A front-row view of sea, bridge and city

The Medieval Castle of Patras, built in the 6th century AD on the ruins of the ancient Acropolis and just 800 metres from the coast, is the natural first stop for anyone wishing to discover the city's history. The journey continues through the picturesque alleys of the Upper Town, which spreads out below it, perfect for wandering at your own pace. Along the way, you'll find the restored Roman Odeon, predecessor to the Herodes Atticus Odeon in Athens, the 19th-century Church of the Pantokrator, the Roman amphitheatre dating to the 1st century AD, the Hammam, and the old Hospital of 1857, now home to a cultural centre.

The squares of Patras, together with the city's pedestrian streets, are a chapter of their own. King George I Square, the vast central square with roots dating back to the era of Kapodistrias, remains the timeless heart of the city's activity. Here stands the Apollo Theatre, built in 1872 by the renowned architect Ernst Ziller, its interior modelled on Milan's La Scala, alongside the seven-storey Mansion of Letters and Arts, home to the Press Museum and the Museum of History and Ethnology. Psilalonia Square, once home to the summer residences of the city's wealthy families, St. George's Square in front of the Roman Odeon, and Olga's Square, where the poet Kostis Palamas, author of the Olympic Hymn, played as a child since his house, now a museum, stood right beside it, complete your journey through the history of Patras.

Just a 20-minute drive from Achaia Beach, across the Rio-Antirrio Bridge, Nafpaktos waits with its Venetian harbour, one of the most atmospheric in Greece, watched over by a castle from above. Morning coffee under century-old plane trees, an evening drink looking out over the waters where the Battle of Lepanto was fought in 1571 - one of history's great naval clashes, where the allied European fleet halted the Ottoman advance. The Fethiye Mosque of 1499 is now an art space, while a statue of Cervantes, who fought and was wounded here before writing Don Quixote, is a quiet reminder that some places mark history in ways you'd never expect.