Three islands that mass tourism has (so far) overlooked

Lazy days in the Cyclades There’s a reliable formula when it comes to Greek islands, says Martin Hemming in The Sunday Times: “the bigger the faff it is to get there”, the lovelier it will turn out to be. And so it is with tiny Kimolos, in the western Cyclades. With no airport, you have either to get the ferry from Piraeus (which takes about five hours) or an internal flight from Athens to nearby Milos, a taxi across that island, and then a local ferry from there – all of which is quite enough to “keep the riff-raff away”. In the main town, Chorio, there are whitewashed, blue-roofed buildings, and a church on every corner (apparently, the island has more than 80 churches for its population of 910). Days slip by in a pleasingly “Groundhoggish routine” of feasting on ice creams and “the best Greek salad in Orthodox Christendom”, before deciding which lovely beach to visit. There are only two roads you need to know about – heading east takes you to Prassa beach, where “lunar sands” meet a startlingly blue sea. It’s “civilised enough to have a beach bar and sunbeds, but rustic enough not to have toilets”. Elsewhere, there are plenty of places to eat, but each taverna offers a similar menu of freshly home-cooked fare: it’s nothing “fancy”, and “this is no bad thing”. Sunvil (020-8758 4758, www.sunvil.co.uk) has seven nights from £824pp b&b, including all flights and transfers. A taste of the old-fashioned Caribbean A tiny speck of land off the coast of Colombia, Providencia is “the Caribbean as it used to be, before tourism swept across the region like a tropical storm”, says Paul Richardson in the FT. The airport terminal is “a beam-roofed barn”, to which luggage is delivered by tractor. Beyond, acacia and mango trees shade the tin-roofed clapboard houses, and there are more chickens on the road than cars. There are only a handful of b&bs and hotels, which run from basic to “rustic luxury”: large-scale development has not “taken root”, and locals are fiercely opposed to it. This is a place to lay low, and “empty your head”. There are trails through lush vegetation to wander, peaks to climb and hammocks to laze in. If you feel like being a bit more adventurous, take a boat trip to the nearby reef to see the island’s “astounding” beauty from afar, before stopping at the soft, “icing-sugar” sands of Manzanillo Beach to enjoy a cold beer and listen to the “gentle thump of reggae drifting on the breeze”. Miraviva (020-7186 1111, www.miravivatravel.com) offers a nine-night trip, including flights, from £3,295pp. The Croatian island you need to visit fast Vis, off the Dalmatian coast, is where the new Mamma Mia! film was shot, says Sarah Turner in The Guardian. In the film, it’s supposed to be Greek, but if anything, it feels more “Dutch: mellow, but practical and efficient”. Sleepier than its near neighbours, Vis was a Yugoslav military base, which ensured it remained off-limits to tourists. There are still military tunnels to explore and wrecks to dive to, including that of a Second World War B-17 bomber, as well as the usual vineyards and olive groves. The food is Italian in influence, the beaches pebbly and the waters “achingly clear”. Mercifully, cruise ships cannot get here, although the “harbours are lined with every type of boat” – and “the superyacht set are beginning to circle”. Go now, before thousands of Mamma Mia! fans start to arrive too. Croatia Airlines (www.croatiaairlines.com) flies to Split. For ferries to Vis, visit www.jadrolinija.hr. For more information, visit www.croatia.hr.