Map & Synopsis: Saronic Gulf Greek Islands Group

Saronic Gulf  Islands Group

These six islands are all within fairly easy reach of Athens, from less than an hour to five hours by slow ferry, with time cut roughly in half (and double the price) via the hi-speed boats, the latter also eliminating much of the pleasurable experience of being at sea and approaching an island.

These islands are rather different from one another, though there are wooded areas on most of them, and four of the five sizeable ones have beautiful harbors with neoclassical architecture.

Salamina

The closest Saronic Gulf island to Athens, Salamina can be reached from the port of Piraeus by a combination of short bus ride and a ferry ride of a few minutes (if one goes to the port of Paloukia). There are two other ports (Ambelakis and Paralia) which can be reached by ferry from Piraeus in 45 minutes. The southern part of this island is far more appealing than the northern, with the nice village of Eandio, which has a pebble beach, pine trees, some bungalows in summer, and the island's best hotel.

The monastery of Aghios Nikolaos is in the southeast near Kanakia, with buses to it from Eandio and another road to it from the resort of Peristeria. Salamina Town (also called Koulouri) is in the north, 3 km from the port, but also on the water, with no rooms or hotels, no vehicle rentals, and an unappealing beach. More attractive is the Faneromeni monastery, located in a piney area on a peninsula to the north, up above the gulf between Salamina island and the mainland city of Megara. The church features a truly amazing painting of the Last Judgement; there's a taverna nearby and places along the shore below to swim. Psili Ammos, the village to the east has a taverna by the sea. The island's highest peak is nearbly. The islands resorts of Perani and Paralia are on the east coast.

Aegina

Though there is a building boom going on in Aegina lately, it is surprising that a pretty island so close to Athens (1 ¼ hours by slow ferry, and 35 minutes by hydrofoil) wasn't totally ruined by tourism twenty years ago. As it is, the lovely neoclassical harbor town (also called Aegina) does get very crowded with both Athenians and non Greek tourists, and there are so many who commute either daily or at greater intervals from Athens that some have called it a bedroom community or suburb of Athens.

At the same time, there are still plenty of fisherman, who supply the wonderful fish market, many vegetable sellers, bakers, and local businesses of all sorts, run by people who live and work on the island full time, and some very lovely countryside that feels far from the busyness of the huge metropolis across the water.

Main sites, all located in the same heavily wooded hills in the northeast part of the island, include the large, recently built church of Greece's most recently canonized saint, Aghios Nektarios, the abandoned 9th century AD island capital of Palaiohora, said to have had 365 churches, (though only a few are more than ruins), and the 17th century convent of Khryssoliondissa, high on the mountain.

Perhaps most outstanding,however, is the Temple of Aphaia, dating from the 5th century BC, high on another pine covered hill towards the east coast, one of the best preserved ancient temples in Greece , with many of its columns still intact. The most traditional village on the island is in the same vicinity, where some of the locals make their own retsina, tapping some of the local pine trees resin.

Beyond it on the east coast is the main tourist resort of Aghia Marina, very much a package resort, and without clean water for all that its beach gets quite crowded. There's a ferry link to Piraeus here. The west coast resort of Perdhika is lower key, and a picturesque place set on a small bay at the end of the coast road 9 km from Aegina. Outside of the main town, it offers the most choices for non-packaged accommodation.

Across from Perdhika is Moni Islet (Monastery Islet), where there's an official EOT ( national Greek tourist organization) campsite. Though there's a preserve on the island for the wild (and endangered) Cretan mountain goat , there's also a small beach with trees and peacocks strolling around. The ferry over to it takes only ten minutes. Pistachio orchards dots the island, which is the pistachio capital of Greece, and the island in general has a sunny, fertile look to it, except for the rocky Mt. Oros in the south, the island's peak, at 532 meters. There's a chapel on top with great views of the island and much of the Saronic Gulf. Aegina is the home of the amazing Hellenic Wildlife Hospital in the vicinity of Mt. Oros, where sick and injured animals (mostly birds, though some mammals as well ) are brought or sent from afar, for rehabilitation and release, if feasible, back into the wild. Volunteers work there with the regular staff and visitors are welcome. As thousands of birds, many of them birds of prey, are injured by hunters annually, this hospital is one of the keystones of wildlife preservation in Greece. There is some fine walking paths on Aegina, with a very good books for sale in the local stores, written by a resident Englishman who leads walks on Sundays. Ask around for Gerald.

Angistri

A half hour by slow ferry from Aegina, this island to the west of Perdhika (and west of Moni Islet) has 700 inhabitants, most of whom are Arvanites, a Greek minority descended from medieval Albanians and some of whom still speak a medieval dialect called Arvanitika (as well as Greek).

Large areas in and around Athens (including on the island of Evia (Euboea) have historically had large populations of Arvanites. There are also Athenians and Germans there who have restored houses on the island. This small island, with pine trees, some fertile farmland and some beaches far quieter than those of Aegina, has attracted some British package tourism in recent years, and Angistri's northern coastline is packed with hotels and apartment buildings at Skala, below which is the island's only sandy beach. From Skala it's a half hour walk to the more secluded beach of Halikadha. Mylos (also called Megalhori), to the west of Skala, though attractive and traditional, has almost merged with Skala. There are some hotels and rooms here. Metohi village, above Skala, was once the main village on Agistri. Athenians and foreigners have restored all of its houses, and it is firmly residential, with no tourist facilities. The wide pebble beach of Draghonera on the west coast has wonderful views of the Peloponisian coast opposite. It is reached either on foot from Metohi, on a dirt road with many forks (bring a compass) that passes through pine woods and with fine views on the way. Limenaria, in the southeast part of the island, is a quiet farming village with a few rooms and two tavernas. Swimming is off of the rocks (no beach). There's a summer taverna a half hour walk from Limenaria on a path to the west that passes a salty lake, with views of the little islets of Aponissos and Dhoroussa from the taverna.

Poros

Slow ferries from Piraeus to Poros take about 2 ½ hours, with at least five a day in summer; hydrofoils take an hour, with about 7 running daily. Of the six Saronic Gulf islands, Poros gets the most package tourist trade of them all, though one can still find a room in its main town that isn't so expensive. The main harbor town of Poros are white with red tiled roofs, and rise up above the water on the steep slopes, a lovely town with cafes on the waterfront and fisherman selling their catch from their boats.

There are some nice churches and little squares, and an archaeological museum. A bridge across a man-made canal separates the little landmass on which it sits (Sferia), from the much larger Kalavria, where most of the big hotels are found not far from the bridge, but pine trees cover most of the rest, with an olive grove here and there, and a flat plain or two. Sights include a monastery with some good icons and a gilt iconostasis, a Temple of Poseidon (with little left of it). The best beaches are in found in small inlets. One can take a boat over to Galatas, on the Argolid coast of the Peloponisos (Peloponnese) in five minutes, with good bus access to Epidavros and Nafplio.

Hydra

The slow ferry from Piraeus takes about 3 ½ hours, hydrofoils 1 ½ hours. This is one of the places in Greece where concrete box-like-houses and apartment buildings cannot be built and deface the natural landscape, as Hydra island is a national monument, and protected by very strict building codes.

It is famous for its harbor with its 18th stone mansions, built by shipping merchants (and designed by Venetian and Genoese architects), rising up from the water on the hillsides. Nor can motor vehicles pull off of the big ferries onto this island, as there is a ban on all but the two garbage trucks that are far outnumbered by the mule and donkey teams that do most of the island's chores.

Densely crowded in peak season, advance reservations are essential. The waterfront is lined with cafes, bars and tavernas, the paving stones polished to a shine by the many feet that have traversed them. Accomodation tends to be pricey.

Escaping the crowds is not too difficult, with some stepped streets rising from the harbor, and some little squares and pretty lanes straight back, and there are many footpaths along the coast and across the inland hills, which are mostly rocky and dry, though some of the pine forest that burned in 1985 is coming back.

Hydra claims to have 365 churches, one of the most striking the Panaghia Mitropoleos, with its marble iconostasis, located near the harbor, and easily spotted by its clocktower, beneath whose archway is the entrance to the Byzantine museum. The big Miaoulia Festival is held on the third weekend in June, commemorating revolutionary hero Admiral Miaoulis, commander of the Greek navy during the War of Independence, who poured his personal fortune into the struggle and who once sent boats loaded with explosives floating towards Turkish ships, an act of daring celebrated in this festival by the burning of a boat on the water.

In late July the International Puppet Theater Festival is held on the island. Mandrhaki beach, the only sandy one near the harbor is a twenty minute walk; Kamini village is twenty minutes in the opposite direction, with swimming off the rocks, some accommodation, a restaurant and fish taverna.

Vlyhos, another village a half hour walk beyond Kamini, has three tavernas, rooms, a rocky beach, a little islet to which one can swim, and the closest freelance camping option to the main town. The small island of Dhokos is off the southwest tip of Hydra, where villagers gather olives and tend animals, though there's a beach and taverna, the latter opening for business if the caique owner who takes visitors there phones ahead. Other swimming spots are Bariami cave (near the main town), and coves with pine trees at Molos beyond Kamini. There are good walks to the monastery Moni Profitis Ilias, the Aghia Efpraxia convent, Aghia Triadha monastery, Zouryas monastery, to the summit of Mt. Eros, to the fertile plateau of Episkopi, the bays of Bitsi and Aghios Nikolaos (with a pebble beach), and to Limnioniza, also with a pebble beach in a cove with pine trees.

Spetses

Like Hydra, Spetses was a big ship building island and boasts elegant mansions built with shipping fortunes. Unlike Hydra, cars are not banned from the island, but if brought on from outside, cannot be driven in the main town. Despite noisy bikes, trucks and taxis, however, Spetses in quieter than the other Argo-Saronic islands, and with less package tourism than any of them, and it'a an excellent island for walking, biking and swimming.

The port and capital ( also called Spetses), is quite spread out, with several distinct neighborhoods. The main harbor and square are called Dapia, the square with some lovely white and black pebble mosaics. In this district is the Bouboulina museum, honoring the famous lady admiral, Laskarina Bouboulina, who scored many victories during the War of Independence, the Spetses museum, housed in an old mansion, one of its exhibits the bones of Laskarina Bouboulina, and another the 'Freedom or Death' flag raised in 1821. The Old Harbor district is 1 ½ km to the east, and one of the town's most interesting places. Everything from fishing boats to yachts and cruise boats are found there, along with kaikia (caiques), and behind the harbor are some houses. At Baltzia inlet, beyond the Old Harbor, kaikia are still being built traditionally. East of Dapia, good tavernas with reasonable prices can be found at Platia Aghiou Mamou and at Platia Limenarhiou, both of them east of Dapia.

A loop road encircles the coast of Spetses except in its western part, which is perfect for bicycle, motorbike or scooter, with a total distance of 25 km (15.5 miles). From about the center of the island down to the western coast includes the part of the forest untouched by the serious fires of 1990 and 2000, with some little wooded coves. The bay of Aghia Anarghyri on the west coast is very lovely, with a sandy beach, trees, two tavernas, bars, and Bekeris' cave nearbly, to which one can swim or walk.

The place is popular with water skiers (pulled by motorboats), so best go early or late in the day for greater quiet. A little to the north is Aghia Paraskevi cove, which is among the prettiest on the island, with a beach café and summer watersports. Zogeria, to the northwest, is also a nice cove, with a small beach, and a summer taverna. Up on the northwest coast is Vrellos or Vrellou (often called Paradise), near a wooded valley; Ligoneri , farther to the east on the north coast, has a taverna amid pine trees, with a beach below. On the east coast, Aghia Marina beach is a 20 minute walk from the main town , and has a good restaurant.