How To Escape Busy Athens: Visit Aegina Island
Take a Day Trip From Athens To Enjoy the Peaceful Island Life
Nov 16, 2008
While Athens contains many treasures from the Ancient Greeks, many visitors can be a little overwhelmed by the modern city. Athens’ modern concrete sprawl, noise and pollution can mean visitors appreciate a break after a couple of days exploring.
Fortunately, travellers do not have to travel too far from Athens to get a few hours or even a night away from the busy modern city. The island of Aegina, just an hour or so away across the sea can be a good choice for those craving a little peace and quiet.
Aegina Town
Most ferries from the mainland arrive here. Aegina Town is a pretty and relaxed place located around a quiet bay and marina. There are plenty of reasonably priced restaurants and bars, and a number of hotel choices. The nightlife is particularly busy during the weekend, as local visitors from Athens come to let their hair down. A good number of craft and food shops are also dotted amongst the narrow backstreets, and many visitors enjoy hunting for treasures.
On the edge of town is a temple, dating from the 5th century BC, although there is little left to see. Visitors with a little more time might appreciate a visit to the more impressive Temple of Aphaia, around five miles from Aegina Town. Regular busses go to Agia Marina, the main tourist resort, which passes by the entrance to the temple.
Hikers will enjoy a stiff climb up to Moni Agiou Nektariou, an impressive monastery perched near the top of a hill. This is about three miles from Aegina Town. Close by, is an abandoned village, named Paleohora. This village was built inland around 800 years ago, to protect the locals from invasion by Turkish boats, and was only abandoned in the early 1800s. Today, many of the ruins have been turned into religious shrines, and visitors can wander amongst the ruins and enjoy the impressive view across the island from the top of the hill.
Getting To Aegina
Some of the richer in Athens either live or have a holiday home on Aegina, and so ferries to the island are frequent all year round. The easiest way to get to the ferry port, Piraeus, is via the clean, modern and efficient Metro. There are ferry ticket offices within a stones throw of the Piraeus Metro Station.
Travellers can choose between the cheaper fast ferry, which also takes vehicles on board and takes around 80 minutes, or foot passengers can take the faster but more expensive catamaran, which cuts down the travelling time by approximately half.
