The first capital, and the prettiest old town in Greece.

Nafplio was the first capital of the modern Greek state, and it still wears that history with grace — a romantic old town of Venetian and neoclassical houses below a great fortress, widely held to be the most beautiful town on the mainland.

Three fortifications guard it: the Palamidi, reached by a famous climb of nearly a thousand stone steps; the older Acronauplia on the headland above the town; and the little Bourtzi castle, set on its own islet in the middle of the harbour.

Below, the marble-paved lanes are full of cafés, ouzeries, ice-cream shops, and squares shaded by bougainvillea — Syntagma Square and the seafront promenade made for an evening volta, the slow Greek stroll taken purely for its own sake.

About an hour from the villa by car and a natural pairing with Mycenae or Epidaurus in a single day, Nafplio is the rare historic town that is also, simply, a delight to wander, eat, and linger in.

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