Hydra tours carry travellers from Athens across the Saronic Gulf to a harbour town where no cars run. For trips to other islands, see our tours in Greece page.
This page covers what Hydra tours include, how they reach the island from Athens, the harbour and the lanes of the town, the beaches, the island’s shipping history, the cruises that add Aegina and Poros, and whether one day is enough.
What do Hydra tours include?
Hydra tours are day trips and cruises from Athens to Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands. Tour pages pair a return boat ride with free time in the port. Extras include swimming, a horse ride or a walk.
Hydra tours come in five forms, and each one fills the day differently. You can compare more trips on our tours and cruises page.
- Hydrofoil day trips take the fast boat from Piraeus, then give free hours to explore the island.
- One-day cruises call at Hydra among other islands and give a short stop in the port.
- Boat tours of the coast sail around Hydra with stops along the shore.
- Walking tours stroll through the port town, and one is led by a local historian born and raised on the island.
- Private tours are booked for one party, and two day-trip pages in our sources list their trip as private.
Time ashore differs. One day-trip listing shows arrival in Hydra at 10:30 and departure at 16:25. A one-day cruise page gives an hour and a half in the port. A boat tour of the coast runs six hours, from 11:00 to 17:00. Its operator says the captain can alter or cancel the cruise in bad weather.
Inclusions in Hydra tours change from page to page. One day-trip listing includes boat tickets and hotel transfers but leaves out food, drinks and a tour guide. Another lists an English-speaking tour leader, hydrofoil seats, a horse ride and a sea-taxi to a beach. A cruise page adds a free audio tour of the stone mansions.
One day-trip page lists a lunch stop at a seaside taverna, with the meal not included. If a guest skips the horse ride, the same page swaps that time for more free time. It also says autumn and winter plans can change.
Hydra tours suit families and walkers. One boat operator says its tour is built for families of all ages. It asks guests to bring a towel, sunscreen, a hat and swimwear. A local boat company also carries hikers to walking routes on Hydra. For other islands, see our Greek island destinations.
How do Hydra tours reach the island from Athens?
Hydra tours depart from Piraeus, the harbour of Athens, and head south through the Saronic Gulf. One travel video calls the trip a 90-minute hydrofoil ride. Wikipedia puts the sea route at about 37 nautical miles, or 69 kilometres.
From the heart of Athens, Piraeus lies eight kilometres to the southwest, beside the Saronic Gulf. Wikipedia calls it the chief port in Greece and ranks it fifth for passengers among European ports. Its central harbour serves commercial shipping and passenger shipping alike.
Hydra tours sail through a gulf that belongs to the Aegean Sea, framed by the Attica and Argolis peninsulas. Greater Athens spreads along its northern shore. In 480 B.C., near Piraeus, a Greek fleet beat a much larger Persian force at the Battle of Salamis. In these waters, groups of short-beaked common dolphins congregate.
Hydra tours use fast boats, and the sources name three kinds.
- Hydrofoils and catamarans: Wikipedia says these high-speed boats run from Piraeus to Hydra, stopping first at Poros.
- Cruise boats: a one-day cruise page says its boat docks at the harbour of Hydra.
- Ferries: one ferry company lists Piraeus, Poros and Hydra in a row on its route. Wikipedia says its fleet has high-speed craft and conventional ferries.
Crossing times depend on the boat. One tour page puts Hydra about 1.5 hours from Athens, and another says less than two hours. Hydra tours with a hotel pick-up start early. One listing shows a pick-up in Athens at 8:15 and a hydrofoil at 9:00. It warns that times are approximate.
What do Hydra tours show in Hydra town?
Hydra tours show the crescent-shaped harbour of Hydra town, with restaurants, shops, markets and galleries around it. The mansions of the old sea captains ring the water. A number of them now serve as museums and schools, and the island’s cathedral stands on the quayside.
Wikipedia describes the harbour as a crescent, with a strand of restaurants, shops, markets and galleries for tourists and locals. Hydra tours that dock in the harbour put you on the waterfront at once. One cruise page says you can walk the waterfront and admire the stone mansions on leaving the boat.
The Tsamadou mansion stands on the left as you enter the harbour. Wikipedia says the Tsamados family donated it to host the Greek Maritime Academy. Another tour page says it houses the School of Merchant Marine. Wikipedia also dates the island’s first school for mariners to the seventeenth century.
- Wikipedia says the Athens School of Fine Arts counts the Tombazis mansion among its buildings.
- The Kountouriotis mansion today operates as a branch museum, linked to the National Museum of History.
- Collections of eighteenth-century island furniture sit in the Voulgaris, Sachinis, Kriezis, Boudouris and Miaoulis mansions.
- The church received a house above the port, built for the Tsamados family, to use as a weaving school.
- One cruise page offers a self-guided audio tour of the stone mansions, free to use.
Hydra tours that walk the lanes pass houses that are now museums. One tour page says the highest mansion on the port holds the Historical Archives of Hydra. It adds that art exhibitions, festivals and seminars are organised there in summer. Another page says homes once owned by figures of the independence struggle are now museums.
One of the Hydra tours by boat starts at the main port, where guests meet under the Big Clock tower. Wikipedia names two arts venues on the island. The Deste Foundation is a private art museum with a Hydra branch. Every summer the Hydra Performing Arts Festival brings free dance and theatre productions to the Hydrama Theatre and Arts Centre.
Wikipedia lists six Orthodox monasteries on the island, along with churches. The cathedral is the former monastery named for the Dormition of the Virgin, on the quayside. It holds a huge silver chandelier that Napoleon gave the island. Profitis Ilias and Ayia Efpraxia overlook the main harbour from a hill. Browse the Hydra photo gallery before you sail.
How do Hydra tours work on an island without cars?
Hydra tours work on foot, because the island bans wheeled vehicles. The ban reaches e-bikes, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and cars, Wikipedia says. Public transport means water taxis, horses, mules and donkeys. The only motor vehicles on Hydra are rubbish trucks.
Wikipedia adds that cars and motorcycles are barred by law. It calls the inhabited area so compact that the majority of people walk everywhere. One tour page calls donkey riding a traditional means of transport on the uphill and downhill paths. Another says small boats and water taxis leave the port and make a tour around the island.
On Hydra tours, the stone streets rising from the harbour are steep, Wikipedia says. The bulk of the local homes and the island’s hostelries stand along them. One tour page describes marble-paved alleys and seaside paths. Another says hiking trails lead to monasteries on the slopes of the hills.
One walking-tour page lists a short walk, an art walk, a treasure hunt and VIP tours. It says the tour leader is a historian born and raised on Hydra. It describes a relaxed stroll that links the history of Greece and of the island to your surroundings. The talk covers piracy, trade and the War of Independence.
One cruise page tells visitors on a short stop to walk the narrow streets near the harbour. It adds that the harbour, stone houses, donkeys, boats and sea views lie a short walk from the dock. It names waterfront cafes near the port for a rest. So Hydra tours that dock in the port keep the walk short.
Among Hydra tours, one day-trip page lists a horse ride through the cobbled streets as optional. It says the time turns into extra free time on the island if a guest skips the ride. The same page ends on foot in the side streets, where you spot artists’ workshops and boutiques. Read the general information about Hydra before you go.
Which beaches do Hydra tours stop at?
Hydra tours stop at different beaches, depending on the trip. A short harbour stop keeps to the rocky swimming spots near the port. A full day adds beaches such as Plakes, which guests reach by water taxi.
A travel site calls the beaches of Hydra generally rocky. It adds that water taxis and small boats leave the port and call at beaches around the island. Operators of Hydra tours name these places:
- One cruise operator allows about one and a half hours on the island. It says Spilia and Hydronetta lie within walking distance of the main harbour and have rocky platforms for swimming.
- The same operator says Avlaki Beach is also close to the harbour, but it needs a slightly longer walk.
- It says Vlychos and Mandraki take more time on foot or by water taxi, so they suit longer stays.
- A private day trip lists Plakes Beach, which has sun-loungers and umbrellas and is reached by sea taxi.
- A boat operator based on Hydra describes Bisti as an organised beach with turquoise water for playing in the sea.
- The same boat operator describes Agios Nikolaos as an organised beach with fine pebbles and clear water.
Among Hydra tours by boat, one operator lists a six-hour tour with sea caves and coastal stops. It asks guests to bring sunscreen, a towel, a hat and swimwear. The private day trip asks for beach towels too, because Greek beaches do not provide them.
The boat operator based on Hydra also lists short or one-day trips to beaches. It adds trips around the island and between islands. Its fleet has three speedboats and one traditional wooden boat. Wikipedia says a fire in a heat wave spared the woods near Molos, Bisti and Agios Nikolaos. At Mandraki, Wilhelmina’s Art Gallery holds contemporary art exhibitions.
The season matters for Hydra tours that include a swim. One cruise operator says the sea stays warm enough for swimming in September and October. The summer crowds thin out then. It says winter is not swimming season. It gives April to October as the time for coastal walks and sailing.
What does the history of Hydra add to Hydra tours?
The history of Hydra adds a story of ships and sea captains to Hydra tours. In the nineteenth century, Hydra had 10,000 sailors and about 125 boats. The captains’ mansions around the harbour show that wealth.
Wikipedia reports signs of farmers and herders on Hydra from the later part of the third millennium B.C. It adds Mycenaean-era aqueducts that supplied ships with water. A plague late in the eighteenth century killed a large part of the population. Hydra tours visit an island that had 16,000 inhabitants at the time of the Greek Revolution.
The soil on Hydra is infertile, so the islanders took to the sea. Later the Hydriots sailed under Russian colours and moved cargo between southern Russia and Ancona and Livorno in Italy. Ships from Hydra carried food to France through the British blockade.
A walking-tour operator says its Hydra tours also tell of pirates, merchants and the War of Independence. In that war, the island gave about 150 ships along with supplies, and its part was critical. Its fire ships cost the Ottoman fleet heavy losses. Hydra, Psara and Spetses together took control of the eastern Aegean Sea from the Ottoman Empire.
- Admiral Andreas Miaoulis commanded the Greek naval forces in the war. His bones lie under a large bronze statue that overlooks the port.
- The richest sea captain on Hydra was Lazaros Kountouriotis, the biggest funder of the Greek War of Independence.
- Leonard Cohen, a songwriter from Canada, bought a house on Hydra. Two of the songs he wrote there are “So Long, Marianne” and “Bird on the Wire”.
Hydra tours in the last week of June coincide with the Miaoulia Festival. It commemorates the naval victories led by Miaoulis. It ends with a staged scene at sea that shows the burning of an Ottoman armada. A firework display follows.
After independence, the island gradually lost its maritime position. The fleet no longer had its Russian-flag privileges, and the old shipowning families did not foresee the steamship age. Sponge fishing then became the mainstay of the island until Egypt banned fishing along its coast.
How do Hydra tours combine Aegina and Poros?
Hydra tours that add Aegina and Poros stop at three islands in one day. One operator lists Poros first, then Hydra, then Aegina. It gives about 50 minutes of free time on Poros.
Aegina sits 27 km from Athens, inside the Saronic Gulf. Wikipedia ties the island to three things: the temple of Aphaia, the pistachio crop and a pilgrimage site of St. Nektarios. On Hydra tours of this kind, Aegina comes last. The operator offers an optional excursion to the temple, or time in the main town.
Poros is two small islands joined by a bridge, in the gulf’s southern part. From Piraeus, Poros is about 58 km away. Its town rises in tiers up a hillside, and its landmark is a clock tower. Old pine forest covers large areas in the south and centre.
The one-day cruise to the Saronic Gulf islands covers the same waters. Wikipedia gives forty minutes by hydrofoil from Piraeus to Aegina, and about an hour by regular ferry. It adds that the Attic mainland blocks part of the summer Meltemi wind from the gulf. Short-beaked common dolphins also gather in these waters.
The Hydra, Poros and Aegina day cruise shows how Hydra tours join the three islands in one day. Wikipedia counts Hydra among the Saronic Islands. Only a narrow strip of water divides it from the Peloponnese. Aegina and Poros are main inhabited islands of the same group. Wikipedia notes that Poros is a popular weekend trip for Athenians.
For sailings that go beyond the gulf, read about Greek islands cruises. Wikipedia counts the gulf as part of the Aegean. It lies between the Attica peninsula and Argolis. Piraeus sits on its northeastern edge. The Corinth Canal runs out into this gulf at its eastern end.
Is one day enough for Hydra tours?
Yes, one day is enough to see Hydra town, and Hydra tours are built around that day. One private day tour page lists a stay of close to six hours on the island and calls its times approximate.
The island has hotels for a night or more. Wikipedia says the hostelries stand on the steep stone streets that lead up from the crescent-shaped harbour. A cruise that also visits Poros and Aegina gives 1.5 hours on Hydra, one operator says. Hydra tours of that kind are short calls. For a longer stay, see the hotels on Hydra.
A longer stay adds walks and coves. A travel site says walking routes climb to monasteries on the hill slopes and run down to coves for swimming. One operator says Vlychos and Mandraki beaches suit visitors who stay longer. Reaching them takes longer, on foot or by water taxi. For a night on the mainland first, browse Greece hotels.
Hydra tours by boat also depend on the weather. One boat operator says its captain can adjust the itinerary or, if needed, cancel the cruise for safety. Another operator says its itinerary can change in the autumn and winter months.
One private day tour starts and ends at Piraeus. It lists a 09:00 boat and an 18:00 return. Hydra bans wheeled vehicles, including bicycles, scooters and e-bikes, Wikipedia states. It also describes a drivers’ route: the secure car park at Metochi, then a 20-minute passenger ferry. Use car hire for the mainland only.
Hydra tours are one part of a wider trip. Wikipedia notes the island depends on tourism and that Athenians are a sizable share of its visitors. One operator recommends April to October for sightseeing, coastal walks and sailing. Plan the rest of your days with the Greece travel information page.
What else do travellers ask about Hydra tours?
Why do Hydra tours visit an island named after water?
The island’s name is built on the Greek word for water. Wikipedia links it to the natural springs found there. The ancient form of the name was Hydrea, and locals who spoke Arvanitika said Nidhra.
Now the island is almost dry and relies on boats to bring in water from the mainland. A desalination plant has opened too, and local people save winter rain in tanks under their homes.
How big is the island that Hydra tours visit?
Wikipedia gives the island of Hydra an area of 49.6 square kilometres. It counts 1,900 residents in Hydra port, the main town, and 2,070 in the whole municipality. Small hamlets include Kamini, Palamidas, Episkopi and Molos.
Hydra tours visit the larger of the two main islands in that municipality. On the other, Dokos, which covers 13.5 square kilometres, Wikipedia names monks and sheep herders as the only residents.
A National Geographic Traveler panel of 522 experts ranked Hydra highest of any Greek island, Wikipedia says. It placed the island 11th out of 111 islands worldwide.
Which mainland coast lies across the water from Hydra?
A slim stretch of sea keeps Hydra apart from the Peloponnese, Wikipedia says. The Peloponnese is both a peninsula and a region of southern Greece. The Isthmus of Corinth links it to the central mainland.
Off its east coast, the Argolic Gulf stretches roughly 50 km by 30 km, with Nafplio as its main port.
Around the sixth century B.C., says Herodotus, Ermioni, a mainland port, owned the island. Ermioni then sold it to Samos. Today Ermioni is a municipal unit of Ermionida, a municipality in Argolis that covers 421 square kilometres.
What sets Spetses apart from the island that Hydra tours visit?
The Argolic Gulf has Spetses at its entrance, Wikipedia says. Its whole municipality covers 27.1 square kilometres, which is less than Hydra island alone. Piraeus sends regular ferries and fast hydrofoils to Spetses.
Private cars cannot enter the town of Spetses, the only large settlement. Walking trails around the island add up to about 25 to 30 km. Its ancient name, Pityussa, describes an island rich in pine trees. Today’s name is taken from a Greek noun for spices and herbs.
What is the climate like for Hydra tours?
Wikipedia describes the climate of Hydra as hot and semi-arid. It puts the yearly mean temperature near 20.4 degrees Celsius and the yearly rainfall near 390 millimetres.
The hillsides of Hydra are rocky and bare, while the valleys hold pine forest and the odd farmhouse. Wikipedia lists wildflowers such as cyclamen and poppies, plus cypress and olive trees. It names rabbits, feral cats and goats among the mammals, and partridges and quails among the birds.
To plan Hydra tours around the weather, ask us about a trip to Hydra.