Spetses

Spetses lies at the south-western edge of the Saronic Gulf, tucked against the Peloponnese near the mouth of the Argolic Gulf. It is the most distant of the group from Athens, reached from Piraeus in around two and a quarter hours by high-speed ferry, and the extra distance lends it a sense of arrival. Like Hydra, it grew rich on shipping and played an outsized part in the War of Independence, and it wears that heritage with a certain cosmopolitan polish.

Cars are heavily restricted in the main town, where horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and scooters do the work of getting about, giving Spetses Town an old-fashioned charm. Its waterfront is dominated by the Dapia, the old fortified harbour bristling with cannons, and by grand nineteenth-century arhontika, the mansions of shipowning families. The island's heroine, Laskarina Bouboulina, a formidable widow who commanded her own warships against the Ottomans, is commemorated in a museum set in her family home.

Spetses is greener and more wooded than most Saronic islands, ringed by a coastal road perfect for cycling past pine-shaded coves. Beaches such as Agia Paraskevi and Agioi Anargyroi on the wilder western side offer clear swimming beneath the trees, while Zogeria is a favourite bay reached by boat or bike. The old town blends handsome architecture with lively bars, and the island draws a stylish Athenian crowd without losing its footing.

Much loved by British visitors through its associations with the novelist John Fowles, who taught here and set The Magus on a thinly disguised version of the island, Spetses combines history, elegance and easy outdoor pleasure. Evenings bring a stroll along the Dapia and dinner in the old harbour, where the shipowners' mansions glow above the water. It suits a longer, more indulgent stay, either alone or at the end of a Saronic island hop from Poros and Hydra.