for your first morning in Athens.
If you go by public transport
The journey starts inside the Athens network, which is where you will most likely be sleeping anyway. The metro runs from early morning to just after midnight, and on Friday and Saturday nights two of its lines stay open later. Buses cover the streets the metro does not, and the tramway runs again into Syntagma, having returned there on 19 November 2020.
If your flight lands in Athens, the metro’s airport section on line 3 is part of the picture. Trains on the stretch between the airport and Douk. Plakentias run every 30 minutes, which matters when you are deciding how soon to head out toward the Peloponnese after landing.
What you are heading toward
Nafplio sits at the head of the Argolic Gulf in a naturally fortified position, which explains the fortresses that crown its hill and guard its harbor. It served as the first capital of the newly established Greek state from 1827 to 1834, and the town still carries itself like a place that once ran a country, with neoclassical facades, a main square named Syntagma like the one in Athens, and balconies draped in bougainvillea.
Franks, Venetians and Turks all conquered Nafplio and left visible marks throughout its neighborhoods. Nafplio is one of the most popular destinations in Greece, and that reputation is what pulls so many Athens visitors toward the Peloponnese.
Which options are there?
There are two options to weigh, driving a rental car or traveling by public transport, and the difference between them is mostly how much of the trip is in your own hands. Neither route is described in more detail than that here, because what matters most is what you have to arrange before you leave.
Renting a car and driving
A rental car gives you the freedom to arrive when you like and leave Nafplio when you like. It also puts the paperwork on you. Your valid U.S. license is not enough on its own, and the international driver’s permit has to come with it, whatever the rental desk does or does not ask.
Because only AAA and AATA issue the permit to U.S. travelers, and the U.S. Embassy in Greece does not, the permit has to be in your bag when you leave home. A car also suits a traveler who wants to keep going once in Nafplio, since the town sits in the northeast Peloponnese, a region with its own coast and its own villages to explore.
Using public transport
Going by public transport means putting yourself in the hands of the Athens network at the start. The metro opens early and closes just after midnight, with later service on Friday and Saturday nights for lines 2 and 3. For a traveler arriving from the airport, line 3 is the one that links the terminal to the city.
The advantage is that you skip the permit, the rental counter and the wheel. You arrive in Nafplio with free hands, ready to wander the old town, sit at a harbor café and look up at the fortress on the hill. The sections that follow explain what to know about the Athens side of the trip, since that is the part the details cover.
Choosing between the two
The decision comes down to what kind of stay you want. If you plan to move around the Peloponnese beyond Nafplio, a car and its permit are the sensible thing to prepare. If your plan is Athens and Nafplio, with the town itself as the destination, public transport out of the capital keeps your arrival simple and your luggage manageable.
Whichever you choose, settle it before you land. The permit has to come from the United States, while the metro and the buses of Athens are things you simply use once you arrive.
What should you know before you travel from Athens to Nafplio?
Before you go, know the rules for driving, the hours of the Athens metro and the way buses work in the capital, because those are the pieces that can catch you out. Each one is short, and each one is easier to handle at home than at a station or a car rental counter.
The Athens metro
The metro is the spine of public transport in Athens, and its hours set the edges of your day. On ordinary nights it closes shortly after midnight, but lines 2 and 3 stay open later on Fridays and Saturdays. If you are heading out from a hotel near a station in the early morning, the first trains leave at the hour shown.
| Service | Hours or frequency |
|---|---|
| Athens Metro, all lines | 5:30 a.m. to 00:30 a.m. |
| Athens Metro, lines 2 and 3, Friday and Saturday nights | Open later than usual |
| Line 3, Airport to Douk. Plakentias section | Trains every 30 minutes |
Buses and the tramway in Athens
On Athens buses, passengers cannot use the front door to get on or off. You board and leave through the other doors, which is a habit worth knowing before the first ride, since many travelers instinctively head for the front.
The tramway returned to Syntagma on 19 November 2020, which puts the square back on a line that many visitors use in the city. Syntagma is also the Athens square where people gather to watch the guard, so it makes a natural point to start or finish a day before the road to the Peloponnese.
The driving permit
For anyone planning to drive, the rule is firm. U.S. visitors must carry a valid U.S. driver’s license, and insurance companies may require an international driver’s permit. The permit is not issued in Greece by the U.S. Embassy.
You obtain it in the United States from AAA or AATA. That is the one step of this trip that cannot be done once you are in Athens, so it belongs at the top of any list you make before leaving home.
What Nafplio is like when you arrive
Nafplio rewards a slow arrival. The town spreads along the Argolic Gulf, with a harbor front where fishing boats and cafés share the quay and old streets that climb toward the fortified hill. The marks of its past rulers show in doorways, fountains and walls, and the memory of its years as the first capital of the new Greek state runs through the squares.
At the table, expect the Greek standards of the Peloponnese coast, such as grilled fish, souvlaki, moussaka and meze plates (small dishes shared across the table) served in tavernas, often with a glass of ouzo. Sweets and coffee at a kafenio, the traditional Greek coffeehouse, fill the pauses between walks.
Good to know before you go
Greece uses the euro, and the trip from Athens to Nafplio is best planned around two things you can settle early, the international driver’s permit if you drive and the metro hours if you start from the capital’s stations. Greek summers can bring strong sun and heat, so a hat and water bottle belong in the day bag when you walk the old town and the fortress hill.
Sources
- OASA, Athens urban transport (https://www.oasa.gr/en/), checked October 12, 2026
- Athens Transport, public transport guide (https://www.athenstransport.com/english/), checked October 12, 2026
- Visit Greece (GNTO), Nafplio (https://www.visitgreece.gr/mainland/peloponnese/nafplio/), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Nafplio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafplio), checked October 12, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Greece travel information, travel and transportation (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Greece.html), checked October 12, 2026
- Hellenic Train (https://www.hellenictrain.gr/en), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Egnatia Odos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egnatia_Odos), checked October 12, 2026