Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
The north side is the working harbour, where the fast boats come in and the tavernas are. The south side is quieter, with a pebble shore and a view towards Hydra.
Bisti
The tip of the headland is Bisti, a pine-covered point kept as public land: a shaded path runs right around it just above the water, with places to get in off the rocks all the way round.
It takes about forty minutes to walk the loop, and it is the best thing in Ermioni. There is no development on it at all.
The boats
Fast boats from Piraeus call here, and there are frequent short crossings to Hydra and connections to Spetses and Porto Heli.
That makes Ermioni a genuine alternative base: mainland prices and a car, with the car-free islands twenty or thirty minutes away by sea.
The town
Low-key and residential, with a long history: this was a significant place in antiquity, and fragments of the ancient town, including a stretch of wall and the foundations of a temple, sit around the modern one.
The area grows olives and citrus, and outside the town there are quiet pebble beaches along the coast in both directions.
Where it fits
- Porto Heli, twenty minutes west.
- Nafplio and Epidaurus, about an hour and a half north.
- Hydra, about twenty minutes by fast boat.
Getting there and how long
About two and a half hours from Athens by road, or by fast boat from Piraeus.
Three nights, using the boats.
Last checked August 2026. Boat schedules are seasonal - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Ermioni?
On a narrow headland on the south coast of the Argolid in the Peloponnese, about two and a half hours from Athens.
Why does Ermioni have two waterfronts?
The town is built along a narrow headland, so it has the working harbour on the north side and a quieter pebble shore on the south, a few hundred metres apart.
What is Bisti?
The pine-covered tip of the headland, kept undeveloped, with a shaded loop path around it just above the water and swimming off the rocks.
Can you get to Hydra from Ermioni?
Yes, in about twenty minutes by fast boat, with connections to Spetses and Porto Heli as well.
Is Ermioni a resort?
No. It is a low-key residential town whose appeal is the headland, the quiet and the island connections.
Next
Read Porto Heli, Hydra, or Nafplio.