Greece's Wildly Underrated Island Near Athens Has Romantic Beaches And A Bustling, Whitewashed Port Town

Everyone knows about the perpendicular cliffs and whitewashed villages of Santorini. Travel brochures are crammed with images of the green hills and dazzling beaches of Corfu. But there are also plenty of underrated islands in Greece to escape the crowds. One of those just so happens to make its home in the sloshing Saronic Gulf, a mere 90-minute ferry ride from the sprawling capital of Athens. Its name? Poros.

Covering a humble 9 square miles, Poros is actually made up of two landmasses joined together by a narrow channel. The largest islet — Kalavria — is a land of pine-studded hillsides, fragrant lemon orchards, bijou hamlets, and idyllic beaches hemmed by casuarina trees. The smaller islet — Sferia — is home to the main town, which is also called Poros. This area is a hubbub of tavernas with saganaki cheese sizzling on the grills, boat harbors with catamarans bobbing in the gentle swells, and narrow alleys that lead to lookout points below a historic clock tower.

Poros remains largely off the radar to tourists. Despite being close to the capital, it sees an estimated 300,000 visitors annually, a far cry from the whopping 3.4 million visitors that Santorini attracts each year. You can touch down in Athens International Airport (ATH) and be in Poros by the afternoon, thanks to daily ferry connections from the Piraeus port. Prefer to drive? The journey is 2.5 hours in all, taking you across the incredible Corinth Canal and through ancient Peloponnesian fishing towns like Epidaurus.

Poros might not have the famous pink-tinged beaches of Crete, Greece's largest island, but it does offer plenty of idyllic bays. The island's most popular beaches are on the south side of Kalavria. Perhaps the most enticing beach is the appropriately-named Love Bay, an arc of soft sand sheltered from the outside world by a fortress of pine trees. They say forbidden lovers would once come here for secret rendezvous, hence the name.

On the other side of town, amid pine groves and a clifftop scenic road, you can discover Monastiri beach. The beach there gets its name from the big, whitewashed Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi, which looms on the hillside just above the sands. The waters are famously clear thanks to the pebbly seabed, and the views across the strait back to the Peloponnese are eye-watering, with soaring mountains topped by windmills.

To escape the crowds, plot a course through the middle of Poros. A hairpin road will whisk you over the main ridge of the island to the north coast, up to the fjord-like beach of Vagionia. It's about as far as possible as you can get on the island from the main town, and it shows. The pebbly shoreline is regularly empty, with just a few fishing boats bobbing on the water — no big yachts or millionaire boats here.

No guide to Poros is complete without mentioning its charming main town. Known simply as Poros, it's where the ferries from Athens dock. Step off the boat onto the bustling quayside brimming with shiny yachts, particularly in the spring and summer months. From the water's edge, a village spreads over a series of steep hillsides, filled with narrow alleys and hidden courtyards. Dive in and embrace the maze, as getting lost is part of the fun.

When you've lost your way, look for the famous Poros Clock Tower. Perched high on a craggy rock above the marina, it's the town's most prominent landmark and the perfect place to watch the sun setting over the mountains across the water. It has been standing for nearly 100 years, its original architecture and mechanisms carefully preserved since it was gifted to the town in 1927.

Down below, a string of tavernas offer the perfect setting to unwind after a day of exploring. Touting classic Greek menus, the town's restaurants pepper the cobbled squares and line the promenade of the picturesque old town. Settle into the highly-rated Apagio Taverna for scenic views of the Mediterranean Sea and delicious platters of local Trizina olives, fava beans, and marinated octopus. For a truly local experience, head to Oasis, an old-school Greek kitchen that's been serving up traditional stewed meats and fresh lobster since 1965.