Spétses

Spétses is a beautiful low-lying, pine-scented island in the Argive Gulf, the furthest of the Argo-Saronics from Athens, a factor that long kept it more relaxed than its more accessible sisters. For all that, it’s an old hand at tourism: since the First World War Athenian families have come every summer for its safe beaches and climate; today so many have villas and mega yachts, it’s been called ‘the Greek Monaco.’

For decades the island lured British visitors lured by the descriptions in John Fowles’ The Magus; today it’s become something of a mini Hollywood on the Aegean: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter wiht Olivia Coleman was filmed here in October 2020, as was the sequel to Knives Out with Daniel Craig in the summer of 2021; at the time of writing Sam Mendes’s new series on The Magus is in post production

Like its Hydra, cars are banned except for taxis and residents with permits, so the summer bus around the island, motorbikes, bikes, quad bikes and horse drawn carriages are the main forms of transportation.

History