Route J
Two weeks starting and ending in Lavrion.
- Lavrion
- Kea
- Kythnos
- Hydra
- A day for rest, sightseeing and recreation.
- Kiparisi
- Leonidio
- Spetses
- A day for rest, sightseeing and recreation.
- Poros
- Methana
- Aegina
- Sounion
- Lavrion
Suggested islands
Paros and Antiparos
Πάρος, lying some 8 km west of Naxos, is occupied by a range of hills of gently rounded contours, rising to 764 m in Mount Profitis Ilias (rewarding climb, with guide; magnificent panoramic views). Three bays cut deep inland – in the west the sheltered Paroikia Bay, with the island’s capital that serves as the main sailing port and as a yacht charter base; in the north the bay which shelters the little town of Naoussa, which in Roman times was the island’s main port for the shipment of Lychnites marble; and in the east the flat Marmara bay. The whole island is covered with a layer of coarse-grained crystalline limestone, in which lie rich beds of pure marble.
The island’s considerable prosperity has depended since ancient times on agriculture, favoured by fertile soil and an abundance of water, and on the working on marble, which is still quarried on a small scale. In recent years the rapid development of the tourist trade has brought changes in the landscape, the island’s economy and its social structure.
Kythnos
Κύθνος lies south-east of Kea and is a rocky and barren island of karstic limestone, that is usually covered in an abundance of colourful flowers in the early months of the sailing season.
The coast is much indented – with many beautiful anchorages and ports – and for the most part falls steeply down to the sea. The inhabitants live by farming and fishing. In antiquity iron was mined on the island.
The two main ports are Mericha and Loutra. Mericha – only minutes sailing away from the oddly shaped Sandbar Bay – is the smaller of the two. Loutra on the north-east nowadays even has a new harbour with new moles providing the best protection from the Meltemi on the island. The mineral baths after which the port took its name, are unfortunately no longer in use. The mineral springs were already frequented in Roman times and can still be seen as (covered) streams that flow towards the port.