Pretty forest-covered island that Brits always overlook dubbed the ‘real Greece’ – without the crowds
IF you live in the frenetic urban sprawl that is Athens you will probably have strong ideas about what you want from a holiday.
Somewhere with no noise, perhaps. And no traffic fumes. Oh, and no congestion. And definitely no crowds of foreign tourists.
I suspect you’ll have had your fill of ancient monuments, too . . .
Lucky Athenians, then, that the perfect holiday destination is . . . just 45 minutes away on the hydrofoil.
Welcome to Agistri, a pretty, forest-covered little island that is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dot in the Saronic Gulf.
At the height of the summer, Agistri is where Greek families go to escape the stifling heat of Athens.
But visit out of season, as we did early last October, and you will have the place to yourself — and great weather too.
Agistri may be that rare thing, a Greek island that still offers a taste of the much-cliched “real Greece”.
It is small, welcoming and ordinary in the best sense of that word.
There are no millionaires’ yachts in the tiny harbours and no airport bringing in thousands of package holidaymakers.
The cruise ships that jam Santorini and Mykonos sail straight past it to and from Piraeus, the Greek capital’s port.
Agistri, just five square miles, may well be Greece’s greenest island, too, thanks to its forest and the abundance of flowers and olive groves, and it is still fairly undeveloped.
It has just three tiny villages with a smattering of hotels and apartments, nice clean beaches (some of them pebbly) with crystal clear waters and, best of all, great restaurants.
And because Agistri is geared towards other Greeks, the few tourists who do stay are very well catered for. Chilling out is the rule here.
Turn your phone off, sip a beer and lie on your sun lounger listening to the waves gently lapping on the beach.
Or snorkel and swim in the warm sea.
In the evening have a leisurely meal in a taverna.
We stayed at the friendly, family-owned Oasis Beach Hotel & Spa which is right on the sands at Skala.
Skala is the most “touristy” of the island’s villages, yet we shared the beach with just a few locals, an English couple and some Scandinavian families.
If you prefer a beach even more out of the way, hike or hire a bike and cycle to Dragonera on the other side of Agistri.
Incredible view
It’s pebbly and at the end of summer all but deserted apart from a cafe, but it is a really beautiful spot.
You can discover more such places on an island tour with chauffeur Panagiotis Panos.
Panos is Agistri’s unofficial spokesman and cheerleader, someone who came over from Athens as a young man, fell in love with the place and stayed.
He will show you the best bits (pretty Aponisos island, connected to Agistri by a bridge), introduce you to the locals (the priest of the tiny church in sleepy “capital” Megalochori is, bizarrely, an internationally renowned pianist) and recommend places to eat.
We loved Yialos Fish Restaurant and the Toxotis Studios Restaurant, both in Skala, which do very good traditional food.
For a change of scene, visit the nearby island of Aegina, ten minutes away on the ferry.
It’s bigger, bustling, yachty and a lot more touristy.
Aegina town is good for “foodie” restaurants and upmarket boutiques.
And if you do want some history, head out of the port to the 500BC temple dedicated to the goddess Aphaia.
The best way to enjoy Agistri is to combine it with a few days in Athens first.
There is one must-do in Athens — a visit to the Acropolis, the hill that dominates the city.
It is home to the Parthenon, the 2,500-year-old temple of the goddess Athena.
The towering Parthenon, with its Doric columns and classical sculptures, is all you expect it to be.
But maybe even more incredible is the 360-degree view of the city itself from the top of the Acropolis. It stretches in every direction for what seems like a hundred miles.
Go early to beat the crowds and before it gets too hot.
Afterwards, relax in the bars and restaurants of Plaka, the warren of smart streets in the shade of the Acropolis.
Surprisingly, for such a large city, a lot of the places you need to visit are fairly close to each other.
Plaka is next to the Monastiraki, a buzzing flea market with offbeat cafes and shops.
Buzzing flea market
Nearby is Syntagma, the heart of the city, full of museums, grand official buildings and many more monuments.
And for a truly wallet-emptying experience in this reasonably affordable European capital, head to Kolonaki and check out the designer stores.
Athens is fun and fascinating. But it is also exhausting and can be overwhelming.
It is loud and animated in that typically Greek way — and everybody seems to be moving as if they are in a speeded-up film.
Except for the famous goose-stepping soldiers in skirts who guard the Greek Parliament.
They look very calm, relaxed even, as they do their slow-motion John Cleese-esque march for the ceremonial changing of the guard.
Calm? Relaxed? Really? In Athens?!! Hmm.
Perhaps they’ve just come back from a week’s leave on Agistri.
GO: Agistri
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Olympic Holidays offers a twin-centre, seven-night trip to Athens and Agistri from £1,115pp.
The package includes three nights’ B&B at the 3H Dave Red Athens and four nights’ B&B at the 3H Oasis Beach Hotel & Spa, Agistri, as well as flights from Gatwick and all transfers.
Price based on September 9 departure.
See olympicholidays.com.
A private tour of the island with Panagiotis Panos’s Greece Private Transfers costs €30pp.
Call +30 694 742 5061.