Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Most guides skip it. It is worth knowing what it is, because the name is famous and the reality is not what people expect.
The battle
In 480 BC the Greek fleet drew the much larger Persian navy of Xerxes into the narrow strait between the island and the mainland, where numbers counted for less, and destroyed it. Xerxes is said to have watched from a throne on the shore.
Salamis is one of the decisive battles of antiquity and it happened in the water you cross on the ferry, which is the striking part: the strait is small and completely ordinary to look at, lined now with shipyards and industry.
There is very little to see. A monument stands at Kynosoura and the site is the sea itself.
The island today
Salamina is residential: around 40,000 people live here, many working in Athens, and the island functions as a dense suburb with its own towns rather than a destination. There are supermarkets and schools, not resorts.
The north and east face the industrial strait. The south and west are much better: pine, quieter bays and small settlements at Peristeria, Kanakia and Selinia, which Athenians use at weekends.
The monastery of Faneromeni in the north-west is the one conventional sight, a seventeenth-century foundation with a dense fresco cycle of the Last Judgement covering its interior.
Being honest about it
If you have limited time in Greece, go to Aegina or Agistri instead: they are almost as close and far more rewarding.
Salamina earns a visit if the battle is the point, if you like ordinary Greek places, or if you want a swim within an hour of central Athens without a plan.
Getting there and how long
Ferries from Perama run every few minutes and take about ten. There are also boats from Piraeus.
A day, or a half day for the monastery and a swim.
Last checked August 2026. Ferry frequency is high and stable but changes - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
What happened at the Battle of Salamis?
In 480 BC the Greek fleet drew the larger Persian navy into the narrow strait by the island and destroyed it, one of the decisive battles of antiquity.
Is there anything to see of the battle?
Very little. There is a monument at Kynosoura, but the site is the strait itself, which is now lined with shipyards and industry.
How do you get to Salamina?
By ferry from Perama next to Piraeus, running every few minutes and taking about ten.
Is Salamina a holiday island?
No. It is a residential island of around 40,000 people functioning as a suburb of Athens. The south and west coasts have the quieter bays.
Should you visit Salamina or Aegina?
Aegina, for almost every visitor. Salamina suits people interested in the battle or in ordinary Greek places.
Next
Read Aegina, Agistri, or the Saronic islands.