Getting to and around Poros

Poros has no airport, which makes the route to it simple rather than difficult: you fly into Athens and continue from Piraeus by sea. There is no version of this trip that skips the ferry, and once you accept that, the planning collapses into a single decision about which boat.

The fast catamarans take about an hour from Piraeus. The conventional ferries take around two and a half, cost less, and carry cars. On a short stay the hour is worth paying for — it is the difference between arriving at lunch and arriving mid-afternoon — but the slow boat is a genuinely pleasant way to spend a crossing if the day has nothing else in it. Sailings run through the day rather than on a commuter pattern, so the choice is usually available in both directions. The ferry mechanics here are the same as everywhere else in the Saronic: book ahead in July, and book earlier still if a car is coming with you.

The car is the question worth settling before you book anything. Poros sits in a narrow channel directly opposite Galatas on the Peloponnese mainland, and the crossing between the two is a short hop on a local boat. That geography is what makes a car optional here in a way it is not on a larger island: you can leave the vehicle at Galatas and walk on, which removes the car booking, the island parking, and the fare difference all at once.

On the island itself, the town does most of the work on foot. The waterfront, the shops, and the climb to the clock tower are all within walking distance of each other, and taxis or a hired boat cover the beaches beyond that. We spent our July 2013 stay here without a car and never wanted one — the exact opposite of the conclusion Kefalonia forces on you.