Riding Donkeys on Greek Island of Hydra

After wilting from the unrelenting sun in Athens, fortunately, we had booked an all-day city escape to the nearby Greek islands.

Our “One-Day Saronic Cruise” included the ports at Hydra, Poros and Aegina – all Saronic Islands of Greece. When I looked back through our photos recently, I noticed all the cute donkey photos. How could I not share these with you all and why hadn’t I done so earlier?

Hubby and me on our donkeys on Hydra.

Anyway, shortly we docked at Hydra port, about an hour from Athens by boat, we noticed several donkeys waiting near the whitewashed buildings. I love animals (riding camels) and convinced my husband and our friends that we should do the touristy thing and take a donkey ride around the small town.

Donkeys are the island’s main mode of public transport as the entire island of Hydra is blissfully car free (sans a few motorized rubbish trucks). Well, from what I understand, the donkeys and mules are often used to transport larger items, baggage, and heavy shopping to people’s homes in the hills. But the donkeys also are available for tourist rides. I recall paying about 10 euros each for our brief ride around the steep, narrow streets.

All you could hear was the clip-clop of the saddled donkeys’ hooves on the stone pavement as we toured the local streets. How peaceful would it be to spend the night on this idyllic island?

After our donkey ride, we wandered over to a few seaside cafés (located to the right of the harbor) so we could take a dip in the refreshing Aegean Sea. I did write about our swimming experience off the coast of Hydra. Not for the faint of heart! 

Donkeys, the clear, blue sea and white-washed buildings were good enough reasons to escape the city for the day. You know, I think we really need to go back and properly explore the Greek islands. What do you think?

Note: We used this travel agency to book our boat tour – Fantasy Greece. The cost per person is 85 euros. 

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Swimming off the Coast of Hydra

To go swimming off this small Greek island, you must quickly conquer your fear of normally walking into the water from a beach.

Nope, this is all or nothing.

The rocky edge sharply dropped off at least 20 feet down from the ladder. So I held my nose, gasped a breath and fell backwards into the turquoise glass-like Aegean Sea.

The water was so deep here that you either must tread water or swim the entire time. I did enjoy lazily floating on my back when there weren't any boats passing by to create waves. We only had an hour to swim before we had to be back on the boat.

Yesterday, we took an island hopping boat cruise around Greece with our American friends whom are visiting us. We will spend three days in Athens and five in Istanbul together. The trip has been fun, but exhausting. There’s a lot to do and a lot to see.

Please stay tuned!

Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea, about an hour from Athens by boat.

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