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You can still stand, or stand still, at the foot of a thousand years of history housed in the Hozoviotissa monastery, and watch from above the dolphins who come to breed off the North East coast of Amorgos.
The nearest Aegean islet floats, the head of a half submerged hippo, guarding their privacy. The monastery is an enormous seagull stain on the dramatic cliffs, and preserves the tradition of a penitential climb towards the miracles and the icon. Except in August, of course, when Mainland Greeks, American Greeks, Italians, French and even some Spanish cinephiles, turn the peaceful pilgrimage into one of the more crowded circles of Hell.
Amorgos, because of the ten hours on the ferry from Pireaus, preserves other traditional Cycladic experiences; the crystal sea, the pristine beach, the picturesque eateries. The main village, Hora Amorgou, is renovating its windmills in homage to, and hopes of, the tourist trade on Mykonos, and high summer brings a tribe of jewellery making ‘trustafairians’, vaguely Goan English public school ‘hippies’ on extended gap years, ‘just travelling round the Med’. So, there are slow changes, and the island is not quite the hermit paradise it used to be. Its starring role in The Big Blue was not a killing blow, however. The virtues of Amorgos performed slow judo on the crowds pulled in by the movie, almost as if the fervent hopes of the cinema tourist had actually managed to reproduce the scenery, the characters and the atmosphere they were expecting from the island. What really happened was that the movie caught some of what was already there, and amplified it, and then the unique conditions of Amorgos, the geography, the history and the sociology, trapped the wave of tourism and coped with it, just like it coped with the tsunami at Ayiali after the 1956 earthquake. Your photographs should feature a small, dark, native and attractive bottle of ‘Psimeni Raki’ , to celebrate this success.
Airport: Athens, then Pireaus and a ferry. Tourist Office: ORMOS EGIALIS
84008 AMORGOS
Greece
phone : (2285)73094
fax : (2285)29099
Email : info@amorgos.net
www.amorgos.net/
Lefkada is a fantastic and relatively unknown island. The small tourist strip of Nidri is not the most attractive part of it, but if you head down to the pretty harbour front you can rent a motor boat for the day and live out those James Bond fantasies on the cheap. We paid sixty euros all in - very good value considering that a boat can hold six people.
You then have about twenty square miles of sea and several gorgeous islands to call your own. We spent a very pleasant day cruising between them, stopping off at a small harbour-side cafe on Meganissi for a frappe, anchoring in various deserted bays for a spot of snorkelling, and inspecting the Onassis family's private island of Skorpios.
We used Trident Hire and found them to be reliable and good value, but there are two or three other companies at the harbour offering similar deals.
Trident Hire
Tel: +30 697 798 8610
www.tridenthire.com
This really is a gem - Rosy's Little Village perched above the sparkling blue sea on the tiny unspoiled island of Agistri, just one hour's ferry from Piraeus. Surrounded by bougainvillaea, oleander and pine trees and only a five-minute stroll from the little port of Skala (10 minutes to Åegina with easy access to other Saronic Islands), this small family run hotel is perfect for anyone seeking the 'real' Greece.
Hospitality is in abundance with Rosy and her family welcoming guests like old friends. The fully air-conditioned rooms, built in traditional Greek village style, all have balconies with sea views - sunrise over Aegina providing the perfect start to each day.
Locally produced organic food and authentic traditional cooking make for the most delicious meals. Swim and snorkel from the private little cove. Bikes and kayaks are provided free for guests. Sailing and water skiing can be arranged with Rosy and Nondas, who will also provide transfer to and from the port on arrival and departure - if you can bear to leave!
Doubles from €45 / family rooms for four persons from €74.
Santorini is a notoriously expensive island, and a Mecca for tour groups. Instead of staying at the overpopulated Oia or Fira, take a 20 minutes drive/bus to Kamari Beach. No mobs of tourists, a noticeable drop in hotel prices, the beach is on your doorstep - and the street facing the beach is filled with delicious tavernas. As one of our waiters put it, in Kamari "the people are friendlier, and the food is better!"
Take a chance!
- with accommodation (unless it's peak peak season or there's a festival on). We've always found it much cheaper to go for one of the places offered to ferry arrivals than booking in advance.
- there's almost always room-owners touting as you disembark, and they are competing against each other. If you don't like the room, you can always move on the next day. This way we usually pay €25-35 (for the two of us) and even as low as €20 on one sleepy island. That time the room was new with en-suite, balcony, fridge, kettle. Never had a bad room yet, some mediocre, but let's face it, you're there to explore, eat out, drink... The room is to sleep and shower. Breakfast on your balcony saves money too - usually rooms also have kettle/small stove.
Most islands (except Argo-Saronic which fill with Greeks from Athens); all the Cyclades (except Folegandros where we had to take a bus to the Hora and walk round asking at places advertising rooms). But worth it for the most lovely Hora, food and views.
The port of Rafina is only 10 kilometres from the new Athens International airport. It is far easier to access for ferries to the islands than Piraeus, with plenty of buses charging only 3 Euros for the journey, and with none of the chaos that exists at Piraeus.
Gavdos is a tiny island in the Lybian Sea, just an hour and half of ferry from Crete South coastal village of Hora Sfakion (or Sfakia). Apart from August, when the island can be quite crowded, you can enjoy the feeling of being away from the world (or not necessarily too far away, it's up to you).
From the port you can get a lift to Korfos, where an easy path leads to Tripiti in an hour walk. In Korfos there are a pair of good tavernas where nice and clean rooms can be rented, but my wife and I, we spent a week on the Tripiti pebbly beach with our tent, only coming back to Korfos when we need to refill our water tank or to enjoy the local food, sitting in a taverna porch. It was September, the days were very hot, but the nights were incredible: fresh with a sky full of stars, the silence complete, only the sound of the waves.
But you don't need to be so naive; staying in Korfos (where there is a nice little beach) and going sometimes to Tripiti is a good experience.
Yet, when the last daily tourist (if there were someone) has gone, the beach and the cape are your, till next day. It's a unique experience. And consider that you don't need a lot of camping gear, a sleeping bag, some water and tinned food are enough. Don't be afraid to be alone, there isn't any danger at all, apart that ones that you can provoke: don't light fires!
With a fifteen minutes walk along the beach and then on a path over the rocks, you can get the big concrete chair just over the cape: climb over it and enjoy the sight!
From Hania (where you can arrive by plane) there is a bus service to Sfakia, where the ferry sets off to Gavdos.
Looking at www.sfakia-crete.com/sfakia-crete/ferries.html you will find the ferry timetable for Gavdos as long as bus timetable for Hania-Sfakia service. Hania is the nearest international airport.
Sarakiniko is the Gavdos main hamlet, with a good choice of domata (rooms) to rent, tavernas and a wide sand beach. There is a supermarket, too.
If you travel in Greece by car you can get to Skiathos from the port of Agios Konstantinos on the mainland. There are many daily departures.
www.in2greece.com/english/places/summer/islands/skiathos.htm
One of the most beautiful Greek islands, with superb natural beauty and traditional villages, take visitors back in time.
On the island there are three Venetian castles; the impressive cave of Saint Sophia with the Byzantine frescoes of the 13th century, the enchanting location Watermills with waterfalls and lakes, and beautiful beaches with crystal blue waters.
If you are going to Mykonos, check this map, which has the locations of Mykonos' beaches on google maps. I recommend the Megali Ammos Beach.
In Fira is the locals' choice with delicious Greek cuisine and some top quality dishes, such as the Ouzo meat-balls and the Manouri.
While Patmos is one of the most beautiful of Greek islands, the port of Skala is a scruffy, utilitarian port with few tavernas and little to recommend it.
This website gives an honest opinion that you won't find in any of the tourist brochures and many of the tourist websites for that matter.
Kalymnos is located in the Dodecanese between the islands of Leros and Kos. Mountains ideal for rock climbing, crystal blue waters for swimming, fishing and scuba diving.
The capital of the island is Pothia, worth seeing are the villages of Vathy, Masouri and the small island of Telendos. You can get there by ferry from Piraeus or by plane via Kos or Rhodes.
A jewel in the Aegean, the easternmost of the Cycladic Islands, it has an evocative beauty, and is remarkably unspoilt. Swimming and plenty of remarkable walks, which give you views to the smaller Cycladic Islands to the north and west. It is a dreamy place, a place to rest and let yourself be taken by a traditional, intimate and quiet life of the island.
Probably the most amazing of the Greek active volcanos (others include Santorini, Methana, Milos). The island of Nisyros is located south of Kos and is accessible with ferry and hydrofoil.
Many Greek philosophers lived on Samos, among them Pythagoras.
But Samos has a lot to offer to the visitor beyond the historical past of the island. Nice beaches, the excellent wine of Samos and opportunities for day trips and shopping in Turkey.
Some of the best beaches of Greece are on the island of Corfu. Beaches like Paleokastritsa, Sidari, Gouvia and Glyfada. But there are many other hidden beaches in Corfu ideal for a day trip with a boat like Peroulades beach.
www.corfuxenos.gr/pl/paleo.htm
www.justcorfu.co.uk/
www.in2greece.com/english/places/summer/islands/corfu.htm
If you own or charter a yacht sail to Leros, Leros has the most natural port in the east Mediterranean - the port of Lakki, there are 2 marinas there and there is another marina in Partheni. Panteli and Vromolithos are ideal for anchorage. If you stay a couple of days on Leros a good idea is to rent a bike or a car and make a tour around the island, there is a lot to see and to do like watersports, diving, windsurfing and fishing. Leros is an ideal island for holidays.
Asklepion in the most important historic site of Kos island, it used to be a therapeutic centre in the antiquity and a temple dedicated to the God Asklepios. It is built on 4 levels and is a fine example of Greek architecture of the 4th century BC. Here taught the famous Hippocrates of Kos.
2-3 miles southwest of Kos town.
www.greekisland.co.uk/kos/kos.htm
www.hotelara.com/kos/
travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2003/jun/19/greece.restandrelaxation
There are so many coves and hidden beaches in Leros that you can swim in private. A nudist beach in in Kryfos on the north side of Alinda bay. In Partheni you can walk further from Blefuti bay, another is at Lakki at the place "Kokina" in the area of Kokali in Gurna and Agios Isidoros. If you want public beaches, try Panteli or Vromolithos beach.
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