Question about Katakolon

[WhiteRockCruiser01]

I am thinking of seeing ancient olympia on my own and thinking about renting a car. Is the drive easy and are there any other places to drive to?

[John Bull]

Yes, that's what we did a couple of years back.

We rented from an independent local depot opposite the port gate - pre-booked but not pre-paid, set a collection time & if you don't arrive by then the reservation isn't held.

Avis & a couple others also have depots there.

A compact (4 was a squeeze) cost us about 40 euros, & 10 euros is plenty for fuel. Restricted free mileage (100 mls? 100 km?) but Olympia is well within that range.

So the total cost was marginally more than the Katakolon Express coach.

 

About a 30 minute drive, very easy, very simple, & they provided us with a simple little map.

Parking was free.

 

But we found precious little else to see in the area.

 

JB :)

[agabbymama]

There is the small town of Olympia close by the Ancient site, but there is also the Olympia Land Winery 2 Km from the site.

 

If you do a google search for the winery, there is a map and you can see the location and get directions from Katakolon and see how close it is to Olympia Ancient site.

 

Looks to be only one main road to both sites. I'm sure the rental car place will have a map, and if you have an interest in the Winery, they will be able to show you on the map how to get to it.

 

Have a great trip!

[Iluvcruising2]

I blogged about what we did for our day in Katakolon. We hired a driver to bring us around.

 

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2015/02/katakolon-greece-for-olympia.html

 

Indeed, there is nothing much else to see other than the ancient city of Olympia as well as the museum next to it. We visited some monastery, which had good views, but I'm not sure how important or significant that place is.

 

My 2 minute summary video.

[YOUTUBE]cPcXi0GYUX0[/YOUTUBE]

[bearette]

We rented the car from the same company, and added car seats for $5 euro. I liked this because it made the time longer at the site because the other buses were only giving 2 hours. The last hour we were in town we were pretty much alone and it allowed us some less busy times at areas within the museum ( very small) and Olympic grounds.

 

Very easy, only two or three turns to get there. Just pay attention on the way there. Not much to see in route, but in warmer weather could make a beach stop or the winery as previously suggessted.

[robbie21]

We also rented a car from the place across from the gate. Got off quickly and spent 2+ hours pretty much alone in the museum at Olympus before the busses arrived:D. When they hit the museum we went on to the ruins which were not all that impressive.

 

Museum is really great. Also stopped for a beer in the town. Very quiet and pleasant. As noted the drive was pretty easy.

[WhiteRockCruiser01]

Thanks for all your help. I will probably rent from Avis. I like to have the freedom of doing things on my time while in port. Is it necessary to obtain an international drivers permit? I currently hold a Canadian drivers license so not sure if I need it or not in Greece.