Why not Aegina Island?

Arriving at Athens airport it will take you 30 min with taxi or 45 min with metro to get to Piraeus harbor. Aegina is the closes island to main land and very popular in 70s and 80s. Now it is very quite but still very beautiful, full of wonderful architecture. Aegina town is the capital and is a very busy place in the summer - mainly Greeks. They are many lovely taverns with excellent food. Seafood is always fresh and the variety is indescribable.
There are many smaller villages dotted around the island and you will need a car or a bike to get around. My favorite is Agia Marina. Small village it has a port attached to it so you can take a boat straight from Piraeus to Agia Marina. Very beautiful, great for swimming water is crystal clear and you can see crabs crowing 4-5 miters on the bottom of the sea. Have privet places for swimming and places for beach volleyball. The small taverns are very traditional you can witness the actual fishing and then order the food.


Fifteen years ago I came on holiday and met my husband in Agia Marina. There are no British Tour Operators going to Aegina anymore but I do recommend this island for newlywed. It is quite, romantic, natural and very exotic. If you do come to Athens you can come and stay in Aegina even for a day or two it is totally worth it.
There is a monastery in the center of the island there is an old abandon village just above so you can spend a whole day there exploring the ancients.

If you take the bus to Agios Marina from Aegina harbor you will see Agios Nectarios Monastery.
In 1904 at the request of several nuns, the monastery was established for them.
Now people come for pilgrimage, wandering to the patron saint, the last canonized symbol of the Greek-Orthodox Church.



Very special place to visit is Athea tample (it is a small version of Acropolis). The temple, which is quite well preserved, was built in the Doric style; some of the 22 limestone columns (5,27 m - 17,25 ft high) are monolithic. Dates from the beginning of the 5 C. BC and was dedicated to Aphaia, a local divinity.

Also you can book small excursion and visit for one day another three islands Agistri, Poros and Hydra from Saronic gulf close to Aegina. It is a very pleasant journey and even close to each other they are all very different.
Nice site that I found for Aegina click to check it. They have nice photos of the places and lot of information about the island.

Famous food that this island produces is Aegina Pistachio Nuts. Greece is famous worldwide for the "Aegina pistachios", one of the best varieties in the world.
If you are wondering where to go next try this island you can have it all for yourself.