Hydra is the Island of Admirals and Artists. Looking like a rock inside the Saronic gulf has been a magnet for tourists since 1950. Hydra remains unique and still has fanatic friends around the world, keeps the cosmopolitan allure of the past companied with modern facilities. You can reach Hydra in an hour and a half with a flying dolphin from Piraeus port. Stepping at the island is like stepping in an different atmosphere. Stone mansions, hidden yards full of flowers, narrow alleys and no vehicle at all. In Hydra you go around either with a marine taxi or with the cute donkeys that you will see by the port. Hydra has all kind of hotels for you. The most it has to offer is tranquillity, beauty and balance.
If you are keen on walking Hydra offers routes on the mountain or by the sea. You don’t need a guide, you just have to follow the wooden marked paths and explore the nature of the island.
Apart from the port you can easily reach on foot, Kamini, Vlichos and Mandraki.
Hydra is deeply connected with painters like Nikos Xatzikiriakos-Gikas, Panagiotis Tetsis, Konstantinos Bizantios, poets like Miltos Saxtouris and nobel prize awarded Giorgos Seferis, Odysseas Elitis, also Henry Miller. The island is a timeless place of inspiration and its likely to come across a painter creating in an open space gazing at the magnificent view.
Special period of Hydra is during Easter time and in June while the fest “Miaoulia” are held (see more at Culture – Argosaronic Events ).
Hydra is popular among yachtsmen, its only 38 nautical miles from Athens.
You can reach Hydra though by car, driving to Metoxi, 2,30 hour from Athens and then with a ship you pass across in 10 minutes.
For more information: www.hydra.com.gr
