Ancient Epidaurus is a great, quiet village just two hours from Athens. If you have a car, it serves as a wonderful base for excursions: at a distance of just one hour, there is Nafplion and Mycenae on the north west, Corinth on the north, Poros, Ermioni and Porto Heli on the south. The village is actually right by the sea and it has a small port where boats and yachts moor in summer. With their small lights on, these yachts look beautiful in summer nights.
Ancient (or Palia) Epidaurus seems to be alive only in summer, because of the many hotels that have been built there. Choose a hotel at the port, not in the inner streets, to have the best view when you wake up in the morning. Surrounded by much greenery, the village is adorable.
The only bad thing is the beaches: there are no good beaches, except for the small beach called Nisi on the right of the port. The beach on the left is too rocky and might have urchins. Yalassi beach is also quite good but not that relaxing and the road there is too narrow.
Also, you will be annoyed by the sphinx that will bug you everytime you seat to have a coffee or a meal. The greenery around are mostly pine trees and they gather many sphinx. Ask the waiter to give you some coffee to burn in an ashtray. It really gets them away!
If you follow a paved path through orange and olive trees on the right side of the port, you will find the Small Theatre of Epidaurus. It actually looks as if it was buried under the yard of a house, as an old house lies next to its entrance. This was first excavated in the 1970s and excavation works still go on. Some plays and musical concerts are presented there in summer.
The ancient site of
Epidaurus lies about 15 km from the village, close to Ligourio town. The highlight of this site is the theatre. It is very big and has great accoustics. Someone actually dropped a coin in the stage and we could clearly hear it, seating in the last upper row. The museum was smaller than I expected, only two rooms with few findings. The site of Asklepieion was not that impressive, but still interesting.
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