Nafplio, the Argolid & Epidaurus

Nafplio does not divide into areas, because the accommodation does not: the old town below Acronauplia is where you sleep, and it is a few streets deep. Venetian and neoclassical facades, marble paving, the Palamidi fortress on the rock above with its long flight of steps, and the Bourtzi sitting on its islet in the harbour. Greece's first capital, and still the prettiest small town on the mainland.

Everything else is a day trip. Tiryns is minutes away, Mycenae and the Lion Gate half an hour north, the theatre at Epidaurus — the one with the acoustics — under an hour east, and Nemea an hour, with the Agiorgitiko vineyards around it.

For swimming, Arvanitia is a small pebble cove at the foot of the old town and Karathonas the sandy one round the headland. Tolo, Drepano and Vivari, east along the bay, are where the family beach hotels and the fish tavernas are: a plainer, more ordinary holiday than the town, and a reason to drive out for lunch rather than to move.