If Mykonos is for party animals and the ultra-wealthy, then Hydra is for dreamers.
A short hop from Athens by ferry, this island of vivid colours and steep stone steps is only 10 miles long, and most of it uninhabitable.
There are no cars, no bikes, no vehicles of any kind, and as I descend into the port, a thought has already formed: this is the most enchanting Greek island I’ve been to so far.
British journalist Rosie Boycott recommended Hydra because, she said, the island is surrounded by the clearest water you will ever swim in.
She also said it is a place to be, not a place to be seen, and that, I think, is its magic.
Rows of donkeys wait to greet ferries from the mainland, ready to schlep you and your belongings up the cobbled lanes to your lodgings.
Past Hydra port, the island’s only town, these lanes are tranquil time warps of a Greece of days gone by.
There are no new buildings, and a sense of serenity has been preserved by a construction ban in the town itself, a Greek National Monument that has scarcely changed in a century.
The town rises up the hillside like an ancient amphitheatre. Towering above it: Mount Eros, the island’s highest peak that captures a sweeping vista of the Peloponnese across the water.
Ask Metro
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
The vibe is timeless. The pace: eat, swim, nap, repeat.
Hydra has a fascinating history. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was a powerful shipbuilder nicknamed ‘Little England’. Then, during the 1900s, it was reinvented as a hub for sponge-fishing.
That industry spawned the filmed-on-location movie Boy on a Dolphin (1957), in which Sophia Loren played a Hydriot sponge-diver, and that, in turn, saw Hydra become a hotspot beloved by bohemians such as Pablo Picasso throughout the 1960s.
Hydra’s most famous resident, though, was Leonard Cohen.
Together with his muse Marianne Ihlen and a spirited community of writers, the musician and poet found profound creative inspiration here – a great source of pride for locals, who erected a plaque in his memory on the walk to Kamini.
By the port, Roloi Cafe, once known as the kafenion O Katsikas, is where Cohen and a generation of artists hung out.
It’s also where he played his first concert to a handful of friends, just round the back.
Today, the island remains one of Greece’s coolest and, for the most part, least pretentious.
It is so special, in fact, that it’s just been named the best island in Europe for 2026 by CN Traveller, beating six neighbouring Greek islands to it.
When I visited in early September, the weather was still in the high 20°Cs, warm enough to spend all day wandering the coves that embroider the coast and swimming in the Aegean.
The beaches are mostly rocky ledges and concrete swimming platforms as opposed to stretches of golden sand, but somehow that only adds to the appeal.
Of the many spots to choose from, Avlaki was my favourite.
The water is exceptionally clear, a deep, dazzling blue that shape-shifts in the sunlight.
Time stands still. No cars, no chaos, just gently ebbing waves and sunsets that could inspire you to write a song (or at least knock back a bottle of Assyrtiko).
There are no direct flights to Hydra from the UK. To get there, you’ll need to fly to Athens, then catch a ferry from Piraeus port which takes around 90 minutes across the Saronic Gulf.
But take it from me: the journey is worth it.
Proximity to the capital makes Hydra a popular for day-trips, but once you arrive, you’ll wish you booked for longer.
As Cohen once said, ‘there is nowhere in the world where you can live like you can in Hydra, and that includes Hydra’.
MORE: Italy’s colourful ‘Little Venice’ with canals, bridges and none of the crowds
MORE: I’m from Dublin — here’s where I take my friends when they visit
MORE: I discovered Italy’s ‘golden’ city that’s just like Florence without the crowds
