A Greek island within easy reach of Athens

[Flopponasunbed]

planning a last minute holiday to a Greek island this month.

Would love to hear your ideas or recommendations. Does anyone know somewhere that fits this bill?

looking for somewhere with beautiful beaches/ water
within easy reach of Athens ( up to 4 hours ferry)
nice relaxed vibe
an affordable, but decent hotel with pool in a small walkable town or village.
a few nice restaurants, but nothing OTT. Local restaurant vibe.

don’t want somewhere that we need to drive everywhere. Don’t want the hassle of finding somewhere to park etc. but also not keen on being somewhere and having to depend on taxis.

Want to be able to have a lazy, relaxed holiday- no sightseeing. Maybe couple of shops, or a cute harbour / town centre to potter around.

might do a day sail and some snorkelling. Paddle boarding would also be fun.

not looking for busy nightlife, but a couple of nice bars would be ideal

Many years ago I went to Poros and it was exactly what you describe. I caveat this was a very long time ago so pls check it has not changed but it should fit the bill

Yes came to say Paros also

Chryssi Akti Hotel, Batsi, Andros. Two hour ferry from Rafina (which is only 20 mins from the airport). Batsi is only about 15 mins from ferry port.

We stayed in Rhodes and then took the overnight ferry to stay in Athens a few years ago....
That worked really well ....

We went last year to Aegina.It's a beautiful island known for producing pistachios, a few hours' ferry ride from Athens. A lovely little harbour town and we had a great holiday.

Hydra is gorgeous and traffic free , only donkeys -but doesn’t have great beaches - nicely upmarket - we’ve been 7 times - only 1 hr 30 on the fastcat - spetse just below it also good

I was going to say Poros! Went last year for a wedding and it was just as OP describes.

Aegina.

I loved Hydra, while the beaches are stony the swimming is lovely. And a really nice vibe.

This sounds like just the holiday I'm looking for. I wonder would Greece be any good in October half term if i dont like the actual hest but like sunny? Otherwise one for next may for sure!

Following! Fir what’s its worth, Spetses is beautiful and walkable and may tick the box

It was pretty hot last October half term - but the locals did imply it was unusually warm. It was full on T-shirts, shorts, sunglasses, hats and suncream and careful of the midday sun for us - but we had specifically chosen to do that time of year, as summer months too hot for us to want to sightsee. I’m sure Google said average temps was UK T-shirt and jeans weather.we stayed in the port next to Athens and did a ferry trip to a nearby island for the day. Was fabulous holiday.

What was the vague cost if you don't mind me asking? Want to go this October but dh is saying flights alone will be £2k

I just got back from skiathos. So tiny, very walkable. Lovely beaches. Also loved naxos and paros which are a bit further. You can fly quite cheaply to skiathos or ferry from Athens

I went to Poros 36 years who and went over to Athens on the hyrdofoil.

aegina or agistri

I think the med has been unusually warm in Autumn the last couple of years. I know a friend who went a few years ago end of sept and it was windy in Greece with torrential downpours everyday! It generally tends to turn from late sept onwards. You just take your chances I guess. Personally I would go at May half term instead.

Thanks so much for all these replies.

i had been looking at Paros/ Hydra but have never been to either and its always hard to judge from hotel websites.

Will take a look at aegina and agistri as haven’t seen those pop up.

a pp mentioned Skiathos and it looks amazing, but think flights there really crank up the price. The ferry looked doable but think it’s a couple of hours drive from Athens which starts to feel a bit too much hassle.

we’ve got the flights to Athens already ( they were reasonably cheap) and reckoned a ferry might be fun!

So looking to spend about £1500 for a weeks accommodation for 2 adults.

that seems to get a reasonable 3/4 star place in August. That is a hotel with pool in good location.

and have only gone that high as it’s last minute. For Hydra there are places that are ££££s so that looks cheap in comparison.

lots are much cheaper though. My partner really wants pool access. But if you don’t want that, there are lots of lovely places ( clean, simple B&B ) for £500 for whole week

i think much cheaper in October too.

on flights- try skyscanner. If you don’t mind taking 2 budget flights, it can be much cheaper

This is a goody OP - and has a pool which is quite a rarity on those islands - spetse also has main town and a lovely old port 10 minutes away by donkey or buggy !! And an amazing beach just beyond that - it’s also easy to go to Hydra on fastcat ( 15 minutes) or over to Porto heli on Greek mainland ( 6 minutes) - it’s also really highly rated - £1239 a week Late august

Check out Kastro Hotel on Booking.com! https://www.booking.com/Share-7Z0EgO

We’ve been to those islands lots of times and I can recommend .

Now I want to go to Hydra 😆🤣 >starts new list on tripadvisor<

It was just under £3k all in. We needed two hotel rooms though as 5 of us so you could do it cheaper if all staying in one room. We stayed in the port Piraeus to keep costs down but it’s anny easy tube ride into anthens annd gave us some where else to sightsee in the evenings . It worked well. We just caught a ferry from the port to nearest island so I wasn’t expecting much but it was lovely. I think if we did it again we would have stayed in an 3 bed apartment. That’s what we’re going this Oct half term in Italy and that’s also come to just under £3k. We use an amazing travel agent. Their service is amazing. We live the other end of the country now but still use them (and really appreciate them now - after a 5 min walk into our local travel agent!).

I’ll let you know how the holiday goes!

@Flopponasunbed Do. I could happily spend the rest of my days holidaying in Greece and all the surrounding islands. Beautiful place. Have a great time.