Today, I want to share some notes on and photos of an end-of-season trip I took to the special little Greek island of Hydra. It’s a magical place – cars aren’t allowed, even bicycles are banned! With no choice but to walk or travel by horse and donkey, you’re forced to slow right down and explore every tiny detail. A holiday on Hydra feels like what I imagine Greece was like in the 1950s when life was slower, cheaper. It seems not much has changed here since Sophia Loren filmed Boy On a Dolphin back in the 1950s, apparently – except house prices.

An Off-season trip to Hydra, Greece

How to get to Hydra

We flew from London to Athens and took a boat from the port to Hydra. It’s a pretty place to arrive into, the town is set around a natural harbour shaped like an amphitheatre and steeped in old whitewashed mansions once homes of wealthy sea merchants. There’s not a big development in sight thank you to its national monument status.

Where to stay in Hydra

Some of the mansions have been turned into little independent guest houses like the charming Hotel Miranda built in 1810. This is where the Ellie & Co team chose to camp out for a week. We also ate our body weight in Greek yoghurt and honey each morning for breakfast and watched town life play out on the streets from the little picture-window seat in our room.

Wandering around Hydra

So, what is there to do in Hydra if you’re forced to slow down and do nothing? Well, it’s easy to spend a few days getting lost in Hydra’s maze of marble-paved alleyways and little stairways, exploring, peering through gates, around corners, imagining which houses you’d buy… if only you won the Lottery.

American singer, Leonard Cohen, had the right idea buying a place on Hydra in the 1960s when houses cost just $1500. Obviously,  I played the fantasy house-hunting on holiday game. After some Googling, I found out that today they go for around EUR500K.

Another beautiful cobbled street. I can’t stop taking photos, help!

Don’t miss a look inside Rafalias, a local pharmacy whose interior is pretty much the same as it was when it opened in the 1850s.

Village hopping in Hydra

Another nice day out is to follow the coastal path east to a little village called Kamini, taking in the view across to the mainland Peloponnese before hitting up the… taverna. Obviously!

Hydra mansions

The intriguing red and yellow crumbling mansion I could spy from my table at Kodlenyia Taverna needed closer inspection after my Greek salad lunch.

Turns out this faded once-opulent port-side mansion belonged to a wealthy Greek publisher. Today, it’s used as a storage place and clubhouse for local fishermen who like to sit outside on benches discussing their catch of the day and playing drafts, and who also let us have a look inside.

Secret beaches in Hydra

Along with cars and big fancy hotels, sandy beaches you won’t find either on Hydra which keeps mass tourism at bay, but there are still lots of pretty pebbly swimming spots dotting the coastline to hang out on, like this one…

… and this peaceful gem of a deserted beach which we discovered a little further on from Kamini, hiding along a narrow path and down some steps, sheltered by pine trees with no one else on it.

Restaurants in Hydra

With all this walking and exploring, naturally food was a high priority with our best meals found in Hydra’s backstreet restaurants, like Taverna Gitoniko – an unpretentious and authentic family place with its unintentionally Instagrammable decor not to mention delicious souvlaki…

… and Krifo Limani, known as Hydra’s secret restaurant, set up a dark pathway which opens out into a quirky flower-filled courtyard…

And then there was Taverna Paradosiaco which served up delicious heaped plates of fried courgette with tzatziki. So good I pretty much wanted to eat it for lunch and dinner daily.

My Hydra address book and notes

We stayed at Hotel Miranda – stylish, affordable, close enough to the harbour and centre of town so you don’t have to walk far from the boat, but far enough away from the crowds, too. Our fave restaurants were Gitoniko, Krifo Limani, Paradosiako and Isolos (for great coffee and people watching).

I hope you enjoyed your armchair visit to Hydra! Have you been to Hydra? If so, do you have a tip to share?

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