That makes this the most useful route on the site for a specific situation: if your Greece trip is short, or built around Athens, the Saronics solve a real problem. They give you a proper Greek island day without spending two days getting to one.
Why this route runs outward
There are four that matter, and they get progressively further from Athens. Taking them in that order means each leg is short and the trip decompresses rather than commutes.
- Aegina is the nearest, reachable in well under an hour, with a well-preserved ancient temple and a reputation for pistachios.
- Poros sits close to the Peloponnese coast.
- Hydra is the striking one: a stone amphitheatre of a harbour town where no cars are allowed at all, so the traffic is donkeys and your own feet.
- Spetses is the furthest and the most moneyed.
The shape: one night each, or a base and day trips
Two ways to do this, and they suit different trips.
The hopping version gives each island a night, working outward from Piraeus. Four nights covers all four; three covers Aegina, Poros and Hydra comfortably. This is the version where the boats are the trip.
The base version picks one island - usually Hydra - and treats the rest as day trips. It is the better answer if you are travelling with luggage you do not want to move, and Hydra is the one worth the nights.
The legs
Each of these has its own page, because the port you leave from matters more than the boat on most of them.
- Athens to Poros - an hour by sea, or five minutes from Galatas.
- Athens to Hydra - an hour or so to an island with no cars.
- Athens to Spetses - the boat, or the ten-minute back door.
The Galatas and back-door notes on those pages are worth reading before you book: on two of these four islands there is a mainland shortcut that changes the journey entirely.
Hydra, and the no-cars thing
It is not a quirk to mention in passing - it shapes the day. No cars at all means your luggage moves by donkey or by hand, the harbour is quiet in a way no other Greek port is, and the island is walked rather than driven.
Plan the arrival accordingly, and pack for the walk from the quay.
Where this route fits a bigger trip
The Saronics are the group you use when the rest of the trip is Athens and the mainland, or when you have three or four days and do not want to spend two of them travelling.
They are not a warm-up for the Cyclades. If you have the time for the Cyclades, take it - the Cyclades route is a different and better island trip. The Saronics are what you do when you do not.
Athens day trips covers the single-day version, the Saronic islands has each island, and the island-hopping guide explains sequencing generally.