The working agricultural capital of Arcadia, on a 650-metre plateau — a transit town for most travellers, but with a fine archaeological museum and a covered market that is one of the best in the Peloponnese.
Tripoli is the largest town of inland Peloponnese — 30,000 people, the regional administrative centre, the agricultural market town for the surrounding villages. It is not a tourist destination, and we are honest about that.
Most travellers see Tripoli only as a motorway interchange — the A7 from Athens splits here, with the south branch going to Sparta and the west to Kalamata. There is no charm, no harbour, no old town: the Ottoman-period town was destroyed in the 1821 revolution, and the rebuild is 19th-century neoclassical and 20th-century concrete. But there are reasons to stop. The Archaeological Museum of Tripoli (€4, an hour) is excellent — Skopas sculpture from Tegea, finds from Mantineia, classical-period grave goods. The Plapouta covered market (mornings, weekdays) is one of the best in the Peloponnese — local cheese (formaela, sfela), dry-cured meat, bulk wine, weaving from the surrounding villages. The War Museum on Plateia Areos covers 1821 and after — modest but good. The town is the practical base for travellers doing the inland archaeology: 15 min from Tegea, 25 from Mantineia, 30 from Vytina, 50 from Dimitsana. Many tour groups overnight here for that reason. Eat at Klimataria or Marinos (both old-school local). Don’t expect more.
A practical Tripoli overnight.
Park at the hotel; ten minutes' walk to the centre.
An hour.
Coffee on the main square; volta with the locals.
Slow Arcadian food in a working taverna.
An hour at the covered market.
On to Tegea, Vytina or Dimitsana.
Within thirty minutes.
Fifteen minutes south — Skopas temple. Detail on the Tegea page.
Twenty-five minutes north — parallel ancient site.
Thirty minutes west — mountain village. Detail on the Vytina page.
Fifty minutes west — stone village. Detail on the Dimitsana page.
Tell us a little about the trip you want — pace, who's coming, how you'd like to spend your mornings. We'll build the days.
