The Greek island of Hydra

Written by Jo

The Greek islands have long been the haunt of the lotus eaters, and those of my generation too in the late “70s”, when hundreds of us hitch-hiked or got student train tickets to Athens from Britain and northern Europe.

For a few summers, we hoarded into the seedy Athens port of Piraeus, onto ferries and onwards to the islands. Slept on the beaches or in rented rooms in modest family homes, and generally had a great time.

The then-currency, the drachma, was fabulously worthless compared to the pound, so Greece was cheap as well as sunny and beautiful. The inexpensive (and horrible ) retsina wine was also an attraction, as were the men, who were generally agreed not to be as good-looking as the Italians, but easy to flirt with, partly because their own girls tended to be closeted in darkened homes with their black-clothed grannies.

The island of Hydra was my favourite then, and last month I returned there with two friends.

It’s about 90 minutes by ferry from Athens and came into global focus thanks to the 1957 Sophia Loren film “Boy on a Dolphin”. The island has long been an artists’ haunt, and become famous again about a decade ago with the death of Marianne Jensen, the muse for Leonard Cohen’s ‘So Long Marianne’, and then the death of Cohen himself. Cohen, lived on Hydra at one point, and composed ‘Bird on the Wire’ there.

Fun Fact: There’s also a film about Cohen and Marianne, which came out in 2019.

Hydra still has its stars. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has a house there, and his wife Polly Samson’s well researched and written book; ‘A Theatre for Dreamers’ is based on artists on Hydra.

Also, if you walk around Hydra’s beautiful horseshoe-shaped little port, you’ll see some gorgeous yachts gliding in and out, but not too flashily.

Other Fun Facts :

There are no cars on the island, just mules,

It’s one of the most expensive islands in Greece, But it’s understated and has snob value.

There is no ugly architecture,

You can swim off the rocks 2 minutes from the village centre,

You can trek in the hills behind the village,

There are motor taxis and little boats taking you to nearby beaches, and the sunsets are stunning.

Greece is currently suffering from over tourism and Hydra is ghastly high season, but if you go around May or September, when it’s just about warm enough to swim, you will see this beautiful island at its best.

Visions of Hydra