As we all know too well, Wednesday is the farthest day from the weekend in any direction, so a lot of the time I find my mid-week #wanderlust for one of Greece’s too many to count island paradises… this time I was looking at pictures of Aegina (pronounced egg-ee-na), one my absolute favorites, as if I could ever choose one. Aegina is a big old island smack dab in the middle of the Saronic gulf, so it’s an awesome day trip destination from Athens—we have a few tours by boat that spend some time on Aegina, so ask us about it if you like what you’re about to read!

We know that people have lived on Aegina for a really, REALLY long time: one of the biggest collections of ancient Greek treasure was discovered on Aegina in the 1800, and some of the jewelry they found turned out to be almost 4000 years old! You won’t find anything quite that old now, but the people of Aegina have been busy and powerful for a really long time. The biggest site is probably the 2500 year old Temple of Aphaia, but there’s also plenty of other cool old buildings, churches, and museums to check out—in these places, like so many other parts of Greece, you can really see up close the awesome mishmash of ancient Mediterranean cultures.

Then, of course, there’s the town itself! It’s a perfectly picturesque port town sitting right on the water, so you can take in the blue skies and crystal clear waters while strolling down a seaside boardwalk, browsing the excellent local collections of food (seriously, I highly recommend stopping for a bite at one of the cafes, and maybe an ouzo if the time is right!), jewelry, and textiles. Like I said, it’s just a ferry away from Athens, so it’s a great place to spend the day (or part of it) if you’re trying to stay cool and get out on the water for a little island hopping. There’s nothing in the world like watching the Greek sunset by boat as the ferry ambles its way across the Saronic Gulf back to port at Piraeus. Just another Wednesday!