10 days in Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula: Our successful family holidays

Greece makes all of us dream. This country is the perfect place to spend wonderful holidays as a couple (and as a family of course).

During my trip around the world with my young family, I had the great pleasure to spend one month in Greece, and I must say that I loved everything about this country.

But especially, Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula has a special place in my heart. A #SlowTravel stay like I was looking for, where it’s good to live and to enjoy every moment with our kids.

I don’t know if the fact that we stayed in a beautiful authentic Greek country house by the sea helped, but our stay of more than a week was such a success. (We found this house on the HomeExchange platform – click here to discover this platform, I can’t live without it anymore (I’ll explain why below).)

We could only visit a small part of the Peloponnese (the area of Nafplio and its surroundings – because the Peloponnese, well, is still 21,000km! Haha!). We kept on being amazed by its beauty for nearly ten days with our kids.

So, there’s our #SlowTravel itinerary and what we have loved to do and see with our kids in Greece’s Peloponnese.

WHAT TO DO IN THE PELOPONNESE

Beaches:

If there’s one thing that is easy to find in the Peloponnese, it’s a beach – like heaven on earth. It was one of our favourite activities: we would leave in the morning, stroll along the coast, « find » THE little creek that would welcome us for the day and then enjoyed these translucent and warm waters.

Visiting Hydra Island and hiking the Mount Eros:

Visiting Hydra Island can be done in a day. This island, located in the Saronic Islands, has a lovely little village entirely pedestrian AND a nice big mountain. For our part, we hiked the Mount Eros in Hydra, and we discovered its small alleys that have kept an incredible charm.

Visiting Nafplio:

Nafplio is close to the ocean, so it’s pleasant to walk in its harbour and to watch the boats. Its historic center is also located there. It is, therefore, the perfect time to stroll gently between the old narrow streets and to observe its Venetian style houses.

Visiting the Palamidi fortress:

For our part, we have paired the Palamidi fortress visit with the visit of Nafplio City, because the fort overlooks the city (so it’s right next to it). We enjoyed the visit of the fortress very much: we were given access to several visually rich sections. These sections allow us to imagine life from “before” in these places.

Observing the sunsets:

An ordinary activity, but at the same time, extraordinary. The sunsets on the east coast of the Peloponnese are simply magical.

Visiting the Sanctuary of Asklepios and the Epidaurus theatre:

A beautiful hike in nature through the Greek ruins, where they used to practice Greek medicine, which dates back to almost 500 years before Christ. These places were thus formerly famous, and Greeks ran to it for treatment. For our part, we prepared lunch, visited the whole thing and then we enjoyed a picnic overlooking the Greek ruins. A perfect time with my family.

Visiting the small fishing village of Kilada: 

Sincerely, if you’re in Nafplio and you want to discover a small fishing village and an incredible view of a small bucolic fishing port, Kilada is the place to be. It was beautiful: I still dream about it at night. In this small village, there is even a HUGE children’s park located near the water.

Road trip through the coastal roads:

The Peloponnese peninsula has given us our most beautiful seaside landscapes of Greece. On the cliff edge that overlooks the ocean, hanging on a small road at an altitude of more than 2000 meters above sea level, the winding roads of the Peloponnese area will steal the show. So, taking the road to observe and capture the beautiful landscapes offered by the Peloponnese peninsula is an activity.

WHERE TO STAY

As I was saying earlier, we were able to find a beautiful house in the Peloponnese in Greece, thanks to the HomeExchange platform. Perfect for hosting my family and ready to be redeemed for points (so free), this HomeExchange house has been our home port for over a week on a family trip to this area of Greece.

This very comfortable HomeExchange house was located in a small fishing village in Kilada. 800 metres from the ocean, in the countryside, on an olive grove, our HomeExchange house had everything we needed for a long stay.

Three bedrooms, a kitchen, an indoor and outdoor dining room, in addition to a fenced field, we felt at home in this house found on HomeExchange.

Also, our HomeExchange residence was perfectly located to be able to do “the star” between the various tourist attractions of the east coast of Peloponnese.

It has now been the fourth exchange that we managed to do on the HomeExchange platform. And every time we completed an exchange, honey and I find that our stay in a HomeExchange house is the most authentic way to visit a place.

If you, too, want to find a HomeExchange house for your next trip (because there are houses to exchange all around the world), sign up on the HomeExchange platform.

GOOD TO KNOW: TEMPERATURE IN GREECE IN SEPTEMBER

For those of you who are wondering, we went to Greece for the whole month of September. The temperature was more than perfect. A good 30 degrees Celsius (and more) during these 30 days in Greece, and it only rained once.

So, I would advise you without hesitation to travel to Greece in September.

WHERE TO EAT

Thanks to our HomeExchange house, which was well suited for a family with kids for an extended stay, we cooked a lot – so we hardly went to restaurants.

But, but, but, one of those we have been to, which deserves mention, and which makes me salivate just to think about it, is the gyro we tasted in Nafplio at Gyroκομείο Grill.

De-li-cious!! Plus, it’s a low-budget, kids-friendly restaurant. If you go there, it’s a must!

This post was translated from French to English by: