Hydra Town

Even though Hydra’s beautiful harbor is flush with bars and boutiques, Hydra Town seems as fresh and innocent as when it was "discovered." The two- and three-story gray-and-white houses with red tile roofs, many built from 1770 to 1821, climb the steep slopes around Hydra Town harbor. The noble port and houses have been rescued and placed on the Council of Europe's list of protected monuments, with strict ordinances regulating construction and renovation. Although Hydra has a landmass twice the size of Spetses, only a fraction is habitable, and after a day or so on the island, faces begin to look familiar—and not just because you saw them in last month’s Vanity Fair.