Spetses

Spetses lies at the southern edge of the Saronic Gulf, close enough to Athens for a two-hour hydrofoil ride yet a world apart in character. Private cars are banned from most of the island — the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages echoes through Spetses Town, where elegant captains mansions from the island 18th-century naval golden age line the waterfront. The Bouboulina Museum honours Laskarina Bouboulina, the female admiral who commanded warships during the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Nearby, the Poseidonion Grand Hotel, built in 1914 in Belle Epoque style, anchors the social scene. The island original name, Pityoussa (full of pines), endures — two-thirds of Spetses is still covered in Aleppo Pine forest, threaded by 65 kilometres of designated hiking and cycling paths. The south coast hides exceptional beaches: Agia Paraskevi sits in a pine-backed cove, Agioi Anargyri stretches as the longest strand, and nearby Bekiri Cave rewards swimmers who enter through a narrow opening with a stalactite-draped grotto. Each September, the Armata Festival re-enacts the 1822 Battle of Spetses with fireworks and a mock ship burning in the harbour.