The oldest continuously-inhabited town in Europe (settled c. 5000 BC) — a working agricultural city with a Mycenaean acropolis above and a Roman theatre and forum on the plain.
Argos sits on the inland edge of the Argolic plain, twelve minutes north-west of Nafplio. It is a working agricultural and market town of 22,000 — and underneath it, almost completely uncovered, is one of the oldest continuously-occupied urban sites in Europe.
Settled by 5000 BC; flourished under the Mycenaeans; resisted Sparta in the classical period; held by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, Ottomans. What’s visible above ground is a Bronze-Age fortress on the Larissa hill above the modern town, a small Roman theatre and forum on the plain, and an excellent archaeological museum. The town itself has the working life that polished tourist Nafplio doesn’t — Wednesday and Saturday markets, a real laiki, a noisy plateia, two of the better-value tavernas in Argolida (Aigli and Vavoura — both off the main square). Most travellers don’t visit Argos; they drive past on the way to Mycenae or Nafplio. They are missing a useful counterweight to the polished old-town Nafplio experience. Half a day is enough — Larissa hill in the cool morning, museum, lunch on the plateia, drive on. The Roman theatre is small but free and almost always empty.
An Argos morning on a Mycenae day.
Drive the back road up the hill before the heat builds. Park at the gate, walk the fortress walls. Empty.
The Roman theatre and forum on the south side — five minutes' walk. Free; empty.
The small but excellent museum on the plateia — local Mycenaean and classical finds. Forty-five minutes; air-conditioned.
Aigli — slow-roast lamb, gigantes, salad, bulk red. Two hours; the real working-town lunch.
Either north to Mycenae for the afternoon, or back to Nafplio for the late afternoon swim at Karathona.
Within twenty minutes.
Twelve minutes south-east — the standard base. Detail on the Nafplio page.
Ten minutes south — Bronze-Age fortress. Detail on the Tiryns page.
Twenty minutes north — the great citadel. Detail on the Mycenae page.
Fifteen minutes east — the less-visited 7th-century BC temple sanctuary.
Fifteen minutes south — a small Bronze-Age site (House of Tiles) on the coast. Niche; for the curious.
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.
