We travel to Aegina, one of the closest islands to Athens, to find Aegina’s best food and sights to see.
As always, you can find our YouTube video at the end of the post. Check it out!
The island of Aegina is located about 25km southwest of Athens. You reach it easily with a short ferry-ride from the Pireaus Port in Athens.
We flew into Athens Airport on a sunny September morning. From there you can take the metro all the way to Pireaus Port.
The big ferry to Aegina takes around 1hr 15 min, but there is also a highspeed dolphin ferry that takes around 40min.
When arriving to Aegina, you will be right in town, only steps away from the marina, restaurants and bars.
We rented an apartment in Aegina Town which turned out to be great.
Strolling through the small streets is something really special and there are plenty of small shops to visit. Aegina is famous for pistachios and you can buy locally grown pistachios in many places.
1. The Temple of Aphaia
We rented a scooter and drove to our first spot on the list. The Temple of Aphaia. It stands in a beautiful spot above the pine forests in the hills of Aegina, with fabulous views of the Saronic Gulf and Athens.
Aphaia is well preserved and restored, and historically important, so it is hardly surprising that it is one of the island’s most popular tourist sites. But there are also some intriguing myths and mysteries, which are not so well known.
Aphaia is part of Greece’s ‘sacred triangles’: along with the Parthenon in Athens, it makes neat isosceles triangles with the temple of Poseidon to the south-east and Delphi Apollo to the north-west. Controversy rages over whether this is coincidence, or was deliberately done by the ancient Greeks – and if so, why.
2. Agia Marina Beach
A short drive from Aphaia is our next stop and number two on our list. It’s the beach in Agia Marina. A long, sandy beach with crystal clear waters. There are plenty of sunbeds and the service was good. There are a couple of beach bars if you want some snacks or food.
or lunch we are driving back to the south of the island. On the way, we decided to stop at the famous church of Saint Nectarios. It is a place of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians and a symbol of faith. The church’s architecture is simple yet elegant, providing a serene space for worship and reflection.
3. Perdika – Seafood Village
We have reached Perdika which is number 3 on our list. It’s a beautiful little village with great seafood. There are plenty of restaurant along the street We sat down at Antonis Fish Restaurant and ordered their pasta with Lobster, or Lobster with pasta is more appropriate. It was huge at around 1 kilo. If you want seafood, Perdika Town is the best.
4. Aegina Town and tortuga wine bar
We travel back to Aegina Town for the sunset and an aperitif. Aegina Town was the first capital of the newly formed Greek State, after the period of the Greek Revolution of 1821.
Aegina Town is also famous for it’s floating vegetable market, where you can buy fresh vegetables and fruits all throughout the day.
The sunsets in Aegina are spectacular from the port of Aegina. We sat down for a glass of wine at Restaurant Maridaki. Look at those amazing colours.
For dinner we headed in to the narrow streets of Aegina Town and found the place Tortuga, which is number 4 on our list. Tortuga is a wine bar with great music. They also serve food and we went for their curated seafood platter. In all, great quality food and wine.
5. Eakeon – Pastryshop
Next up for head for dessert and we will be visiting Eakeon. The have received many gold awards for their amazing products. We tried their black forest cake which was superb! They also have baklavas, orange pie and more. Their pistachio creams are famous and also highly awarded.
6. Taverna Stratigos
It is a new day and we start it with a cold Greek frappe. After spending the morning at the beach we head for lunch at Taverna Stratigos as I number 6 and final spot in Aegina. It’s located close to Marathonas Beach. We had a village salad, a baked feta cheese in honey and pistachios, and their speciality, cooked rooster in tomato sauce. All very delicious and well cooked. To finish off, they gave us a orange pie as dessert.
Aegina is a beautiful Greek island and it’s very accessible being on 40 minutes away from Athens. Give it a go, you will not regret it.
Make sure to check out our YouTube video about Aegina. Click on the video below to see it:
