A Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise from Athens takes one day to see three Saronic Gulf islands from the water. Compare the options, then browse tours in Greece for more ideas.
This page covers what the cruise is, how the day runs, the start point and length, the island order, Hydra, Poros, Aegina, lunch on board, and what to pack and ask.
What is a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise, and how does it work?
A Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise brings you to three Saronic islands on one big boat. The ship leaves Athens, sails across the gulf and serves a buffet lunch on board. You get free time ashore on each island.
A Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise runs on a large ship that carries hundreds of passengers. The ship has a main lounge and open decks. Staff gather guests in a lounge for a talk about the ship, the programme and the islands. On one published programme, a live orchestra plays in the main lounge as the ship leaves the port.
Lunch is a buffet served while the ship sails between the islands. On the sail home, a show of traditional Greek music and dancing entertains the guests. Free time ashore suits a stroll, a coffee or shopping in the island harbours.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise has no stops for swimming from the ship. The focus is on the islands and the coastal views. Extra island tours are not part of the basic ticket, and guests buy them on board. Examples are a walking tour in Hydra and a drive across Aegina.
How long is a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise, and where does it start?
A Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise fills about 12 hours. Boarding is in the early morning and the return is in the evening. The ship leaves from a marina along the Athens coast, which guests reach by coach, taxi or tram.
Cruise pages give the length as about 11.5 hours on one page and about 12 hours on another. Boarding at the marina starts around 7:00 to 7:30 am. One cruise lists a 7:30 am departure, and another lists an 8:00 am departure.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise sails from a marina on the Athens coast. Which marina depends on the cruise. Pages name Flisvos Marina, Trokadero Marina and Marina Delta Kalitheas. These are different places, so check the one on your ticket. All three are reachable by tram or taxi from central Athens.
Where a cruise offers a transfer, a coach collects guests at hotels or meeting points and drives to the port. On one published programme, the coach makes a short tour of Athens while it picks up other guests.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise finishes where it began. The ship is back around 7:15 pm on one published schedule, and between 7:00 and 7:30 pm on another.
In what order does a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise visit the islands?
Islands come in three orders, and each Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise follows just one of them. One schedule calls at Hydra first, then Poros, then Aegina. The other two start at Poros or at Aegina, so check which one you book.
Distance explains the first plan. Aegina lies 27 kilometres from Athens. Poros is about 58 kilometres south of Piraeus, and Hydra is 69 kilometres from Piraeus. So the ship sails to the farthest island first and ends the day at the nearest one. That schedule lists about one hour and 15 minutes of sailing from Hydra to Poros.
Swapping the islands changes only the order of the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise. One page lists Poros, Hydra, Aegina, or Aegina, Poros, Hydra, and says the stay on each island stays the same. Another page says operators can swap the ends: Poros opens the day and Aegina closes it.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise lists Hydra at about 1.5 hours and Poros at about 50 minutes. Aegina gets up to two hours. One page gives Hydra and Aegina 1.5 to 2 hours. It puts Poros at 45 minutes, or up to an hour on certain cruises. Poros is the shortest stop on every page that lists times.
What does a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise show on Hydra?
Hydra is a car-free island with a crescent-shaped harbour. A Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise stops there for about 1.5 hours. Stone mansions climb the hillside above the quay, and donkeys take the place of cars on the steep lanes.
The law keeps wheels off the island. Not one car, motorcycle, scooter, bicycle or e-bike is allowed. The only motor vehicles on Hydra are rubbish trucks. People travel by horse, mule, donkey or water taxi. The town is so compact that walking is the normal way around.
The harbour curves like an amphitheatre, a shape that once sheltered Saronic pirates. Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise passengers find restaurants, shops, markets and galleries along the water. At the harbour entrance, on the left, the Tsamadou mansion now houses a Maritime Academy. Other captains’ mansions hold eighteenth-century island furniture.
The cathedral stands on the quayside and was once a monastery, the Dormition of the Virgin. It holds the tomb of Lazaros Kountouriotis. Hydra’s richest sea captain, he put all his money behind the Greek War of Independence.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise leaves about 1.5 hours here. One page calls that enough for the harbour and a coffee, but not for the beaches. A quick swim at Spilia is a five-minute walk west. Another page describes an optional walking tour of about 45 minutes, bought on board.
What is there to see on Poros during a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
Poros gets about fifty minutes from the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise. Poros is small and green, and its town rises up a hill crowned by a clock tower. The time suits a stroll and shopping.
Among the three islands, Poros is the smallest one. A narrow sea channel separates it from the Peloponnese. It is about 200 metres wide, and the town of Galatas faces the island across the water. Passengers head ashore at the colourful capital, Poros Town.
The clock tower is the main landmark. It is the first thing passengers on the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise see as the ship approaches. Fifty minutes is tight, so travellers who want the view from the top must climb the hill quickly.
Poros is really two islands joined by a bridge. The town stands on Sphaeria, the small volcanic southern part. Kalaureia, the larger northern part, holds the ruins of a Sanctuary of Poseidon on a hilltop. In the south and centre, old pine forest spreads over wide areas.
Behind the short stop of the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise lies real history. Its strategic position gave Poros an important part in the Greek Revolution. Under Venetian rule, it held about 15,000 inhabitants and ranked among the largest cities in Greece.
What does a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise show on Aegina?
Aegina is the biggest of the three islands that the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise visits. Time ashore is between ninety minutes and two hours. Passengers walk the harbour town, buy pistachios or take an optional trip to the Temple of Aphaia.
Aegina town has a working harbour, neoclassical buildings and pistachio shops. Pistachio is the crop the island is known for, and Aegina pistachios have PDO status. Two-thirds of the island is an extinct volcano.
On a hilltop, about 13 kilometres by road from the main port, sits the Temple of Aphaia. The trip there is optional on the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise, and tours and entrance tickets are paid separately. The Doric temple dates from around 500 BC, and it still stands, though its roof has fallen.
The temple trip takes about an hour of the stop, so travellers choose between the temple and the town. J. M. W. Turner and other artists loved the temple. Its carved gable figures now stand in the Glyptothek in Munich. An on-site museum shows parts of an older temple.
The Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise also reaches a place of firsts. Aegina became Greece’s first capital when the new state was founded. The Kapodistrian building recalls the country’s first Governor, Ioannis Kapodistrias. The island is also a pilgrimage site for St. Nektarios, whose convent church has two tall bell towers.
What are the lunch and the time on board like on a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
The buffet lunch comes while the ship cruises between the islands. The rest of the day on board is music, open decks and a lounge. Back at sea, a Greek folk show closes the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise.
Lunch is a buffet of Greek and Mediterranean dishes, with fresh salads and desserts. One published schedule serves it right after the ship leaves Poros. At least one operator lists vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free menus on request, ideally asked for at booking.
After boarding, crew members explain the ship, the programme and the islands in a lounge. A live orchestra plays international music, and open decks give room to watch the coast. One Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise timetable lists 1 hour 15 minutes at sea from Hydra to Poros.
Activities on board include cocktails with music, dancing and a Greek dance lesson. After the last island comes the folk show, with dancers in local costumes from all over Greece and bouzouki music. Other pages also place the show on the sail back.
One operator’s FAQ says its regular Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise has no swim or snorkel stops. Free Wi-Fi covers the second deck of that ship. A travel writer calls the included lunch decent. The writer says you can skip it for a fish taverna on Aegina or Hydra.
What is the Saronic Gulf, and why do the three islands suit one day out from Athens?
The Saronic Gulf is the water between Attica and Argolis, and Athens stands on its north coast. Hydra, Poros and Aegina lie in and beside it, so one Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise can reach all three.
Distance is the first reason. Aegina lies 27 kilometres from Athens. Poros sits about 58 kilometres south of Piraeus, and Hydra lies about 69 kilometres from the port. These distances let a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise fit three ports into one day.
All three are getaways for people from Athens. Poros is a popular weekend destination for Athenian travellers, and Athenians form a sizable share of Hydra’s visitors. Aegina is forty minutes from Piraeus by hydrofoil, or about an hour by the regular ferry.
Sailing is popular on the gulf. The Attic mainland gives it partial shelter from the summer Meltemi. Out in the Aegean islands to the east, that wind can reach force 7 or higher.
The water carries history too. In 480 BC the Athenian-led Greek fleet beat the larger Persian force in the gulf, at the Battle of Salamis. The same gulf carries the Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise.
What else do travellers ask about a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
How do season and weather affect a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
Daily sailings run throughout the year, says one travel site. Operator advice is written for summer: light cotton clothes, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. A second operator page adds a wind-stopper. Keep a sweater or jacket for the evening, because of possible humidity or a light breeze on the deck.
Weather decides the plan at sea. One operator page says its times are approximate and shift with the weather. One travel site says high winds can skip the Hydra stop. It calls this rare and adds that operators can offer a substitute or a refund.
Which clothes and gear fit a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
Casual dress works aboard a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise, and one operator allows swimsuits only on the sun decks. A hat, sunglasses, high-factor sun lotion and a swimsuit go in the bag. One operator page says its regular cruise has no swimming stop. Sports shoes or low heels suit island walks, climbs and steep stairs.
Cover your shoulders and skip shorts at religious sites. Bring your own prescription medicine and a spare pair of glasses, because an island pharmacy cannot promise your medicine. One travel site also advises bringing cash for shops, tavernas and site entry fees.
Can children, older travellers and slower walkers join a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
Families are welcome, says one operator page, which calls its cruise family friendly. Another page says its entertainment team keeps children amused aboard a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise. Baby age limits differ: one page bars babies under six months, another under three months.
Hydra has restaurants, shops and galleries around the harbour, and steep stone streets climb away from it. Three operator pages ask any guest who needs help to travel with a companion. One adds that wheelchair access varies by boat and availability is limited.
Is there a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise every day, and what is the cancellation rule?
One travel site says these sailings run daily but fill up. It advises booking one to two weeks ahead in summer. Operators set their own cancellation rules. Two pages return everything you paid if you cancel at least a day before the trip.
A third operator page uses a scale. A full refund or open ticket runs up to 30 days before departure. The charge then rises, and the last six days bring no refund. If weather cancels a sailing, one operator offers rescheduling or a refund.
What do VIP class and hotel transfers add to a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise?
Standard tickets leave out hotel transfers, says one operator page. Another page offers a pick-up and return service at your hotel as an option. It has a separate option for coastline hotels in Voula, Vouliagmeni, Vari and Faliro.
VIP class on board a Hydra Poros Aegina day cruise adds private check-in with fast-track entry. The lounge brings a welcome drink and a separate dining room. One page adds unlimited water, filter coffee, soft drinks and Wi-Fi. Another adds a meeting with the captain on the ship’s bridge and a boutique discount.