A pair of quiet bays on the road to Epidaurus — fishing villages, vineyard tavernas, the warm shallow water of the inner Argolic Gulf.
Kandia and Iria are two small fishing villages on the eastern coast of the Argolic peninsula, on the back road from Nafplio to Epidaurus. They are not famous, not picturesque in the postcard sense, and that is the point.
Iria is the larger of the two — a wide sandy beach, two beach tavernas (one at each end), a string of family pensions, and the one good mainstream restaurant on this coast (Stathatos, with vineyard tables under olive trees). Kandia is smaller — a curving cove with a fishing harbour, three village tavernas, and a single small hotel. Behind both villages, the Adami and Iria vineyards run back into the hills — this is one of the better-quality wine areas of Argolida, mostly Agiorgitiko and the local Roditis. The road north loops back to Nafplio (25 min) or continues on to Epidaurus (15 min). Most travellers find Kandia and Iria by accident on the way to Epidaurus and stop for a swim and a long lunch; some come back for two-night stays in the small pensions to escape Tolo’s August crowds. Best months: late May, June, September. Almost shut in winter.
A Kandia/Iria afternoon on an Epidaurus day.
From Epidaurus theatre, fifteen minutes south to the vineyard taverna. Slow country lunch, two hours.
Five minutes east — set up under a tamarisk, swim, read, repeat.
A short drive south to the smaller village for a coffee on the quay as the boats come in.
Twenty-five minutes north for dinner and the volta.
Within thirty minutes.
Fifteen minutes east — the great theatre. Detail on the Epidaurus page.
Twenty-five minutes west — the natural base. Detail on the Nafplio page.
Twenty minutes west — the busier sandy-beach village. Detail on the Tolo page.
Fifteen minutes south — a smaller fishing village with a single fish taverna, useful as a different lunch stop.
Twenty minutes west inland — a real Greek village with two excellent local tavernas.
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