Desperately seeking Salamina: the secret Greek island that will change how you "sea" life
Notes on visiting the workaday island where the Athenians thrashed the Persians
Hydra? Forget about it, please — at least for a day. Salamina, the largest of the Saronic Islands, is just a short ferry ride from Athens. Its coastline is dotted with inviting beaches like Selinia and Kaki Vigla, ideal for swimming, sunbathing, or enjoying fresh seafood at seaside tavernas. The ancient port of Ambelakia, which played a key role in the legendary Battle of Salamina…
🚢 Ferry from Perama to Salamina
The most common and quickest way: ferries run 24/7 between Perama (just west of Piraeus) and Paloukia port on Salamina.
Duration: ~15 minutes.
Cost: Very affordable (~1.20 € for a passenger).
Ferries depart frequently (every ~15–30 minutes throughout the day).
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Cavafy stated that the traveler should hope the road is a long one, but I was glad that the trip to Salamis, or Salamina, as the island is called locally, took less than 15 minutes. While not shrouded in the same kind of mystique as Ithaca or fire-chiseled Santorini, Salamis has a military pedigree second to none, at least not in these parts.
In its waters was fought the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C., when the Athenian navy, led by Themistocles and supported by allied Greek city-states, beat back the Persians. The Greeks were outnumbered but the Persians were outmaneuvered, and their fleet destroyed.
That Greek victory made King Xerxes shake in his sandals. It was a turning point in the Greco-Persian wars and changed the course of world history. The Battle of Salamis has rightly been called one of the stepping stones of the democratic principle of government.
Today, the irregularly shaped island is home to the headquarters of the Hellenic navy. Superyachts are nice, presumably, but there can be little doubt that the kinds of ships you see lined up in Salamina’s harbors are the true masters of the seas.
What Salamis may lack in overt beauty and charm it more than makes up for in heritage and verve. When I told some Athenian friends I’d be spending the better part of a weekend on the island, it drew heaps of scorn, as in terms of touristic allure it is more comparable to, say, Staten Island than the Hamptons.
Well, so what? To some people, there is nothing more dreary than idling away at a beach for hours on end. Salamis does have beaches, of course, though it is necessary to head to the southern reaches of the island to escape some of the industrial port grit. There, facing the Saronic Gulf and the island of Aegina, are some quiet coves. There are no beach bars, but the clear water is decent for swimming. The Cave of Euripides is also in this area.
Salamis has a fine archaeological museum that was renovated a few years ago. When I visited, a staff member had to turn on the lights because I was the only other person there. There are more remarkable artifacts across the water in the archaeological museum of Piraeus, such as a bronze chunk of an ancient Athenian trireme, but these galleries offer a window onto the sweep of history here from late Neolithic to Roman and Early Christian times.
The monument of the Salamina fighters, a large bronze sculpture, overlooks the sea where the epic battle took place. It is situated at the tip of a promontory called Kinosaura that juts like a spear into the narrow channel that separates Salamis from the mainland. An ancient tumulus on the spot served as the burial site for the Greek warriors who fell in battle.
Unlike at other ancient sites such as Marathonas, this place does not really dwell in the past. The waters teem with oil tankers and container ships, the dockyards groan with activity, the big ferries that connect the island with the mainland operate 24 hours a day.
And yet, the naval victory looms large in the local consciousness — a marble commemorative statue here, a Greek flag hoisted high and fluttering in the salt-heavy breeze there. Near a charming seaside spot where I had a typical lunch of fried codfish with skordalia purée, local students had painted metal utility boxes with colorful imagined scenes from the famous showdown at sea…
Want to learn more about how to make the most of your visit to Salamina?