Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING AROUND
By bus There are two bus services to the beaches in high
season: west to Kounoupítsa, Ligonéri and Vréllos from the
waterfront by the Hotel Poseidonion ; east and then around
the island to Áyii Anáryiri and Ayía Paraskévi from behind
the town beach.
By boat Seasonal kaïkia offer shuttles to the beaches (€9
return to Áyii Anáryiri, for example) or round-the-island
trips, and there are plentiful water-taxis (€15-80 per
boatload depending on destination).
5
By bike Bike Center ( T 22980 74009), about halfway along
the shopping street behind the seafront hotels, has good
mountain bikes for €6 a day, plus maps and suggested routes.
By scooter and motorbike Several rental places can be
found behind the town beach; try Labros ( T 693 23 33
014), often the cheapest if you bargain (from €15 a day), or
Nautilus ( T 22980 72107). Stanathiotis ( T 22980 75364)
on Bótasi, the main street inland, generally has the newest
machines.
Spétses Town
SPÉTSES TOWN shares with Ýdhra a history of late eighteenth-century mercantile
adventure and prosperity, and a leading role in the War of Independence, which made
its foremost citizens the aristocrats of the new Greek state. Plenty of fine old homes and
public buildings survive, but here there's been little restriction on new building, which
spreads along the shore in both directions. And although most cars are banned in town
you won't notice it, as they're replaced by thousands of mopeds and scooters that pay
little attention to whether a street is pedestrianized or not. In short, it's much less pretty
than Ýdhra Town, but also a great deal more lively and earthy, and full of pricey shops,
bars and restaurants.
For most visitors, shopping, eating and drinking are the principal attractions of
Spétses, but it's a very enjoyable place to wander, with majestic old houses and gardens
scattered through the narrow streets. he harbour, the Dápia , marks pretty much the
centre of town, with the main square tucked in behind. To the east lies the town beach
of Áyios Mámas and beyond that - a lovely walk around the point - the Old Harbour ,
upmarket focus of the island's nightlife, where private yachts moor up. West of the
Dápia is Kounoupítsa - much of the simpler accommodation is here, and there are
small beaches and waterfront tavernas. It's a big place; to walk from Kounoupítsa to the
far end of the Old Harbour will take at least forty minutes.
Bouboulína's Mansion
Guided tours (30min) up to a dozen times daily; times are posted outside and on boards around town • €6
Local heroine Laskarína Bouboulína was a wealthy widow who commanded her
own small fleet in the War of Independence, reputedly seduced her lovers at
gunpoint, and was shot in 1825 by the father of a girl her son had eloped with. Her
former home - the so-called Bouboulína's Mansion - signed not far behind the
Dápia, is now a private museum. On the entertaining tour you'll hear the story of
how she spent much of her fortune on ships and men for the independence
struggle, while highlights among the arms, furniture, pictures and correspondence
are a gorgeous wooden ceiling in the main room and a model of Bouboulína's
flagship, the Agamemnon .
SOTÍRIOS ANÁRYIROS
The man most responsible for Spétses' appearance today is Sotírios Anáryiros , a descendant of
a once grand Spetsiot family who emigrated in 1868 and returned, thirty years later, having
made a fortune selling Turkish tobacco in the United States. His most obvious legacy is the
landmark waterfront Hotel Poseidonion , but he also built and endowed Anáryiros
Koryalénos College , a curious Greek re-creation of an English public school, where John
Fowles taught (behind College beach), and a kitsch, Neoclassical private residence, now
gradually falling into disrepair alongside the Bouboulína mansion. Most importantly, however, he
was responsible for replanting the island's pine forests , depleted by generations of shipbuilders.
 
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