Yayaki Spetses
En-vogue vegetarian
Spetsioti neighbourhood of old
Be welcomed as family into the home of Karl and Hannah at Yayaki Spetses, a sophisticated meat-free bed and breakfast on the exclusive Greek island of Spetses. The word Ya-Ya is Greek for grandmother, imbuing the sense of homey hospitality that you’ll feel from the moment you arrive. Spend your morning casually lapping the pool or taking a yoga class, slipping into an afternoon siesta, and then discussing personalised recommendations for dinner over an afternoon cocktail. Spetses’ first and only exclusively plant-based hotel is a tonic for the mind and body.
Planes
The majority of visitors fly into Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, and take a 40-minute cab ride to Athens’ Piraeus Harbour, from where the Hellenic Seaway ferry to Spetses takes around two-and-a-half hours. Transfers can be booked from €220 one-way for two guests.
Trains
Athens’ Piraeus Harbour and its Spetses-bound ferry is technically connected to Europe’s train network via Belgrade, but only the committed would attempt it.
Automobiles
Travellers with a hire car on the mainland can park in Kosta, three hours’ drive from Athens, and take a 10-minute water taxi across the channel. Spetses town is blissfully car-free, and only residents can bring them onto the island. The hotel is a 15-minute stroll from the ferry terminal, and transfers are available on its charming Piaggio Ape tuk-tuk.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Spetses hits a little different to many of the Greek islands. Frequented in peak summer by well-heeled Athenians on city breaks, the island is a softer, more intimate alternative to nearby Hydra. Life moves markedly slower – cars are banned in Spetses town and even if you had one, there’s nowhere on the island that isn’t better accessed by a rented e-bike. Seafront Spetses town is noted for its restaurant scene and Florentine-era buildings and is seemingly shaped for post-siesta ambles – start at the Old Harbour and see where the mood takes you. The Bouboulina Museum and Spetses Museum are both housed in historic mansions, and the former’s wood-carved Florentine ceiling is remarkable. Summon the energy for the gentle hike to the Spetses Church of Panagia Armata, which was built in 1824 to commemorate the unlikely defeat of the Ottoman naval fleet by Spetsiote commander Ioannis Koutsis in 1822, and sits hilltop above the Old Harbour. It is one of the best spots to watch the sunset. There is but a single road on Spetses and it makes a 24-kilometre circumnavigation of the island. Hire a bicycle (committed), e-bike (sensible) or motor scooter (speed demon) and spend a day hunting views across the Saronic Gulf and chancing swims at hidden beaches. Arid scrub and pine trees meld to silky sands at the remote Agia Paraskevi Beach on the western coast, or swim through a cave to access a tiny subterranean beach at Bekiri Cave.
