I first read about Ancient Epidavros in John Humphreys’ book – Blue Skies and Black Olives. The size and scale of the theatre is staggering. The theatre is around 2300 years old and can accommodate around 12000 people! There is also a museum, the ruins of a bathhouse, a tholos tomb, temple, gymnasium and a stadium at the site.

Athens Epidavros Festival

Throughout the summer the Ancient Theatre hosts performances as part of the Athens Epidravros Festival. These are normally Ancient Greek tragedies or comedies and the performances are usually held on a Friday or Saturday. In 2026 Leashia and I saw the performance of Alcestis by Euripedes which was a wonderful experience. We arrived early and had a picnic on the grass outside the gates. We were in the lower tier and a cushion was provided, if you are in the upper tier I would recommend bringing something squishy to sit on. English subtitles are provided on a screen on either side of the stage which was helpful! Take plenty of water with you and be prepared for chaos when trying to get out of the car park at the end. We were staying in Nafplio so once we were out of the car park [which took about an hour!] it was only about a half an hour to drive back to our accommodation.

Archea Epidavros

Archea Epidavros is a village not far away which has its own small ancient theatre – The Theatre of Dionysus, it’s also known as The Little Theatre of Epidavros. The Little Theatre also holds performances during the festival.

The Sunken City

Continue to the coast and, if you are lucky enough to find a space to park, you can swim over ruins on the sea bed which are clearly visible. It’s not actually a city, it’s a Roman Villa, but Sunken City sounds so much more impressive! Watch out for the sea urchins and geese!

Here is my laughable attempt at being Jacques Cousteau using my mobile phone:

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