The horseshoe harbour of Hydra seen straight down from above, with terracotta roofs and moored yachts

Hydra · Towns & villages

Towns & villages of Hydra

Harbour towns, mountain hamlets and the places where island life still follows its own rhythm.

Hydra Town & the harbour

Hydra Town

A horseshoe harbour climbing in grey stone and white to the hills, with no cars, a few hundred mules and two centuries of painters

Hydra Town is the island's only real town and nearly all of its people live here, in a steep bowl of houses wrapped round a small, deep harbour on the north coast. The captains' mansions of grey stone sit on the slopes on either side, the whitewashed houses fill the gaps, and every street is a staircase. No car, scooter or motorbike is allowed in, so the sounds are of boats, bells, cats and the hooves of mules on the stone. Since the 1930s the town has drawn painters, writers and musicians, and its summer is still crowded with galleries and openings.

The harbour with its clock tower and bronze cannons
The Lazaros Kountouriotis mansion above the town
The Historical Archives-Museum on the quay
The DESTE Slaughterhouse on the cliff in summer
Swimming off the rocks at Spilia

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Hydra Town & the harbour

Kala Pigadia

The 'good wells' of the upper town, where Leonard Cohen and the expat colony of the 1960s lived among the island families

Kala Pigadia, 'the good wells', is a quarter in the upper part of Hydra Town, a steep walk up from the harbour, named after the old public wells where people once drew their water. In the early 1960s it was at the heart of a small colony of foreign writers, painters and musicians who had found that a house here cost almost nothing. Leonard Cohen bought one in 1960 and kept it for the rest of his life. The lanes are still residential, white and quiet, and the house is a private home, not a museum: come for the walk and the atmosphere, not for a sight.

The old wells that give the quarter its name
The lanes of the 1960s expat colony
Views down over the roofs to the harbour
A quiet walk away from the waterfront crowds

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Kamini & the west coast

Kamini

A fishing village twenty minutes' walk along the sea from town, with a pocket-sized harbour and tavernas facing west

Kamini is the little fishing village just west of Hydra Town, reached by a coastal path that hugs the rocks. Its harbour is a tiny basin of painted wooden boats, with a slipway, a few tavernas and a cluster of houses climbing up the dry stream bed behind. It feels a world away from the bustle of the main port and is the place many islanders choose for an evening meal. On Good Friday night the village carries its epitaphios, the flower-covered bier of Christ, down into the sea, a ceremony that draws people from all over the island.

The coastal walk from town
Fish and sunset at the tavernas over the harbour
Swimming off the rocks by the village
The Good Friday procession into the sea

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Kamini & the west coast

Vlychos

A hamlet with a long pebble beach and an old stone bridge, at the end of the coastal path west of town

Vlychos is a scattering of houses, tavernas and a beach about 45 minutes' walk west of Hydra Town, beyond Kamini. Its long pebble shore is one of the island's most popular, with sunbeds, umbrellas and clear water looking out to the uninhabited islet of Dokos. Behind the beach an old arched stone bridge crosses the dry stream bed, and a little further on lies the cove of Plakes. From here footpaths climb inland into the empty west of the island.

The pebble beach and its tavernas
The old stone bridge
Plakes cove next door
The walk back to town at sunset

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Bisti & the south-west tip

Bisti & Agios Nikolaos

Two pine-fringed coves on the far south-west tip, reached by boat across water of a startling turquoise

At the western end of Hydra the bare ridge drops into two of the island's loveliest coves, Bisti and Agios Nikolaos, a short way apart. Bisti is a narrow inlet sheltered by pines, with white pebbles and water so clear it looks shallow when it is not; Agios Nikolaos, next door, is a wider curve of pebbles below a little chapel, looking out to a rocky islet. There are no houses, only a summer canteen and sunbeds, and no road or easy path: the beach boats and water taxis from the harbour are the way in.

The turquoise water of Bisti
Pine shade on the pebbles
Snorkelling along the rocks
The boat trip along the empty west coast

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Mandraki & the east

Mandraki

The sheltered bay east of town where Hydra's ships were once built and laid up, with a sandy beach below an old fort

Mandraki is a deep, sheltered bay about 1.5 km east of the harbour, reached by a coastal path or by boat. In the days of the great merchant fleet it served as a shipyard and a safe winter anchorage, and the walls of the old batteries that guarded it still stand on the rocks. Today it has one of the very few sandy beaches on the island, now run by a resort hotel, with water sports and a beach restaurant. Beyond it, paths continue east into the wild end of the island.

The stone fortifications on the headland
Swimming from sand, a rarity on Hydra
The coastal walk from town
A starting point for walks to the east

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The mountain & the interior

Profitis Ilias

A monastery high on the mountain behind the town, reached by a long stepped path through the pines

The monastery of Profitis Ilias, the Prophet Elijah, stands high on the slopes of Mount Eros, the island's highest summit, looking straight down on Hydra Town and its harbour. The climb from town on the old stepped mule path takes about an hour to an hour and a half and passes through pinewoods, with the sea opening out below at every bend. A little way off is the convent of Agia Efpraxia. The view from the terrace, over the town and the gulf to the mountains of the Peloponnese, is one of the great rewards of the island.

The stepped path up through the pines
The view over the town and the harbour
The convent of Agia Efpraxia nearby
Going on to the summit of Mount Eros

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The mountain & the interior

Episkopi

A remote upland in the island's empty west, reached only by footpath, with a few farmhouses and chapels

Episkopi is a small upland in the western half of Hydra, far from the sea and from any town, where a little soil once allowed the islanders to grow grain and keep animals. A handful of stone houses, old threshing floors and chapels are scattered across it, some still used as summer retreats by Hydriot families. There is no shop and no road; you walk in on the old mule paths. The name means 'bishopric', and tradition links it with an early church here. For hikers it is the most remote corner of the island.

The silence of the empty west
Old farm terraces and threshing floors
Hikes from Vlychos or over the mountain
Wide views over the sea to the Peloponnese

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Mandraki & the east

Zourvas

A convent at the empty eastern end of the island, the goal of Hydra's longest hike

At the far eastern end of Hydra, where the ridge narrows above the open sea, stands the convent of the Panagia at Zourvas, one of the most isolated religious houses in the Saronic Gulf. There is no village, only the convent, a few chapels and a little cove below. Reaching it on foot means a long day out along the spine of the island from town, past the monastery of Agia Triada; the alternative is a boat to the cove and a steep climb up.

The long ridge walk east from town
The convent above the open sea
A swim in the cove below
Total solitude

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Regions

Where to base yourself in Hydra

Hydra Town & the harbour

The harbour town on the north coast, home to nearly everyone on the island: captains' mansions, the clock tower, the museums, the old slaughterhouse on the cliff and the swimming rocks of Spilia, with Kala Pigadia and the upper town above.

Kamini & the west coast

The coast path west of town to the fishing harbour of Kamini, the beach and stone bridge of Vlychos and the cove of Plakes, facing the islet of Dokos and the sunset.

Bisti & the south-west tip

The bare western end of the island, with the pine-fringed coves of Bisti and Agios Nikolaos, reached only by boat.

Mandraki & the east

The old shipyard bay of Mandraki and its sandy beach, east of town, and beyond it the long ridge to the convent of Zourvas at the island's end.

The mountain & the interior

The pine-covered slopes of Mount Eros behind the town, with the monastery of Profitis Ilias, and the empty upland of Episkopi in the west.

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Last updated 9 November 2026