Destinations
Porto Heli and Spetses: Where Athens Summers
No ferry, no island flight, no crowds. The Argolid coast is where Athenian shipping families have summered for generations, and it has quietly acquired the country's most expensive hotel.
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The coast Athens keeps for itself#
Drive south-west from Athens, around the Saronic Gulf and down into the Argolid, and after about two hours the road reaches a deep natural harbour almost entirely enclosed by land. That is Porto Heli.
It has been the summer base of Athenian shipping families for generations, which has shaped it in a very specific way: a lot of private houses behind walls, a lot of boats, very few hotels, and almost no nightlife. Nobody is here to be seen by strangers.
For a certain kind of traveller this is precisely the appeal - and it comes with the single best logistical proposition in Greek luxury travel, which is that you drive.
Where to stay#
Porto Heli or Spetses
| Porto Heli & the hills | Spetses town | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A sheltered harbour, villas, two serious hotels | A car-free island town of neoclassical mansions |
| Getting around | Car essential | Horse carriages, scooters, water taxis - no private cars |
| Evenings | Hotel dining, a few harbour tavernas | Excellent - the Dapia and the old harbour |
| Swimming | Hotel beaches and coves by boat | Organised beaches, best reached by boat or bike |
| Atmosphere | Private, quiet, residential | Elegant, social, walkable |
| Best for | Amanzoe, villas, total discretion | Anyone who wants a town to walk in |
Our callThe best version of this trip uses both: sleep on the mainland where the hotels and villas are, and take the ten-minute water taxi across to Spetses for dinner two or three times. Spetses alone is lovely but small; Porto Heli alone has no town.
Where to stay
Amanzoe
Above Porto Heli - hilltop
A colonnaded hilltop compound built to look like an acropolis, with pavilions, private pools and views over olive groves to the sea. Architecturally the most ambitious hotel in Greece and the most expensive. A separate beach club sits down on the water.
Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Porto Heli
Porto Heli - waterfront
The social counterpoint: a beachfront resort with pools, a well-known beach club and a far younger register than anything else on this coast. Lively in August.
Poseidonion Grand Hotel
Spetses - the Dapia waterfront
A 1914 Belle Époque hotel on the main waterfront, restored and still the social centre of the island. Staying here means being inside the town, which on a car-free island is the whole point.
Private villas, Porto Heli and Kranidi
The surrounding hills and coves
The area's dominant product. Large houses in olive terraces with pools and private access to the water, often with staff. Much of the best stock never reaches public listings.
Spetses#
Ten minutes by water taxi from the small port at Costa, and a complete change of register.
Spetses has no private cars. Residents and visitors move by horse-drawn carriage, scooter, bicycle and water taxi, which gives the town an unusual calm. The waterfront - the Dapia - is lined with neoclassical mansions built by shipowners in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the island financed and armed a fleet that fought in the Greek War of Independence.
The Old Harbour, fifteen minutes round the coast, is where the boatyards still are and where the best dinners happen, with wooden hulls under construction beside the tables.
It is small. A day gets you the town; a few nights gets you the beaches at Agia Paraskevi and Zogeria, both easiest by boat.
Beyond the water#
The Argolid behind Porto Heli is one of the densest archaeological landscapes in Europe, and it is almost empty of visitors in comparison to its significance.
Epidaurus, about an hour away, has the best-preserved ancient theatre in Greece - 14,000 seats with acoustics that genuinely carry a whisper from the stage - and still stages a summer festival.
Mycenae, a little further, is the Bronze Age citadel of Agamemnon's dynasty, with the Lion Gate and the great beehive tombs.
Nafplio, about ninety minutes north, is arguably the prettiest town in mainland Greece: the first capital of modern Greece, with a Venetian fortress on a crag above it and a genuinely good dinner scene.
Getting there and around
Drive from Athens airport
About two to two and a half hours on good road, via the Corinth Canal. The easiest arrival in Greek luxury travel. Pre-book a private transfer.
Or take the fast ferry to Spetses
Hydrofoils and catamarans run from Piraeus to Spetses in roughly two to two and a half hours, then a ten-minute water taxi across to Costa and Porto Heli.
Hire a car for the mainland side
Essential at Porto Heli, useless on Spetses. If you are splitting the trip, pick the car up on the mainland and leave it at Costa. Compare hire cars.
Put a boat in the budget
Spetses, Hydra, Dokos and the coves along the Argolid coast. Here the boat is the point rather than an excursion. Boats on this coast.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Porto Heli and how do you get there?
On the Argolid coast of the Peloponnese, about two to two and a half hours by road from Athens airport via the Corinth Canal. There is no ferry involved. Fast ferries also run from Piraeus to Spetses, ten minutes across the water.
Is Amanzoe worth it?
It is the most expensive hotel in Greece and architecturally the most ambitious - a hilltop colonnade with private-pool pavilions and a separate beach club. If an Aman is the holiday, this is a very good one. If you want a village and a harbour, your money goes further in a villa with Spetses across the water.
Are there cars on Spetses?
Private cars are prohibited. The island runs on horse-drawn carriages, scooters, bicycles and water taxis, with limited exceptions for service vehicles. Hydra, an hour away, bans wheeled vehicles altogether.
Is Porto Heli good for a first trip to Greece?
It is excellent as a bookend - two or three nights at the start or end of a Cycladic trip, with no ferry logistics. As a whole first holiday it may be too quiet unless you want exactly that; there is no town at Porto Heli itself.
When is the best time to visit?
June and September. July and August are busy with Athenian visitors and the beach clubs are at capacity. Much of the area winds down by mid-October, earlier than Crete or the Ionian.
What is there to do besides the beach?
Epidaurus, Mycenae and Nafplio are all within ninety minutes, and together they are among the most significant archaeological sites in Europe. Almost nobody staying on the coast makes the trip.
The short version#
Drive from Athens, sleep on the mainland where the houses and the hotels are, and take the water taxi to Spetses for dinner.
Put a boat in the budget and give one day to Epidaurus. This coast rewards people who do not treat it as a beach.
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