Hydra is full of contrasts and nice surprises! Cosmopolitan life is limited within its one and only tiny town. Solitude and tranquility reigns the rest of it. From a distance it appears like a huge dry rock projecting out of the sea, but in fact the isle still preserves much of its ancient forest! No vihicles are allowed on the island, which means no roads, no old paths destroyed! Mark Dubin, in his book "Greece on Foot", has two pages, one map, and two routes on the island. ISBN: 0-89886-117-9, The Mountaineers, 1986.

My favourite routes on Hydra:

Route I: Hydra town - Kamini - Vlychos - Episkope - Kaoumiti - Molos - Vlychos - Hydra town (6 hrs).
Quiet backcountry. Solitude, pine grooves, peasant life, beaches on your way. Episkope plateau, the site of the medieval town of the isle, today an abandoned, haunted place, converted into fields...

Route II: Hydra town - Agia Eupraxia and Prophetes Elias Monasteries (2 hrs).
A stiff climb up the cobblestone paths, through the woods, to the monasteries. Magnificent views!

Ascending from Hydra Town to the Monasteries of Agia Eupraxia and Prophetes Elias.

Route III: Hydra town - Zourva Monastery (aprox. 4 hrs).
These monasteries, on Hydra's northern tip, were built with the material of the demolished ancient greek temple of Poseidon, which once stood on the neighbouring island of Poros. Richard Chandler, an english traveller of the 1700, reports in his travelogs the shipping of the material to Hydra.
Once at the monasteries, don't just look for for a frieze or an inscription reused as a cornerstone: The temple's architectural fragments are not immediately recognizable, but covered under numerus layers of 'asvestes', a characteristic of the aegean architecture appealing picturesque to visitors. As it was common practice in the aegean, the 'asvestes' used for whitewashing houses and churches was often produced by converting the ancient marbles into lime...