Which Greek island? (only partly yachty)

DoubleEnder

DoubleEnder

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 Apr 2002
Messages
1,555
Location
N Hemisphere
Visit site
Amazingly it seems that at some time comparatively soon (in about 2 years inshallah, DV etc), we will be able to live 9 months of the year in Greece - a long held ambition. My wife and I will need a fast internet connection for work, and reasonable access to an airport with year round flights to the UK, which I guess is Athens.
We'd like it to be reasonably social etc - which I guess it will be if it is close to Athens. We were thinking of Saronics, maybe Hydra? Any views?
The plan would be to keep only a small boat, a weekender, so huge harbours and marinas not necessary.
I guess also it doesn't have to be an island, but my (still limited) experience of Greek roads tells me that to find a good spot on the mainland puts us too long a drive to Athens. From Hydra the fast ferry is about 90 minutes to Piraeus I think. But there may be mainland spots that also have fast ferry connections?
Just really started to think about it so all sorts of questions. But any opinions and experiences will be very gratefully received

Thank you
Graham
 
Hydra would not come high on my list, probably a very expensive place to live and an impossibly crowded harbour. There are several mainland options on the Flying Dolphin route, e.g. Ermioni and Porto Heli, where berthing a small boat would seem to be little problem, both have supermarkets and an attractive lifestyle but not so cut off as a small island would inevitably be.
 
The trouble with islands is the frequency of ferries/flights, especially out of season (early Oct to April). So, although ferries only take an hour or three, they only happen one or four times a day. Many islands also cost some 20% more than the mainland (quiet ones) to 40% more (popular tourist destinations). There are exceptions to this - parts of Crete, Syros.

Buses are excellent, so most of the Peloponese (for example) is within a four hour bus ride of Kiffisou (the Athens bus station) which itself is about an hour and a half from the airport (about the same onward time as arriving at Piraeus ferry terminal). Towns with 50,000 population plus (Kalamata, Tripolis, Navplion, Patras) have hourly buses to Athens.

Comparing places in Greece? Tour the three detail pages about Greece on my web site.
 
Greece

We have wintered in the past at both Porto Xeli and Ermioni, aand the experience has been pleasant. Ermioni is more "Greek", and Porto Xeli can be a rough harbour from time to time.
Both hve good connections to Athens.
Xios is nice and one has a ferry to Izmir for air travel
Skiathos is a bit too yuppy
Messolonghi is Greek and has buses to Athens.
 
Hydra is very swish and full of bijou boutiques but it's really just one town perched on a rock with nowhere else to go. Personally I'd go for Aegina, which is closer to Athens, more social and with a wider range of places to go around the island. For real getaway peace and quiet there's also a small off-lying island (?Angistri?).

The main downside is that it's the weekend getaway for lots of wealty Athenians, which can mean that the ferries are crowded at certain times, though if you're on foot this will be less of an issue than if you are queuing to get your car on a ferry.

Or there's Poros, as BobT says.
 
jhr said:
Hydra is very swish and full of bijou boutiques but it's really just one town perched on a rock with nowhere else to go. Personally I'd go for Aegina, which is closer to Athens, more social and with a wider range of places to go around the island. For real getaway peace and quiet there's also a small off-lying island (?Angistri?).

The main downside is that it's the weekend getaway for lots of wealty Athenians, which can mean that the ferries are crowded at certain times, though if you're on foot this will be less of an issue than if you are queuing to get your car on a ferry.

Or there's Poros, as BobT says.
Click to expand...

Hi

I love Aegina spent the winter there when we had the boat in Jordans yard
The thing about Poros is it is only 200 meters away from the mainland where you can hire a car for 25 euros a day and travel to a lot of very interesting places.it only 3 hour drive away from Kalamata. 2 hours from Messelongi.You can do your exploring by car and make a decision where you would like to keep the boat:)
 
rtboss1 said:
Hi

I love Aegina spent the winter there when we had the boat in Jordans yard
The thing about Poros is it is only 200 meters away from the mainland where you can hire a car for 25 euros a day and travel to a lot of very interesting places.it only 3 hour drive away from Kalamata. 2 hours from Messelongi.You can do your exploring by car and make a decision where you would like to keep the boat:)
Click to expand...

I was going to add that there are some excellent boatyards on Aegina, but I ran out of steam! I've spent a few weeks there, courtesy of a friend of my late mothers who is a wealthy Athenian; she and her husband have a retreat on the island in Plakakia (sp?); a fabulous place, looking out to sea. Apparently the house once belonged to Nikos Kazantzakis, and he wrote parts of Zorba the Greek there.

The island is a great mixture of sophistication and simple charm. I remember once going to watch "Amadaeus" at the local outdoor cinema in Aegina Town. We turned up at the allotted time, only to find that the film was nearing its end. After about ten minutes, Mozart died, Salieri went mad and the lights went up. After a further ten minutes' pause for the audience to buy pistachio nuts and Seven-Up, the lights went down again and the film started from the beginning. At eleven o'clock on the dot, with about twenty minutes of the film still to run, the lights came up and everybody started leaving. We'd gone with one of our hostesses' daughters, who was bilingual and who started to remonstrate forcefully with the usher in Greek, fearing that she was a city slicker being taken for a ride by a hick from the sticks.

After several minutes of this debate, the usher turned to us to explain, haltingly, that the cinema had to stop at eleven because it was outdoors and the people in houses nearby needed to sleep. Then, with a crafty expression on his face, he asked us what time we'd arrived. We replied that we'd got there at the allotted time, as advertised in the local paper, only to find that the film finished ten minutes later. "Aha"! he cried, triumphantly, "Then you know what happens at the end"!

Priceless; you gotta love it. :D
 
Aegina

When we were last there in winter (about 1990) the harbour was not altogether safe in winter. But if the shelter has been improved (and it was so scheduled) then it would be good.
Are the floating greengrocers still there?
I had a tooth filled at the lady dentists there. Very successful. it is one of the few fillings I've had that lasted. When I got to the surgery, the lady was doing the washing. I thought she was the maid. Come to think of it, she probably was. Greeks hate to let anyone down
 
binch said:
When we were last there in winter (about 1990) the harbour was not altogether safe in winter. But if the shelter has been improved (and it was so scheduled) then it would be good.
Are the floating greengrocers still there?
Click to expand...

Shelter seemed to be not bad last summer, although the weather was good so not possible to assess properly. It was very crowded in September and many boats were unable to find a berth.

Yes, the floating greengrocers are there. The lady owner of one works hours that would kill most people! She is serving fruit and veg at 0500, after setting things up and is still serving at well past midnight, seven days per week. Despite this she is one of the most cheerful people imaginable.
 
I would also suggest Aegina

If you will stay in the winter I would also recommend Aegina. A lot of islands basically close down in the winter.

Aegina is 40 minutes by hydrofoil from Piraeus and the hydrofoils run about every hour (more frequently in summer) plus there are numerous daily ferries. The last one is about 19:00 - 20:00 so you can't have a night out in Athens thought.

The island is lovely with two green valleys, great walking in winter, and its own ancient site, the sanctuary to Aphaia. Many of the houses are weekend homes for Athenians but there is a healthy population year-round with some people even commuting to work in Piraeus.

There are a number of foreigners on the island but you won't find the huge ex-pat community of places like Corfu or Crete.

Three boatyards and all sorts of services for yachts. Mooring can be a problem but maybe we can come to some arrangement if you let us know how long you will be here for :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

J
Which Goose Neck ?
Replies
0
Views
131
JCPPH
J
P
which moisture meter?
Replies
19
Views
430
gjgm
G
O
South Coast - Cheap boating option
3 4 5
Replies
97
Views
3K
Chiara’s slave
Chiara’s slave

Share this page

Top