Travel extra: Victoria Hislop’s greece plus tips and ideas for solo breaks
The bestselling author tells us how her love affair with Greece started, and takes us on a fascinating trip around Athens and the Aegean Islands
I am often asked what sparked my passion for Greece and when this love affair began. I can answer the first without hesitation (the thrill of my first visit), and the second with total precision (23 July 1976). In the intervening four decades, I have been to Greece countless times, travelled to almost every town, worked there, bought a house in Crete and rented an apartment in Athens. Even so, each time I go, I think of that first time.
Back in the mid 70s, my mother was recently separated and, after many years of being a housewife, she had started working again in order to make her own living. She earned enough for the basics and I had a weekend job from the age of 13 for everything else I wanted – flares, green eyeshadow, books, Led Zeppelin LPs, concert tickets. My mother’s priority, now that she held her own purse strings, was to travel. Until then, family holidays had been spent on windy beaches on the south coast of England. In the “new” life, we still headed south, but now it was to the Mediterranean.
That year, we (my mother, older sister and I) set off on a “two centre” holiday to Greece – one week in Athens and one week on Paros, an Aegean island.
‘It’s as if, since my first visit, Athens has become aware of its beauty and wants to show it off ’
We stayed in a simple two-star pension on the coast in Glyfada (the site of the airport in those days, and therefore rather noisy), and took a bus into the centre of Athens each day to sightsee. The coup de foudre happened when we got off the bus that first morning, ready to climb up the Acropolis. We were almost felled by the August heat and the traffic noise (these were the days before the Metro), and confused by an alphabet that none of us recognised, but we were young and fit, so we were undeterred. The Parthenon, pale and ancient, loomed high above us, undoubtedly one of the most charismatic and happily un-disappointing sights in the world.
After a week of intensive sightseeing in Athens, we took the ferry to Paros and found clear azure waters, fine white sand, delightful ports and charming cobbled streets. It was here, too, that I discovered the joys of Greek cuisine. In the dim and distant years of my childhood, we rarely ate out – a birthday treat in the local Chinese, perhaps, or a steak in a Berni Inn (young people reading this will need to google it). So finding ourselves in Greece, where a pound would buy hundreds of drachmas and allow us to eat in a taverna not once but twice a day, was joyful. The flavours were a revelation and tasting feta cheese, watermelon, sardines just out of the sea, and stuffed vine leaves for the first time was part of the excitement of that trip.
In essence, Greece is exactly the same now as it was 40 years ago. The ancient history, heavenly food, sunshine and a colour scheme as bright blue and white as the Greek flag itself, all these things remain the same. As do my favourite places: Athens and the Aegean Islands.
Soak up history in Athens
The Athens of today is a cleaner and better city than it was then, and it is a waste to go straight from the airport to catch a ferry when it offers so much. It deserves a stay of several days. The Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009, is magnificent – as modern as the site above it is ancient, it harmoniously displays the treasures of the Parthenon close to their original context. My other favourite museums have all been restored or extended, notably the Museum of Cycladic Art, which houses many of the iconic sculptures found in the Cycladic Islands, dating from 2600 BC. These sculptures have an arresting familiarity, perhaps because they were inspiration for Picasso and Modigliani. The Benaki Museum almost next door to it, and the Byzantine and Christian Museum opposite also both deserve a linger.
A new Athens destination is the almost space-age Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre. Designed by Renzo Piano, it’s a masterpiece of modern architecture and landscaping (the building is home to the National Opera and the National Library), and more than worth the 20-minute trip from the centre.
By contrast, Plaka, the ancient area beneath the Acropolis, is unchanged. The marble paving stones still feel soft underfoot and the jewellery shops >>
are worth a gentle browse. There are numerous welcoming cafés and tavernas there as there are in nearby Monastiraki, which also has a fantastic flea market.
Athens is a place where it is best to adopt a Mediterranean timetable. Many museums open at 8am – get first there to have the galleries to yourself and follow this with an early lunch. Afterwards it’s a good plan to have a long siesta during the mid-afternoon when the pavements shimmer in the heat. Such a way of life is the key to enjoying the different things that Athens offers. It is an essential aspect of any visit to wander the shopping streets (always open until late) and eat out under the stars, with a drink before or after at one of the many rooftop bars. It is as if, since my first visit, Athens has become aware of its beauty and wants to show it off. The romantically lit Acropolis is the city’s night-time focus (my favourite places are either the Galaxy Bar at the Hilton Hotel, or A for Athens).
Island hop in the Aegean
While I believe Athens improves all the time, the islands have stayed the same. Thinking back to that first Greek island visit, it amazes me that, in general, the islands have not been spoiled. Mass tourism has created plenty of resort hotels but too few to make a sizeable impact, compared with somewhere like Spain, where parts of the coastline were ravaged by ugly developments during the 70s and 80s. Greece escaped mostly unscathed.
The Cycladic Islands have not substantially changed since I fell in love with them. Most still do not have airports (Paros is one of the few exceptions, but you can only fly there via Athens), and this has preserved their character. Generally, the only way to arrive on an island is by ferry, and to disembark after a few hours at a typical bustling port is exciting every time. The ports are a focal point of island life, and most have been so for millennia.
Paros is one of the 30 or so inhabited islands in the Cyclades and since 1976, I have visited 20 of them (I intend to complete the circle!). The best way to enjoy them is when you have time on your hands and to hop from island to island, enjoying the short ferry journeys in-between. I like each one for different reasons – Tinos for its spirituality, Andros for the surprising grandeur of its buildings and walking, Milos for its spectacular rock formations, Koufonisia for the bluest waters I have ever seen and… in reality there isn’t space, so I am about to start writing a book so that I can describe them all. Crete is not part of the circle (“kyklos”) that forms the Cycladic group, but it is just below them in the southern Aegean. This is my favourite island, almost a small country, such is its size. I spend most of my time when I am there in Agios Nikolaos, which is brimming with lively restaurants (my favourites are Chrisofyllis by the sea and Gioma Meze by the lake) and bars, and is close to some favourite swimming places and traditional villages. Crete has everything – mountains, sea, beaches, unique archaeological sites, great food and wine too.
Getting to know Greece as deeply as I want to will take my whole lifetime. I will continue to explore, but Athens and the Aegean will always be my special places.
‘After a week of intensive sightseeing in Athens, we took the ferry to Paros and found clear azure waters and charming cobbled streets’