Arvanitia Promenade
My favorite places have scenic trails or pathways. I walk for exercise, usually with an audiobook, and it’s much more fun when there’s something nice to look at.
The Arvanitia Promenade is a paved coastal path along Nafplio Bay. From our apartment, it’s just a 15-minute walk to the parking lot above Arvanitia Beach. You can walk down the steps to the small, rocky public beach. Clearly this place has seen better days; the facilities (beach bar, changing rooms, restrooms) look shabby, and there’s an abandoned building (a former restaurant and ice cream shop) covered in scaffolding. But what a view!
At the parking lot, one can go right or left on the promenade. The path to the right leads around the base of Acronauplia Hill toward Nafplio Harbor. The path to the left goes along the base of Palamidi Hill to Karathona Beach. Both paths are blocked by fences with warning signs, but everyone simply walks around them.
The reward for disregarding the warning signs is a walk with breathtakingly beautiful views. The right-hand path is mostly level and goes through a rock arch en route to the harbor, with Nafplio Lighthouse and Bourtzi Castle. From here you can leave the promenade and walk through Old Town, or continue to the Port of Nafplio. I usually go back through town to our apartment, making a 2.5-mile loop.
The left-hand path features the much taller cliffside of Palamidi Hill and has panoramic views of the Gulf of Argolis and the distant Arcadia Mountains. It’s about 1.7 miles, mostly downhill, to Karathona Beach. From there, it’s possible to walk up to the road that leads to Palamidi Fortress, and then down to our apartment. That’s a 5.5-mile loop with multiple climbs that I may tackle later, if/when it’s not so hot. For now, I prefer doing a shorter out-and-back on this path, about 3-3.5 miles.
I feel very fortunate to have the Arvanitia Promenade nearby for my daily walks. I find myself rewinding my audiobook repeatedly because I’m distracted by the postcard-worthy views. I know, I know, champagne problems.
