The drive up to Delphi from the Athens airport was easy, with good roads and little traffic. We took 75, an express toll road – around 10 Euros total – north and then 48, a slower but pretty mountain road, over to Delphi. The total trip took about 2 hours and 20 minutes without stops.
Delphi is an attractive small town perched on the hillside just past the archeological site and museum. The Sanctuary of Athena, the most photographed site in Delphi, is free and is the first site you reach before entering town. If the sunlight is nice and there are no tour buses parked in front you may want to consider stopping there on your way into town.
Pitho Rooms
Pitho Rooms, highly rated on Tripadvisor, is located on the lower road in town. (There are only two main roads – a high road that loops around and then becomes the low road – both are one way.)
Rooms are simple but with convenient amenities such as a water boiler and toiletries. Sheets are newish and very soft and there is a quiet balcony off the back. The bathroom is small but functional. Wifi is reliable but not super-fast.
George is super-efficient and accommodating even for a short one night stay. Breakfast isn’t until 8:15 because he waits for the fresh bread to arrive. I wanted to get to the archaeological site when it opened in the morning to beat the tourist groups, so he offered to have breakfast ready for us at 7:45. We had to settle for toasted day old bread but it was still great. I’m sure the fresh stuff is awesome.
Breakfast is a nice selection of cold items including cold cuts and cheese, yogurt and canned and preserved fruits. The sour cherries are a homemade house specialty and delicious. Muesli, milk and of course very fresh Greek bread along with some other pastry items are also available.
Taverna To Patriko Mas
Taverna To Patriko Mas has a Pleasant and lively dining room with great sunset views overlooking the olive groves and bay below.
This night the sky was especially beautiful with layers of moody clouds. Service is friendly and efficient and the food is OK, some dishes better than others. However, stay away from the local wine. The only bottles they serve are from one local winery and the pinot we tasted was one of the worst wines we have ever had.
We started with the grape leaves stuffed with rice, a nice but unremarkable dish. Don ordered the perch and I the pork fillet special. The fish was ok but not the freshest and the pork was a generous portion of three small fillets in a not so inspired agrodolce sauce served with French fries.
The best dish of the evening was the surprise dessert ordered by our friend George at the Pitho hotel, a chocolate and cream cake with a red current sauce.
Come for the views and ambiance, but don’t expect too much from the food.
May 19, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Greece page.