The largest island in the Cyclades, Naxos is also the most fertile, growing olives, potatoes and citrus fruit on its hills. Mount Zas, the highest peak in the archipelago traps clouds, creating more rainfall for agriculture and is a satisfying climb if you’re the hiking sort. The capital is Naxos Town (Chora), on the northwest …
Only four kilometres off the coast of Turkey, Kos is the third-largest island in the Dodecanese. As a key administrative centre from Classical Greece to Roman times, the island is littered with ancient ruins. Many are right on the edge of Kos Town, where the Agora has hundreds of years of history and a rebuilt …
Right at the centre of the Cyclades, the island of Paros is a holiday destination cherished for its phenomenal beaches and cute Cycladic villages of snow-white houses. Parikia, the main port is a knot of winding streets below a castle made from re-used marble from an ancient temple, while the small fishing port at Naoussa …
On the Ionian Island of Zakynthos (Zante) there’s a world of difference between the mountainous north and west and the flatter south and east, where most of the beaches are found. The upper regions have bright white limestone cliffs plummeting to inlets and coves like the marvellous Navagio, which can only be reached by boat. …
Most of the top attractions on the mountainous island of Kefalonia are natural, like the mythic Melissani Cave or the highest peak, Mount Aenos. Kefalonia’s coastline is as rugged as its hinterland and this contributes to the majestic beauty of beaches like Myrtos and Petani. Both are coves at the bottom of mighty cliffs with …
In the North Aegean, Lesbos is the third-largest Greek island and known to many as the home of the Ancient Greek poet Sappho in the 6th century BC. Unlike a lot of the Aegean, Lesbos has stayed clear of heavy tourism, and is an island best suited to independent travellers who don’t mind travelling a …
A three-fingered peninsula in Central Macedonia, Chalkidiki is mainland Greece’s sun and sand holiday paradise. The region has 72 Blue Flag beaches on 550 kilometres of coastline, and is sprinkled with archaeological sites like Stagira where the philosopher Aristotle was born. The Kassandra and Sithonia Peninsulas to the west and centre are the tourist go-tos, …
Between the Pindus range and the Ionian Sea, the mountainous region of Epirus is in the northwest of Greece. The coast has the kind of warm climate and pine trimmed coves you’d expect from the Ionian Islands, but inland the landscape becomes vast and winters blanket the peaks in snow. One of many awesome natural …
In the Ionian Sea and joined to the Greek mainland by road, Lefkada (Lefkas) is an island with mountainous topography and beaches so immaculate you may have seen them before ‘in advertising. One, Porto Katsiki is even more beautiful than it looks, with a white pebble beach resting at the foot of white, crescent-shaped cliffs. …
In antiquity some big hitters lived on the island of Samos, like the philosopher Epicurus, the astronomer Aristarchus and, most famous of all, the mathematician Pythagoras. You may remember him from the Pythagorean theorem in your school days, and on Samos you can journey to the caves where he is believed to have lived and …