Visit Athens Guide
Aegina
Aegina island is the nearest one worth a day from Athens: seventy-five minutes from Piraeus on a scheduled ferry, with a fifth-century Doric temple on a pine ridge that is better preserved than anything standing in the capital. It is also the cheapest island day you can have — the boat and the temple together cost less than one Acropolis ticket. Checked in Q3 2026. The other trips are on the day trips hub, and the wider plan on the Athens city guide homepage.
Quick answer How to get there, what it costs, and Aegina or Hydra
Aegina is seventy-five minutes from Piraeus by scheduled ferry, and the Temple of Aphaia on the island costs €10 full and €5 reduced. It is the cheapest and easiest island day from Athens, and it needs no tour.
Key takeaways
- Take the scheduled ferry, not a cruise — getting there explains why the three-island cruises give you about ninety minutes ashore.
- The Temple of Aphaia is the reason to come: a complete Doric colonnade of about 500 BC, and the pediments are in Munich.
- It costs less than an Acropolis ticket to reach and enter, which makes it the best-value day in this guide.
- Aegina or Hydra is the choice most people are making; they are very different islands.
- The temple is free on the state free-entry days — the free-entry page has them.
Key facts
Opening hours
| Temple of Aphaia, 1 Apr – 31 Oct, daily | 08:00–20:00 |
|---|---|
| Last admission | —–20 min before |
| Ferry from Piraeus | about 75–minutes |
Closed 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 25 and 26 December
Admission
- Adult
- Temple of Aphaia €10
- Reduced
- €5
- Free
- 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October, and the first and third Sunday from 1 November to 31 March
Planning it
- Time needed
- Not stated; our routing: a full day, or six hours at a push
- Book ahead
- Recommended — a few days
- Address
- Archaeological Site of Aphaia, 180 10 Aegina
What the day costs
The boat and the gate, priced on 1 September 2026. Ferry fares vary by operator and speed; the figure below is the listed e-ticket price on the platform.
| Item | Price | What it is | Note | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piraeus–Aegina ferry ticket | Listed at €12 | 75 minutes each way, e-ticket by email | Yours to shape the day | Check Availability |
| Temple of Aphaia | €10 (€5) | The site and its scientific collection | 08:00–20:00, 1 Apr–31 Oct | Official site |
| Three-island cruise | From €124 | Hydra, Poros and Aegina with lunch | About 90 minutes ashore at each | Check Availability |
| Metro to Piraeus | €1.20 | 25 minutes from central Athens | Line 1 or Line 3 | Official site |
Add it up: €1.20 to the port, about €12 each way on the boat, €10 at the temple and a bus or a scooter on the island. That is a full island day for less than the €30 the Acropolis costs, which is the single best value in this guide. The cruise in the third row is a different product — a day on the water, not a day on an island.
The boat, and the alternative
The cards, with the operator's own rating and review count.
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 Availability
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 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.
The Temple of Aphaia
The reason this is a sightseeing day and not only a beach day.
What it is
A Doric temple of about 500 BC on a pine-covered ridge in the north-east of the island, dedicated to Aphaia, a local goddess later identified with Athena. It is one of the best-preserved temples in Greece: two tiers of columns still stand inside the cella, which is something you cannot see anywhere in Athens. €10 full, €5 reduced, and the ticket includes the site's scientific collection.
The pediments, and where they went
Its pedimental sculptures — the finest surviving late-Archaic Greek sculpture — were bought in 1811 by Ludwig of Bavaria and restored by Thorvaldsen. They are in the Glyptothek in Munich. This is the second time in this guide that the best of a Greek building is somewhere else, and the parallel with the Parthenon marbles is not lost on anyone in Greece.
The sacred triangle
Aphaia, the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion form an almost exact isosceles triangle on the map. Whether the Greeks did that on purpose is argued about; it is a good thing to know while standing on the ridge with the other two both theoretically in view.
Getting to it
It is about twelve kilometres from the port, and the island bus from the harbour runs there. Hiring a scooter or a small car at the port is the usual way and makes the rest of the island reachable — Agia Marina below the temple, the ruined medieval town of Palaiochora, the pistachio groves.
Getting there, and the cruise trap
Two completely different products go by the phrase "day trip to Aegina".
The scheduled ferry
From Piraeus, seventy-five minutes on a conventional boat and around forty on a fast craft, several a day, all year. You buy a ticket, you get on, you have the island for as long as you like. The gate at Piraeus matters more than the time — the Piraeus page explains why.
The three-island cruise
A ten- to twelve-hour boat day calling at Hydra, Poros and Aegina with lunch and usually music on board. You get roughly ninety minutes ashore at each, which is a walk round a harbour and a coffee. As a day on the water it is a pleasant thing; as a way of seeing Aegina it is not one, and the Temple of Aphaia is not in it.
Which to book
If you want the temple, the pistachios and a swim, take the scheduled boat and make your own day. If you want to sit on a deck in the sun with lunch provided, take the cruise and do not expect to see anything. The day trips hub is blunt about the distinction.
The rest of the island
A working island rather than a resort, which is most of its charm.
Aegina town
A neoclassical waterfront — the island was briefly the capital of the new Greek state in the 1820s, and the architecture shows it — with fishing boats moored bow-in along the quay selling fruit and vegetables straight off their decks. That floating market is the thing people remember.
Pistachios
Aegina pistachios have protected designation of origin status and are the island's other export. They are sold everywhere on the waterfront, they are noticeably better than supermarket pistachios, and they are the standard thing to take back to Athens.
Palaiochora and Agia Marina
Palaiochora is the ruined medieval town in the hills, abandoned in the nineteenth century, with dozens of small churches still standing among the rubble; it is free and usually empty. Agia Marina on the east coast is the main beach resort and sits below the temple ridge.
When to come
Weekdays in May, June, September and October. Athenians come at weekends all summer and the island is genuinely busy then; a Tuesday in October it is yours.
Aegina or Hydra
The two Saronic islands people choose between, and they are not alike.
Aegina is a working island
Bigger, closer, cheaper, with agriculture, a proper town, buses, scooters and an important ancient temple. It is the better day if you want to do something, and the better value by a wide margin.
Hydra is a preserved harbour
Smaller, further, more expensive, and there are no cars on it at all — goods move by mule. It is the more beautiful arrival and the better place to sit still. Hydra has the detail.
If you have one island day
Aegina, for the temple and the price. If you want the photograph and the quiet and do not mind the cost, Hydra. Doing both in one day is what the cruises sell, and it is why they give you ninety minutes at each.
Aegina map
The port, the temple, and what else is on the island.
Where this fits
The other water days out of Athens.
Aegina questions
Is Aegina worth visiting?
Yes, and it is the best-value day in this guide: about €12 each way on the boat and €10 at the temple, for an island with a better-preserved Doric temple than anything in Athens. What the day costs adds it up.
How long is the ferry from Athens to Aegina?
About seventy-five minutes from Piraeus on a conventional ferry, around forty on a fast craft, with several sailings a day all year. Piraeus is twenty-five minutes from central Athens by metro for €1.20.
What is there to do on Aegina?
The Temple of Aphaia, the town waterfront with its floating vegetable market, the abandoned medieval town at Palaiochora, the beach at Agia Marina and the pistachios. The rest of the island covers each.
Is Aegina or Hydra better?
Aegina if you want to do something and spend less; Hydra if you want the prettier harbour and do not mind the cost. Aegina or Hydra compares them properly.
Do I need a tour?
No — this is the day trip that least needs one. Buy a ferry ticket, take the island bus or hire a scooter, and pay €10 at the temple. The three-island cruises are a different product entirely.
How much is the Temple of Aphaia?
€10 full and €5 reduced, including the site's scientific collection, and free on the state free-entry days. It is open 08:00 to 20:00 from 1 April to 31 October.
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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