The waterfront across the channel

The channel between Poros town and Galatas on the mainland is only a few hundred metres across, which means you can photograph the whole town from outside it without a boat trip — just cross. Small launches shuttle back and forth all day in a few minutes for the price of a coffee, and from the Galatas quay the town stacks up in one clean tier of pale ochre, white and terracotta with the clocktower on top.

Better still, do it from the middle. Hiring a small boat for half an hour gives you the town in the background at eye level with the water, masts along the front, and a wake that keeps the foreground alive. The crossing itself is a set: you get the boat, the rail and the town coming closer.

The town front faces roughly south-west, so the last hour of light is the moment; at midday it flattens. Wind funnels down the channel, so it can be choppier than it looks from the quay — check with the boatman if anyone gets seasick, and hold onto hats.