Katakolon - Anything to do or see?

Calling at this port next month but not really keen on visiting Olympia. Is there much to see or do if we stay in the vicinity of the port i.e. bars and shops etc?

Also, is this a tender port or will we dock?

Calling at this port next month but not really keen on visiting Olympia. Is there much to see or do if we stay in the vicinity of the port i.e. bars and shops etc?

 

Also' date=' is this a tender port or will we dock?[/quote']

 

If you don't visit Olympia I suggest you find another excursion as Katakolon is just a few blocks long. The shops are your usual tourist types. Even DW went through them pretty quickly. I didn't pay much attention to bars as I don't drink.

At the far end of town there is the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. As far as memory serves me it costs €2 to enter.

There is a guide (no charge!) who describes the various appliances and technologies and demonstrates some of them. Most of the exhibits are replicas, but they are interesting, specially if you are anyway at all mechanically minded.

Even if you don't visit the old stadium etc in Olympia, the MUSEUM there is excellent. Well presented, unusual and quirky pieces and very friendly. No where near as overwhelming as the Acropolis museum in Athens.

Olympia village has quite a bit of touristy shopping and at least one great restaurant "Aegean". There are lots of other eateries, but we had the nicest meal in 3 weeks in Greece at Aegean.

If that doesn't rock your boat, a few decent beaches are a short taxi ride away. Aghios Andreas or Leventochori beach are good. Restaurants and facilities are available.

Calling at this port next month but not really keen on visiting Olympia. Is there much to see or do if we stay in the vicinity of the port i.e. bars and shops etc?

 

Also' date=' is this a tender port or will we dock?[/quote']

 

Ships dock in Katakolon. It is just a small village, easy to walk around. Yes you will find some bars and shops. Apart from that maybe taking this tourist train to either the winery or the beach can be nice too. http://www.katakolon.org/tourist-fun-train.html

We had a nice lunch with Greek food and wine overlooking the ocean. It was a great do-nothing day.

Many years ago we had the most delicious grilled octopus On the waterfront in katakalon.

I still smile when I think of it.

A lovely little area.....

Helaine

At the far end of town there is the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. As far as memory serves me it costs €2 to enter.

 

There is a guide (no charge!) who describes the various appliances and technologies and demonstrates some of them. Most of the exhibits are replicas, but they are interesting, specially if you are anyway at all mechanically minded.

I couldn't agree more about the museum. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We bought a shuttle across the street from where we docked and bought our admission onsite at Olympia.

You are docked not tendered there.

We visited in 2015 and by far our favorite excursion was a trip to Mercouri Winery. It is a small family owned and run winery. Absolutely charming man is the owner, he was so welcoming. Gave us a tour of the older parts of the winery, out into the vineyards and the machinery. After all we went to a wine tasting under the trees overlooking the ocean. We had local meats and cheeses and more wine. We still talk about that day. The wine was fabulous!

We missed the train to Olympia in this port. We ended up sitting at an outdoor restaurant and using their WiFi. We had some delicious tzatziki!! There's nothing wrong with taking the mellow approach if that's what you want to do.

Ancient Olympia is such a special place - it would be such a mistake to miss it. Wooded and lovely to wander around. It is so easy to imagine what life was like, and entering through the stadium arch and running (or watching others run) across the stadium field is a memorable experience.

If you choose to just wander and sit in a shady spot you will still have an enjoyable day. All IMHO of course!

Ancient Olympia is such a special place - it would be such a mistake to miss it. Wooded and lovely to wander around. It is so easy to imagine what life was like, and entering through the stadium arch and running (or watching others run) across the stadium field is a memorable experience.

 

 

 

If you choose to just wander and sit in a shady spot you will still have an enjoyable day. All IMHO of course!

Hi Su,

How easy is it to DIY to Olympia? We are confident travelers but have not looked into distances from port to Olympia or how to get there. From these posts I’m thinking there may be a train?

Thanks for any info,

Libby

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I’m putting my two cents about Olympia. Yes it is very worthwhile. If you have any interest in Ancient Greek history whatsoever or even if you enjoy the modern Olympic Games, also art lovers because the airconditioned museum has many wonderful artifacts.

What I don’t recommend is trying to see the ancient site without a guide because you really need to hear some interesting information to bring what might look like a pile of rubble to some, to life.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi Su,

How easy is it to DIY to Olympia? We are confident travelers but have not looked into distances from port to Olympia or how to get there. From these posts I’m thinking there may be a train?

 

Thanks for any info,

Libby

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

At the end of the pier near the town you will find many buses offering return trips to Olympia. If I remember well we paid about E. 10 for a ticket. Driving time was about 1 hour (again if I remember well). We visited Olympia and had lunch in town before getting back to Katakolon.You can ask about what time they will return. For us this worked fine, after we returned we still had some time to walk around in Katakolon.

At the end of the pier near the town you will find many buses offering return trips to Olympia. If I remember well we paid about E. 10 for a ticket. Driving time was about 1 hour (again if I remember well). We visited Olympia and had lunch in town before getting back to Katakolon.You can ask about what time they will return. For us this worked fine, after we returned we still had some time to walk around in Katakolon.

Thanks Ine,

That is perfect. Sounds like we can make a full day of it. Every day ashore we like to pack in the action so an hour back to the ship will give us snooze time too!

Brilliant, thanks again,

Libby

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Olympic Traveller (see their website) has a 25 euro unguided trip to Olympia. I found it easy to explore and navigate without a guide, and as others have said the museum is also worthwhile. It is described at a 30-45 minute drive from Katakolon. We just grabbed a cab at Katakolon last trip; we toured ourselves and called the cab when we were ready to return. So it was a short, pleasant trip. And one of my very favorites places in Greece....

Olympic Traveller (see their website) has a 25 euro unguided trip to Olympia. I found it easy to explore and navigate without a guide, and as others have said the museum is also worthwhile. It is described at a 30-45 minute drive from Katakolon. We just grabbed a cab at Katakolon last trip; we toured ourselves and called the cab when we were ready to return. So it was a short, pleasant trip. And one of my very favorites places in Greece....

Thanks very much,

I have checked out the website and there are several tours on offer that I am interested in now.

Libby

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We have been to this port 4 times (1 was more then enough). Our last visit was a very long port day (ship was docked from 7 until 6) so we simply rented a car. We got a rental for less than $50 from a local rental outfit and then took our time driving over to Olympia where we renewed our acquaintance with the ruins. On the way back we stopped at a few small places and then drove over to the coast to check-out some of the beach areas (nothing impressive). We stopped at one beach and enjoyed a decent lunch at a cafe/restaurant with a sea view. Since we still have plenty of time we then stopped at the winery (mentioned in another post) and were not particularly impressed with their wines....but did enjoy roaming around some of their vineyards. Then it was back to Katakolon to drop our car and grab a beer at a local cafe before walking back to the ship. That entire day cost us less than $120 (total cost for 2) which is not bad for a full day driving excursion with lunch :). If we happen to return again we would either do another rental car day.....or perhaps just stay on the ship.

Hank

Ships dock in Katakolon. It is just a small village, easy to walk around. Yes you will find some bars and shops. Apart from that maybe taking this tourist train to either the winery or the beach can be nice too. http://www.katakolon.org/tourist-fun-train.html

Thanks for this link. Helpful site

We have been to Olympia and Katakolon on several cruises. We usually just take a taxi to the nearby beach. We have rented a car and driven further to another beach. We have had great Greek salads in town, so return in time for a late lunch.

Hi,

We will be stopping here on our cruise in October. We have rented a car and plan on taking a scenic drive around the area (have been told that driving in this part of Greece is very easy).

If we make a stop at Olympia, which we probably will, is it easy enough to purchase tickets once we get there? I’m hoping there won’t be long lines.

Since we’re going in October, we probably won’t be doing any sunning or swimming, any other recommendations of where we can go since we will have a car.

Thanks so much for your suggestions :)

Hi,

We will be stopping here on our cruise in October. We have rented a car and plan on taking a scenic drive around the area (have been told that driving in this part of Greece is very easy).

If we make a stop at Olympia, which we probably will, is it easy enough to purchase tickets once we get there? I’m hoping there won’t be long lines.

Since we’re going in October, we probably won’t be doing any sunning or swimming, any other recommendations of where we can go since we will have a car.

Thanks so much for your suggestions :)

We have driven (twice) to Olympia and never had any major line to buy a ticket. There is also plenty of parking. As to where else you can go, you can certainly explore some of the smaller towns and beach areas North of Katakolon and perhaps find a nice place for lunch. You can also visit the Mercouri Winery (not too far away from Katakolon) which is also a popular stop for many cruise ship tours. To be blunt, this winery would not attract tours if it were located in any place of the world that had a few wineries. But since they have little tour competition, and most folks have nothing better to do, its a place to kill a little time, taste some local wine (nothing worth tasting twice) and perhaps walk in the vineyards.

Hank

Ships dock in Katakolon. It is just a small village, easy to walk around. Yes you will find some bars and shops. Apart from that maybe taking this tourist train to either the winery or the beach can be nice too. http://www.katakolon.org/tourist-fun-train.html

Thanks for this tip! Do you know where we get on the tourist train from the port?

When I took the train in 2016 it was by a little park

This cruise we were docked close to town. Even if docked farther away, no problem.

Walked by the outdoor cafes facing the sea, walked a little and there was the train.

Easy to fine.

We just took a cruise a few weeks ago.

The 'fun" train is located at the end of the main road which is a very short walk from the port. I think tt was 6 euro roundtrip. It makes 2 stops - a winery and the beach. We took it round trip to the beach . This was a fabulous day and very inexpensive:)