Hotels

Delphi has no shortage of lodgings; you can usually find rooms even in July or August. When tourists are few, you can often improve on the rates below. Still, if you want to be sure that you get a room in a specific price category (or with a view or a pool), it's best to make a reservation. With the growing popularity of skiing Parnassus, fewer and fewer of Delphi's hotels close for part of the winter, but summer is still high season here.

We've had good reports of Hermes Hotel, 29 Vasileos Pavlou (tel. 22650/82-318; fax 22650/82-639); Pan Hotel, 53 Vasileos Pavlou (tel. 22650/82-294); and its annex, the Artemis, 53a Vasileos Pavlou (tel. 22650/82-793; fax 22650/82-780; www.panartemis.gr). The little Odysseus Pension, 1 Isea (tel. 22650/82-235), has a garden and is a good budget choice (most rooms with shared bathroom). Three recently renovated hotels including the Delphi Palace, just out of the village, with pool and gardens; King Iniohos, on one of the upper streets; and Pythia Art Hotel, on the nonview side of the main street, are jointly managed and share a reservations number and website (tel. 22650/82-151; www.delphi-hotels.com). I no longer recommend the Hotel Vouzas, once the in-town hotel to stay at, because it has declined badly in recent years.

Tip: If you want a main street room with a view, be sure the hotel is on the side of the street overlooking the Gulf of Corinth and ask for a back room with a balcony that faces the gulf. You may not always see the water, but from your balcony you will almost always see the magnificent valley of olive trees that leads down to the gulf -- and avoid the traffic noise of the main street.

Notes on Wi-Fi -- Many hotels in Central Greece that currently have free Internet service are planning to have Wi-Fi soon. If this is important to you, check with the hotel before you check in to see what facilities it offers.