Luggage Transfers on Hydra Island
Handcarts
If you are staying in Hydra Town at accommodation that does not have street steps to negotiate, then the quickest and cheapest method of getting your luggage from the port to your accommodation is to use the services of one of the men who operate hand carts. (Check with your accommodation to see if the cost is included in your booking.)
All hand carts are a fixed size and can take much bigger loads than horses or mules.
A hand cart luggage transfer will cost €15 +, regardless of the number of bags in the cart.
Generally a hand cart can take up to 4 suitcases and 4 pieces of hand-luggage.
Most hand cart men will take your bags along the streets to the start of any steps to your accommodation. However, SOME are extra helpful and will carry your bags up short flights of steps and into the accommodation entrance courtyard. It is of course at your discretion as to whether you tip above the standard fee if someone goes that extra 'step' for you!
Handcart operators are also available to transfer goods or items for weddings, film production etc. Just stop one in the port and negotiate a price.
Mules
If you are staying in accommodation where you need to go up steps, then you will need a mule. House owners/managers will have arranged for their preferred muleteer to be available but only if you have told them in advance what time you will arrive!
If however you are not being met and you need to get your bags to a hotel, you will have to walk to the corner of the harbour and hire a mule (if your bags are too heavy to carry or you don't know where the accommodation is).
Prices for mule hire vary depending upon the zone you want to go to.
Basically you will pay between €10 (Zone A, covering most places in town without more than 20 steps along the way) or €20 per mule (Zone B) for most places. Find the sign on the board behind the bins opposite the Alpha Bank. Please note that even though the sign says 4 pieces of luggage, it actually means 2 suitcases and 2 pieces of hand-luggage. So if there are four of you, most likely you will need 2 mules.
Anything higher or further out of the town will cost slightly more and you should check the price before you set out.
