Is Spetses Worth Visiting?

Spetses was the first Greek island to raise the flag of revolution against Ottoman rule in 1821, led by Laskarina Bouboulina, the only woman in world history to hold the rank of naval admiral.

Spetses sits at the southern edge of the Saronic Gulf, and the island has banned private cars for decades, so horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, and water taxis carry visitors between Dapia, the main harbor paved with black and white pebble mosaics, and the Old Harbor, where traditional wooden boats called trechandiria are still built by hand. The Bouboulina Museum occupies her 300-year-old mansion in the town center, its guided tours often led by her own descendants, and the Museum of Hatzigiannis Mexis, housed in another grand 18th century mansion, holds relics from the War of Independence alongside archaeological finds spanning more than four thousand years.

The Poseidonion Grand Hotel, built in 1914 in a style modeled on the Carlton in Cannes, has hosted royalty and shipping magnates since it opened and remains the social center of the island, and the Anargyrios School, a grand neoclassical building where the novelist John Fowles once taught, inspired the setting of his novel The Magus. Every September, the island reenacts the 1822 naval battle of Spetses with a full scale replica ship set alight in the harbor and fireworks that draw crowds from across Greece.

Pine forest covers much of the island's interior, running down to a coastline lined with beaches like Agia Marina, close to town, and Zogeria Bay, quieter and reachable by dirt road, along with Bekiri's Cave, where local women and children are said to have sheltered from Ottoman raids and where snorkelers now swim among the rock formations. A coastal road of about 29 kilometers circles the island and makes it well suited to cycling for anyone wanting to see the full stretch of pine and shoreline.

Spetses connects to Piraeus by high speed ferry in around two to two and a half hours, with a short hop to Kosta on the mainland putting Nafplio and the Peloponnese within easy reach. It suits travelers who want real history, car-free calm, and a level of polish that draws Athenians back season after season, and two to three days give the mansions, museums, and beaches enough room to unfold.