Greece

Wander wild trails on Karpathos (not Crete)

Greece has between 1,000 and 6,000 islands, depending how you measure its various outcrops in the Ionian and Aegean, so there is scope for avoiding the popular and busy. Karpathos is a case in point. It sits directly between two tourism behemoths, Crete and Rhodes, but has little of the profile of either. This is to the benefit of those who want to hike its quiet trails, or swim in its marine regions.

Slip into the Greek summer on Alonnisos (not Skiathos)

This fragment of the Northern Sporades is even further from the obvious. Alonnisos is the silent sibling of Skiathos and Skopelos, keeping itself to itself, to the east of both. Largely agricultural - its slopes covered with almond trees, olive groves and vineyards - it is that classic Greek island where life decelerates to the most enjoyable, unhurried of speeds, ideally on a taverna terrace.