Agistri

Agistri is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Saronic Gulf, a green cushion of pine forest barely thirteen square kilometres in size, tucked just west of Aegina. Fast ferries reach it from Piraeus in around fifty-five minutes, with slower boats taking a little longer, so despite its miniature scale it is genuinely close to Athens. That combination of proximity and quiet has made it a favourite bolthole for Athenians and, increasingly, for travellers who want island calm without a long journey.

The island has two main settlements. Skala is the busier port and beach village, its sandy strand backed by pines and shallow enough for children. Megalochori, sometimes called Mylos, is the older, quieter harbour a short way north. From either you can walk or cycle the pine-scented interior, and small boats and buses connect the coves that ring the coast. The water here is exceptionally clear, taking on a vivid turquoise in the sheltered bays.

Agistri's pleasures are simple and outdoor. Aponisos in the south-west is the island's showpiece, a pale-pebbled bay of luminous water with a tiny islet just offshore. Dragonera offers swimming straight off the rocks beneath the pines, while Chalikiada, reached by a rough path, is an unofficial naturist beach below a cliff. Cycling is a pleasure on the gentle roads, and the whole island can be circled on foot in a day.

There is little to see in the museum sense and that is the point. Agistri is for swimming, walking under the pines and eating grilled fish by the water, with the days shaped by little more than the light and the tide. The interior footpaths make for gentle walking between Skala and Megalochori, and the scent of warm pine follows you everywhere. It pairs naturally with Aegina, a short hop away, but stays quieter and more low-key, rewarding those who want the Saronic at its most unhurried.