IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME!
Bright white villages, ancient ruins, glorious unspoilt beaches – and, most improtantly, it’s on the green list...
WHITEWASHED houses and ancient temples; pine forests and caster-sugar beaches; buzzing harbours where fishermen haul in squid for your lunchtime calamari — all surrounded by seas that sparkle as though scattered with diamonds.
These are the spots we should soon be able to look forward to visiting, as it seems as though holidays to Greece will go ahead in 2020 once an ‘air bridge’ is agreed between the country and Ireland. Each Greek island has its own delights. Here’s our guide to suit all tastes…
LOVED-UP COUPLES
SUNNY IN SANTORINI
CLIFFS plunging into the sea, bright white villages clinging to vertiginous slopes . . . this is an Instagrammer’s dream. Invest in a place to stay that has an infinity pool, so you can keep cool while watching the sun melt into the Aegean.
DID YOU KNOW? Its churches are painted in the iconic blue to ward off evil.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights in the five-star Aqua Luxury Suites in Imerovigli this October cost from €815 pp B&B, including flights from London (britishairways.com).
BOHEMIAN HYDRA
CLOSE to Athens, Hydra has long been the haunt of bohemians and well-heeled Greeks. No cars are allowed, but it’s far from sleepy. The bars and boutiques in Hydra town are ranged like an amphitheatre down to the harbour. If you do want some peace and quiet, however, go hiking on Mount Eros.
DID YOU KNOW? Musician Leonard Cohen lived here in the 1960s.
GETTING THERE: The boutique Orloff hotel in September cost from €156 per room per night, (orloffresort.com).
THE PARTY CROWD
CHAMPAGNE IN MYKONOS
THIS Cycladic island is a magnet for celebrities — it was a favourite of Jackie Onassis, too. Exclusive restaurants such as Nammos do a roaring trade, while at the Paradise and Super Paradise beaches the party is swinging by mid-afternoon.
DID YOU KNOW? Mykonos’s nickname is ‘the island of the winds’.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights at the four-star adults-only Andronikos Hotel in August costs from €300 per room per night (love holidays.ie).
IOS FOR OUZO
EVERY year, crowds of twentysomethings descend on Ios to get hazy on ouzo. The winding streets conceal bars playing Europop, while Mylopotas beach is the perfect sandy spot to sleep off the night before.
DID YOU KNOW? Legend has it that Homer died in Ios. GETTING THERE: Seven nights at Ios Palace Hotel & Spa in August from €161 per room per night (loveholidays.ie).
FAMILY FUNSEEKERS
CASTLES IN CORFU
THE Greek emerald isle is packed with family entertainments: 57 beaches, an aquarium, castles,
horse trekking and glass-bottomed boats. And when temperatures soar there’s Aqualand, a vast water park.
DID YOU KNOW? Prince Philip was born on the island.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights in a villa in the unspoilt north-east part of Corfu this August costs from €625 for a family of four, (jamesvillas.ie).
KOS IT’S LOVELY
WITH plenty of beaches, Kos is one of the biggest islands in the Dodecanese.
There are hot springs at Bros Therma beach to enjoy, plus numerous cycle routes to explore across flat, easy terrain.
DID YOU KNOW? Locals are called
Koans.
GETTING THERE: A week-long, allinclusive stay at the Blue Lagoon Village for a family of four in August costs from €1,163 pp including flights (tuiholidays.ie).
GASTRO ISLE
SIFNOS’S GRILLED PRAWNS
THE 15-mile-long island of Sifnos was put on the gastronomic map by the legendary late chef Nikolaos Tselementes.
Dine out at renowned restaurants such as Omega 3, with its perfect grilled red prawns. You should also try mastelo — goat or lamb cooked in red wine.
DID YOU KNOW? Tom Hanks is a regular visitor.
GETTING THERE: The ferry takes less than two-and-a-half hours from Athens, at €100 return (seajets.gr). Petali Village Hotel offers four nights’ B&B in August from €935 pp (sifnoshotel petali.com).
KEFALONIAN KNEES-UP
WITH vineyards aplenty, and restaurants offering kreatopita (a rich meat pie) and bourbourelia (a thick vegetarian soup made with beans and pulses), bon
viveurs love Kefalonia. Be sure to save room for a slice of amigdalopita (almond
cake drenched in honey).
DID YOU KNOW? In 1953 an earthquake raised Kefalonia by 24 in.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights’ B&B at the Regina Dell’ Acqua Resort in September costs from €932pp, including flights from London and transfers (olympicholidays.com).
BEACH LOVERS
SPLASHING AROUND IN NAXOS
THE beaches of Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna and Plaka are all dotted with tavernas, while St George’s beach offers shallow, warm water for children to splash around in.
DID YOU KNOW? In Greek mythology, Zeus was raised on Naxos. GETTING THERE: Fly to Athens from around €75 pp return in July (ryanair.com), then take a SeaJets fast ferry from €156 return (goferry.com). Seven nights at Agios Prokopios Hotel in August costs from €369 pp B&B (prokopis.com).
ZANTE PERFECTION
SHIPWRECK Beach is magnificent, as is Agios Nikolaos (excellent for scuba-diving), pine-fringed Limni Keriou, and Makris Gialos.
DID YOU KNOW? Shipwreck Beach gets its name from a ship that ran ashore on a stormy night in 1980.
GETTING THERE: A week for two adults and two children at the five-star Bay Hotel and Suites in August costs from €1,068 half-board with flights (visit tui holidays.ie).
HISTORY BUFFS
DELOS DEITIES
THIS island is said to be the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, whose mother was one of Zeus’s lovers. You can still see crumbling temples erected to the twin gods by the ancient Greeks.
DID YOU KNOW? Wearing stilettos at ancient Greek sites is illegal due to the damage they cause.
GETTING THERE: There is no accommodation here. Daytrippers typically come from Mykonos, Naxos or Paros. The ferry from Mykonos takes less than 30 minutes, and costs €18 return.
RHODES SCHOLARS
ROMANS, Crusaders, Ottomans, Venetians...all lived and left their stamp here. In Rhodes town you can almost hear the Knights of St John clanking around in their chainmail.
Hike to the Lindos Acropolis and imagine Roman ships massing on the horizon.
DID YOU KNOW? The Colossus of Rhodes was the tallest statue in the ancient world at 33 metres. GETTING THERE: Flights from London cost from €65 return in September (wizzair.com), while four nights at the Evdokia Hotel cost from €228 pp (evdokiahotel.com).
HIKER’S DELIGHT
STROLL IN SKIATHOS
KNOWN as ‘the hiker’s paradise’, the island offers 200km of routes through rocky peaks and dense woodland. Climb up to Evia and Pelion for idyllic sea views.
DID YOU KNOW? The first flag of Greece was created in a monastery here in 1807.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights at Magdalena Studios’ selfcatering apartments in September cost from €560 pp (sunvil.co.uk).
AMORGOS PILGRIMAGE
THIS craggy island, with its idyllic harbour at Katapola, offers a network of trails, inns, and the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa, 300 metres above the sea. Monks sometimes greet hikers there with glasses of raki.
DID YOU KNOW? Amorgos has a population of less than 2,000.
GETTING THERE: Eight-night selfguided walking holidays with accommodation, transfers and baggage transfer cost from €789
(walkingplus.co.uk). Get flights to Athens from €75 return (ryanair.com). The five-hour 30-minute ferry from Athens to Amorgos costs from €40 return (ferry hopper.com).
RECLUSIVE TYPES
ESCAPE TO FOLEGANDROS
EXPLORE abandoned churches, watch the fishermen hauling in their catches, and hike to Panagia church for wonderful sunsets.
Lazy days are best capped off with a drink in the peaceful square at Chora.
DID YOU KNOW? The island’s ancient castle has been occupied since medieval times.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights at Miramare Hotel from €300pp in September (miramarefolegandros.gr). Fly to Santorini from €164 return (skyscanner.ie), then take a ferry for €176 return (aferry. com).
ALONE ON ALONNISOS
THIS gem of the Sporades islands attracts few tourists. Expect sleepy beaches, bouzouki music in tavernas and crickets singing.
DID YOU KNOW? Mediterranean monk seals flock to the island’s shores — it’s thought fewer than 700 exist worldwide.
GETTING THERE: Twelve nights at the Paradise Hotel from €1,447pp B&B in September, including flights from London and transfers from Skiathos airport (olympic holidays.com).
THE ALL-ROUNDER
LIVING LARGE IN CRETE
MEGA resorts, sun-dappled village squares, Dinosauria Park (for the children), Minoan sites, nightlife in Chania and Rethymno, mountain hikes and splendid beaches . . . the largest Greek island has it all.
DID YOU KNOW? Hercules is said to have saved Crete from a raging bull. This is where the expression ‘take the bull by the horns’ comes from.
GETTING THERE: Seven nights’ halfboard at the Atlantica Kalliston Resort from €1,500pp in August with flights (tuiholidays.ie).