3 Islands Tour from Athens: One Day Cruise to Hydra, Poros & Aegina
The 3 islands tour from Athens is the most popular day trip in Greece, and it has been for decades. Every morning, boats depart from Piraeus heading into the Saronic Gulf, stopping at three islands that, between them, cover everything that makes the Greek islands worth visiting: a car-free harbour town, a pine-covered strait, and an island with ancient ruins, pistachio trees, and one of the best-preserved temples in the country. The cruise departs early and returns in the evening, with a buffet lunch served on board between islands and live music on the return sail. If you have one day to spend on the water near Athens, this is how to spend it.
Hydra — The First Island
Hydra is the highlight of the 3 islands tour for most visitors, and the reason is immediately obvious when the boat rounds the headland and the harbour comes into view. The town rises amphitheatrically from the waterfront — stone mansions built by 18th and 19th century sea captains, whitewashed houses climbing the hillside, no cars, no motorbikes, no motorised vehicles of any kind. Hydra banned them decades ago and has never looked back. The only transport on the island is by foot, by donkey, or by water taxi.
The harbour is lined with cafes and restaurants that have been filling the same tables for generations. Walk ten minutes in any direction, and the crowds thin quickly — the stone-paved alleys leading uphill take you past the Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin, art galleries, and the kind of quiet that is genuinely hard to find on a Greek island in summer. Hydra has attracted painters, writers, and musicians since the 1960s — Leonard Cohen lived here for years — and the island’s particular combination of beauty and unhurried atmosphere makes it easy to understand why.
Allow yourself to walk rather than rush. The time on Hydra passes quickly.
Poros — The Second Island
From Hydra, the boat sails northeast to Poros, the smallest of the three islands, separated from the Peloponnese mainland by a strait barely 200 meters wide at its narrowest point. The view as the boat passes through — the town of Poros on one side, the pine-covered hills of the Peloponnese on the other, the water between them barely wide enough for two vessels — is one of the most distinctive in the Saronic Gulf.
Poros town is relaxed and walkable. The Clock Tower, built in 1927, is the island’s landmark and offers views over the strait from above. The surrounding pine forests and lemon groves give the island a distinct scent and colour that differ from the rocky landscapes of Hydra. The time on Poros is shorter than the other two stops — typically around 50 minutes — but enough to walk the harbour, have a coffee, and appreciate an island that has managed to stay genuinely local despite being so close to Athens.
Aegina — The Final Island
Aegina is the largest of the three and the most historically significant. It was the first capital of the modern Greek state in 1826, when Greece was newly independent, and Athens was still under reconstruction. The island’s main town retains that early 19th-century character — neoclassical buildings along the waterfront, a lively fish market, and the kind of unhurried port activity that has been happening here since antiquity.
The pistachios of Aegina are famous throughout Greece — the island’s volcanic soil produces a variety that is considered the finest in the country, and the waterfront shops sell them in every form imaginable. Take some back to Athens.
The unmissable stop on Aegina is the Temple of Aphaia, built around 500 BC on a hilltop above the island with views across the Saronic Gulf toward Athens. The temple is one of the best-preserved in Greece — 25 of its original columns still stand —and, along with the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, it forms what ancient scholars called the “holy triangle” of Attica. An optional guided bus tour from the port covers the temple and the island’s other highlights in about 45 minutes.
What’s Included on the 3 Islands Tour from Athens
The cruise includes a Greek-Mediterranean buffet lunch served on board between the Hydra and Poros stops, with wine, soft drinks, and coffee. The return sail from Aegina to Piraeus is accompanied by live music and Greek folk dancing — a final hour on the water that tends to be as memorable as the islands themselves.
The boat departs from Piraeus early in the morning — typically around 8 am — and returns in the early evening. Hotel pickup in central Athens is available as an optional add-on and should be arranged in advance.
The 3 islands tour from Athens is suitable for all ages and all types of travellers. It is also one of the best options for cruise passengers with a full day in Piraeus — the departure point is the port itself, the day is completely self-contained, and the return is timed well before evening sailings.
Book your 3 islands tour from Athens and spend a day on the Saronic Gulf the way it deserves to be spent.
