Horse-drawn carriages and pine-scented shores — the car-free Saronic jewel
Spetses is the outermost of the Saronic Islands and one of Greece's most stylish retreats — a place where horse-drawn carriages and water-taxis replace cars, pine forests reach down to crystalline coves, and the mansions of 18th-century sea captains line the old harbour. It has long attracted an Athenian elite who value its discretion as much as its beauty.
Spetses built its wealth on a powerful maritime tradition — its fleet of 50+ ships played a decisive role in the Greek War of Independence (1821), and the island's heroine Laskarina Bouboulina commanded her own warships against the Ottoman fleet. The English author John Fowles taught here in the 1950s and set his novel The Magus on the island (thinly disguised as 'Phraxos'). Motor vehicles have been banned since the 1980s, preserving the island's 19th-century character.