The cut through the Isthmus that separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece, opened in 1893 after attempts going back to antiquity. The road bridge at Isthmia is the usual viewing point.
Tip: Twenty minutes is enough. Pair it with Ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth to make a full morning out of the isthmus.
The citadel of Agamemnon sits half an hour south of the Nemea vineyards. The Lion Gate dates to around 1250 BC and the site, with Tiryns, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1999.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko
Tip: Go early in the day. The site has almost no shade and the queue for the Treasury of Atreus builds from mid morning.
The first capital of the Greek state, from 1827 to 1834, and the obvious place to sleep if you want a town in the evening. Stone streets under the Palamidi fortress, with the Bourtzi sea fort out in the bay.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko, Domaine Skouras bottlings from Malandreni
Tip: The road from Nemea runs past Malandreni, so a morning at Domaine Skouras fits neatly before lunch in the old town.
The archaeological site with the temple of Apollo, under the rock of Acrocorinth. Corinth controlled the Isthmus passage between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece and was the commercial hinge of the ancient south.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko
Tip: Drive up to Acrocorinth after the site. The castle gate is a few kilometres above the village and the view takes in both gulfs.
The theatre built around 340 to 330 BC inside the sanctuary of Asklepios, where the god's patients watched performances. The Athens Epidaurus Festival has staged summer productions on the same stone since the 1950s.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko
Tip: The longest of these drives, so make it a full day. Summer performance nights fill the road back towards Nemea after midnight.
A mountain lake inside the NATURA 2000 network, fed by Mount Zireia, with the Environment Museum of Stymphalia on its shore covering the wetland and the old crafts of the basin.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko
Tip: The museum opens daily except Tuesday, 10:00 to 18:00 from March to mid October, and the ticket is six euros.
The plateau site above Vasiliko, with a theatre, a gymnasium and a small museum housed in a Roman bath. The producers association lists it among the sites within an hour of the Nemea vineyards.
Pours: PDO Nemea Agiorgitiko
Tip: Quiet enough that you may have the theatre to yourself. Combine it with the drive down to the Corinthian gulf coast.