Nisyros with its impressive volcano is popular for excursions. But when the day-trippers have left, PaulOfHorsham enjoys nothing more than wandering through narrow alleyways and sharing a soumada with the locals

A huge volcano caldera sits at the heart of this island. Hidden by a ring of mountains, with a couple of villages perched on the rim, there is not much happening nowadays - a little steam and the whiff of sulphur.

Nisyros is close enough to package-holiday friendly Kos for it to be a popular excursion. A small fleet of boats arrive in the morning and the day-trippers are packed off in buses to the volcano. They return for lunch when the restaurants of the port town of Mandraki buzz with life. By 4 o'clock, it's quiet again and you can share the narrow white-washed streets with the locals, maybe stopping for a soumada (the local non-alcoholic drink made from almond extract) by the waterfront or in shady Ilikiomeni Square.

Many of the shaded backstreets of Mandraki are wide enough only for pedestrians and mopeds. Wander through them to find the steps up to The Venetian castle of the Knights of St. John high on the cliff. Within the castle is the Byzantine Spiliani Monastery. A kilometre or so beyond, on a cliff-top track, lie the remains of the Cyclopean Kastro.