Visit Athens Guide
Poros
Poros island is the third the Saronic cruises call at, and the one almost nobody goes to on purpose. It sits a few hundred metres off the Peloponnese across a channel narrow enough to row, with a small town of tiled roofs climbing to a clock tower and a pine forest covering most of the rest. It is the least dramatic of the three and the easiest to like. Checked in Q3 2026. The alternatives are on the day trips hub, and the wider plan on the Athens city guide homepage.
Quick answer What it is, and who should bother
Poros is a small island separated from the Peloponnese by a channel a few hundred metres wide, with a town of tiled roofs under a clock tower and a pine forest behind it. There is no entry fee to anything; the cost of the day is the boat.
Key takeaways
- It is the middle stop on the three-island cruises, and the one with the least to do in ninety minutes — which for once is fine, because the town is the thing.
- What there is is honest: a clock tower walk, a pine forest, a monastery and the narrowest channel in Greece.
- As a destination in its own right it suits families and people who want to swim and sit — who should go says who it does not suit.
- You can cross to the Peloponnese in a few minutes on the local ferry, which is a novelty worth an hour.
- For a first island day from Athens, Aegina has more in it and costs less.
Key facts
Opening hours
| Fast craft from Piraeus | about 60–minutes |
|---|---|
| Cruise boats ashore | about 90–minutes |
| The channel ferry to Galatas | a few–minutes |
Closed None; ferry strikes are the interruption to watch
Admission
- Adult
- No entry fee
- Reduced
- —
- Free
- The town, the clock tower walk and the pine forest
Planning it
- Time needed
- Not stated; our routing: half a day is plenty, a full day if you swim
- Book ahead
- Recommended — a few days
- Address
- Poros town, 180 20 Poros
What the day costs
Prices as listed on 1 September 2026. There is nothing to pay for on the island itself, so every figure here is transport.
| Option | Price | Time ashore | What it is | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three-island cruise with lunch | From €124 | About 90 min here | Hydra, Poros and Aegina with lunch on board | Check Availability |
| Cruise with the operating company | From €128 | About 90 min here | The same route, run by the boat's owner | Check Availability |
| Scheduled fast craft from Piraeus | Operator's fare | As long as you like | About an hour each way | Official site |
| Metro to Piraeus | €1.20 | — | 25 minutes from central Athens | Official site |
Poros is the one island on the cruise route where ninety minutes is genuinely enough for the main thing: walk up to the clock tower, come down, have a coffee on the waterfront and get back on the boat. That is the whole town, and it is pleasant.
The boats
The cards, with the operator's own rating and review count.
from €123.14
From Athens: Hydra, Poros, and Aegina Day Cruise with Lunch
Twelve hours to Hydra, Poros and Aegina with a buffet lunch on board and time ashore at each.
Check Availability
from €127.85
Hydra, Poros & Aegina Cruise with Lunch - Official Operator
The same three islands with the operator that runs the boat, with lunch and live music on the crossing.
Check Availability
from €12
Athens: Ferry Boat Ticket to/from Aegina Island
Just the boat: a Piraeus–Aegina ferry ticket by email, 75 minutes each way, so the island day is yours to shape.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own, checked in Q3 2026; euro figures are the listed prices — the platform bills in your account's currency.
What there is
Four things, none of them famous, and a channel.
The channel
Poros is separated from the Peloponnese at Galatas by a strait a few hundred metres across — the name means "ford" or "passage". Small ferries cross it constantly and take a few minutes; you can stand on the Poros waterfront and read the shop fronts on the mainland. It is the most distinctive thing about the island.
The clock tower
The town climbs a low hill in tiers of tiled roofs to a white clock tower of 1927, which is the postcard. The walk up through the lanes takes about fifteen minutes and the view back down over the strait is the reason to do it.
The pine forest and the monastery
Most of the island's eastern half is covered in Aleppo pine running down to the water — unusual in the Saronic and pleasant to walk or cycle in. The eighteenth-century monastery of Zoodochos Pigi sits in it above a small bay.
The Temple of Poseidon
There was a sanctuary of Poseidon on the ridge, and the orator Demosthenes took poison there in 322 BC rather than be taken by the Macedonians. Very little of it survives — foundations in a field — and it is a walk for the story rather than the ruins.
Who should go, and who should not
Poros is the least dramatic of the near islands, which is either the point or the problem.
It suits
Families, because the swimming is easy and the town is small and flat along the front. People who want to sit on a waterfront and read. Anyone who has already done Aegina and Hydra and wants a third, quieter island.
And cyclists, because the pine forest roads are the best short riding near Athens.
It does not suit
Anyone who wants a monument, a museum or a photograph they have seen before. There is no equivalent here of the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina or the stone harbour on Hydra. If you have one island day out of Athens, this is not the one to spend it on.
The cruise version
Poros is the stop where the ninety minutes the cruises allow actually fits what there is to do. If you are on a three-island cruise, this is the stop to walk up to the clock tower on rather than sit in a café — the other two islands give you less than you want, and this one gives you about enough.
Poros map
The town, the channel and the forest.
Where this fits
The other island days.
Poros questions
Is Poros worth visiting?
As a third island or a quiet day with a swim, yes. As your one island day out of Athens, no — Aegina has a major temple and costs less. Who should go is blunt about it.
What is Poros famous for?
The channel: it is separated from the Peloponnese by a strait a few hundred metres wide, which is where its name comes from. After that, the clock tower above the town and the pine forest covering the eastern half of the island.
What is there to do on Poros?
Walk up to the clock tower, cross to Galatas on the local ferry, walk or cycle in the pines, swim, and eat on the waterfront. What there is covers each.
Is Aegina or Poros better?
Aegina, for a single day trip — it has the Temple of Aphaia, a bigger town and a lower price. Poros is the better place to do nothing.
How long is the boat from Athens?
About an hour from Piraeus on a scheduled fast craft. On a three-island cruise it is the middle stop and you get roughly ninety minutes ashore.
Can you cross to the mainland?
Yes — small ferries cross the strait to Galatas constantly and take a few minutes. It is a novelty worth an hour, and there are lemon groves on the mainland side.
Reviewed Q3 2026 (July–September 2026); next review Q4 2026. Prices, hours and terms are set by the venue or operator and confirmed at checkout.
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