Katakolon to Olympia

[IvanaV]

We will be cruising on MSC Orchestra from 24 April. One of our ports of call is Katakolon. Do you have any advice on the best way to get to Olympia? Train, bus???

Edited April 5, 2016 by IvanaV

[aunty waff]

Hi we did this port in 2014...We booked on a private tour which was ok...We were on a coach with other cruisers...However we were the only English speaking members of the group so we didn't get an English guide to go into olympia with us which was disappointing. ..but he did refund part of our money and we still had a good day. ...Unfortunately I can't remember who we went with. ..sorry!!

[margbem]

Walk round the corner from the port and rent a car from Avis. Easy journey to Olympia. We copied Rick Steeves's walking guide and got there before tour busses. Amazing!

[LTC]

We were in Katakolon in October and took the bus to Olympia. Caught the bus across the street from where the ship docked, there are signs to show you where to go. It was 8E each return and took about 30 minutes each way. We got the bus just before 11am and the bus dropped us off in the town of Olympia. It was a 5 minute walk to the Olympia site and we had 2 hours there before the bus picked us up. We had a guide book with us and saw quite abit in that time frame, even saw the museums. It was very, very hot and this was Oct 8th so at least for us 2 hours was the right amount of time to spend there.

[juanita1767]

We were in Katakolon in October and took the bus to Olympia. Caught the bus across the street from where the ship docked, there are signs to show you where to go. It was 8E each return and took about 30 minutes each way. We got the bus just before 11am and the bus dropped us off in the town of Olympia. It was a 5 minute walk to the Olympia site and we had 2 hours there before the bus picked us up. We had a guide book with us and saw quite abit in that time frame, even saw the museums. It was very, very hot and this was Oct 8th so at least for us 2 hours was the right amount of time to spend there.

 

I see that you are from NS, what other ports were you in and what advice can you give. We are going to the following ports in Sept and Oct

Kotor, Corfu, Piraeus, Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Santorini, and Katakolon.

[IvanaV]

Hi! We are leaving tomorrow so when we come back, I will post advice I have!

[tassietravellers]

We were in Katakolon in October and took the bus to Olympia. Caught the bus across the street from where the ship docked, there are signs to show you where to go. It was 8E each return and took about 30 minutes each way. We got the bus just before 11am and the bus dropped us off in the town of Olympia. It was a 5 minute walk to the Olympia site and we had 2 hours there before the bus picked us up. We had a guide book with us and saw quite abit in that time frame, even saw the museums. It was very, very hot and this was Oct 8th so at least for us 2 hours was the right amount of time to spend there.

 

Hi, were there regular buses back to Katakolon or just the one time?

TIA

[John Bull]

Hi, were there regular buses back to Katakolon or just the one time?

TIA

 

There's no regular bus service. The Katakolon Express is a service to get cruisers to Olympia and back at a pre-determined time. Can be pre-booked without commitment.

 

We rented a car from opposite the port gate (local operator). We pre-booked but without commitment (no deposit, no card numbers). If you don't arrive by the time of your booking they simply let the car go to a walk-up.

Cost about 45 euros plus 10 euros gas - about the same as four on the Katakolon Express. They give you a map, but the route is simple, parking is free. Good clean modern little car, worked out well.

 

JB :)

[tassietravellers]

There's no regular bus service. The Katakolon Express is a service to get cruisers to Olympia and back at a pre-determined time. Can be pre-booked without commitment.

 

We rented a car from opposite the port gate (local operator). We pre-booked but without commitment (no deposit, no card numbers). If you don't arrive by the time of your booking they simply let the car go to a walk-up.

Cost about 45 euros plus 10 euros gas - about the same as four on the Katakolon Express. They give you a map, but the route is simple, parking is free. Good clean modern little car, worked out well.

 

JB :)

 

thank you , very helpful information

[juanita1767]

Hi! We are leaving tomorrow so when we come back, I will post advice I have!

 

Thanks so much. Have a great cruise

[LTC]

I see that you are from NS, what other ports were you in and what advice can you give. We are going to the following ports in Sept and Oct

Kotor, Corfu, Piraeus, Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Santorini, and Katakolon.

We were on our cruise the same time. We took this cruise twice so most of these ports we have seen twice.

Corfu..the 1st time we just spent most of the time in port walking around the old town.The 2nd time we took a private tour, I think it was with Nikos, found him on Trip Advisor and toured the whole island in a 4 hour tour. It's a beautiful island and thought the tour was great.

Piraeus... see if anyone in your roll call is interested in a private tour. We got 12 people together and got a private tour, sorry can't remember with who.. and had a wonderful full day tour seeing the sights. Saw more than on a ships tour and at a much cheaper price.

Mykonos...been here 3 times. 1st 2 times just took it easy and walked the town stopping in the restaurants. Last time took a very good tour from the ship going to Delos. We were going to go by ourselves but there were alot of cruise ships in that day and we thought we may have trouble getting back in time so took the cruise ship tour. Glad we did because the tour guide was wonderful and told us a lot of info that otherwise we may not have gotten.

Dubrovnik... here twice and both times walked the wall. Took a shuttle from the ship that drops you off by the wall. You can do this very easy by yourself. There are walking tours that you can take of the walled city which was also very good.

Kusadasi... go to Ephesus. Here twice, took a ships tour of the terrace houses and a private tour the 2nd time. Private tours are the way to go as once again you see more and it's much cheaper than ships tour. Ephesus is awesome, don't miss this place.

Santorini...the 1st time we took a wine tour from Safowi which was excellent. The 2nd time we went back to one of the wineries (used a taxi) for mezes and wine tasting and then went back to Fira to walk around, shop etc

Katakolon...1st time walked around the town, wasn't much. The 2nd time caught the bus to Olimpia. Easy to do by yourself and Olimpia is well worth seeing.

Hope this is some help to you.

[Shetlander]

We were in Katakolon in October and took the bus to Olympia. Caught the bus across the street from where the ship docked, there are signs to show you where to go. It was 8E each return and took about 30 minutes each way. We got the bus just before 11am and the bus dropped us off in the town of Olympia. It was a 5 minute walk to the Olympia site and we had 2 hours there before the bus picked us up. We had a guide book with us and saw quite abit in that time frame, even saw the museums. It was very, very hot and this was Oct 8th so at least for us 2 hours was the right amount of time to spend there.

 

We have always used one of the tourist offices in Katakolon. The museum is definitely worth visiting and my tip is that if it's busy (as it was last summer) then pop along to the museum first and buy your combined ticket there . . . . as there were no queues there when we were there last summer!

[IvanaV]

Unfortunately I can't say anything about this port because we skipped it. We couldn't sail out of Bari due to strong wind so we spend the day at sea. Very disappointed.