One of the best things about living in Athens is the proximity to so many Greek islands. Some are so close you can hop over for the afternoon and catch the last ferry home as the sun goes down. The island of Kea is only an hour’s ferry ride away from the mainland. The catch? The boat departs from a scruffy port called Lavrion, about an hour from downtown in a taxi. The silver lining? An excellent lunch of calamari and hand-cut fries at one of the inexpensive tavernas clustered around Lavrion’s fish market before you board the ferry. The whole experience feels like a throwback to less frantic, FOMO-fueled times, when slow, salty boat rides were a definitive part of any trip to Greece.
Discover the two opposing sides of Kea in this feature for Travel + Leisure.