Corinth Canal Greece

Travelled:268km tolls €6

Stay: Lagkadia-roadside area N37.6872 E22.0048

Visited: Corinth Canal, Nafplio Greece

A quick coffee and we were off by 7am out of Piraeus. 

Evidence of the fires that were here in July

 

The traffic flowed well as we passed the port area and then onto minor roads, hugging the coast line all the way to the Corinth Canal.  It was eventually completed in 1893 but has never been an economical success. It is 6.4km long and connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea and has no locks. It was supposed to save ships from having to navigate around the Peloponnese coast, however due to its narrowness of 21m, it is impassable for modern ships. Other navigational issues was the wind caused by the high cliffs and the strong currents due to the differing tides in the bays. There were also periodic closures beacause of landslides of the unstable cliff walls. It suffered badly during the World Wars and since 1948 has mainly been a tourist attraction.

The Aegean Sea end of the Corinth Canal. On the far right was a submersible bridge .

View of canal looking towards the Corinth Bay

View of canal looking towards Aegean Sea.

That’s the bridge we were standing on.

This was a different option to love locks! Not very attractive.

We continued on to Nafplio a pretty and touristy seaport town. 

Along the way we spotted a hill top fort.

Plenty of olive trees...

And people working in an archeological site.

We parked in the port parking area and strolled into the quaint old quarter. 

We picked out a restaurant for lunch and enjoyed some grilled octopus and sardines. 

Unfortunately the day was incredibly hot and there was not much shade on offer so we decided to head West for the hills in hope of some relief.   After turning off the motorway we took R#74 and passed a few villages that were built on a steep hillside and narrow roads. As it was getting late we stopped on a wayside next to the road but still hard a peaceful and cool sleep.