Island
A nice day trip from Athens. Take the ferry rather then the Flying Dolphin(hydrafoil) so you can relax and enjoy the scenery of the short trip. Aegina is the closest and you can sail to the main port or else the resort town of Agia Marina. Nice island for bicycling and the small coastal village of Perdika has some good seafood restaurants but should be avoided on weekends when it is busy with visiting Athenians. Visit the Temple of Aphaia above Agia Marina. Surprisingly Aegina is one island which has really retained it's 'Greekness'. Maybe because it is too close to Athens to be attractive to mass tourism. It is a great place to go in the winter and the off-season.
Angistri is a small island near Aegina with beautiful sandy beaches and a devoted following. Famous for being one of the first places in Greece to experiment with naturism, or in plain English it was one of the first islands to have a nudist beach, and in fact it still does. Some nice tavernas and the - famous Agistriclub Hotel, a favorite for people who have made a career of visiting Greece every summer, make Angistri an excellent place to stay and still be able to zip into Athens to see the Acropolis. The far side of the island is mostly agricultural and in the village of Limineria, named after it's lake, the inhabitants devote themselves mostly to farming and fishing. These islands near Athens are also a good choice for the winter months when weather is unpredictable and you don't want to be too far from Athens.
- Few beaches but great swimming off the rocks in the main port of Katapola. Many tavernas and nightlife. Most boats arrive at inconvenient times, (like three in the morning), which gives a traveler a strange first impression. The Northern port of Agiali has nice beaches and is more of a resort area and is also reached by ferry. The capital town or Chora is up in the mountains. The island grows on you. Fantastic Monastery of Chozoviotissa built into the wall of a cliff on the other side of the island from the port of is definately worth the trip. The small beach below is excellent for snorkling through a maze of
boulders that have fallen from the cliffs.