Aegina island located only 17,5 nautical miles from Piraeus is the ideal place for weekend or a daily cruise but and a favourite summer resort.

Just 6.5 km. from the port, opposite the monastery of Agios Nektarios, there is a low hill covered with the ruins of the abandoned city of Palaiohora. This was the capital of the island from the 9th to early 19th century. Crowning the summit are the remnants of the medieval castle where the population sought refuge during pirate raids. In its heyday, Palaiohora could survive, many with memorable wall paintings.

Another interesting landmark is the monastery of the Virgin Chryssoleontissa on the road to Marathon. Dating from 1600, this monastery is built in a style reminiscent of the fortified monasteries of Mount Athos.The church possesses a splendid carved iconostasis.

Apart from antiquities, the island has much to offer in the way of sandy beaches for sun worshippers and swimming enthusiasts, along with delightful fishing villages, and a richly varied landscape.

South of the capital is the seaside village of Marathon, followed by the fishing port of Perdika (9 km.). From Perdika small boats ferry visitors to the picturesque islets of Angistri and Moni, ideal spots for enjoying nature, solitude and relaxing pursuits.

The most popular resorts on the Aegina island are Agia Marina, Souvala, and Perdika.

Hydra a barren, rocky island has become a cosmopolitan artists's centre in recent years.

For artists and art lovers generally, Ydra is both meeting place and showplace.The galleries scattered throughout the port offer somethink more than carefree relaxion by the sea.

The town which is the centre of the whole island, is built amphitheatrically, around the port. It looks glamorous like an art-paint, with grey, white and blue colours above the blue of the sea, an exemplar of architectonics and aesthetics. Right and left from the entrance of the port, there are the parapets with the canons, which protected the city.

On the island you will enjoy romantic walk in the narrows, graphical, paved alleys. Generally, Hydra is famous for the calm life is offers to the visitors in the day, but also for the intense, cosmopolitan life, in the night. Bar, pub, disco, with foreign-Greek music and reverly till the morning.

Poros (55km (31 nautical miles) SW of Piraeus ) shares the gentle, rolling landscape of the adjacent Peloponnesian coastline, and has several good beaches, some decent tavernas, and a lively summer nightlife.

As someone once said, "Geography is destiny": Poros (the word means "straits" or "ford") is separated from the Peloponnese by a narrow channel only 370 meters wide. This makes the island so easy to reach from the mainland that weekending Athenians and many tourists flock here each summer. In fact, there's a car ferry across the straits almost every 20 minutes in summer--which means there are a lot of cars here.

If you wish, you can use the island as a base for visiting the nearby attractions on the mainland, including Epidaurus, ancient Troezen (modern Trizina), and the lemon groves of Limonodassos. In a long day trip, you can visit Nafplion (Nafplio), Mycenae, and Tiryns.