Island hopping > 5 of the best July 29, 2006
Posted by grhomeboy in Greece Islands, Greece Islands Aegean, Greece Islands Ionian.trackback
Skopelos
A sprawling, rugged island with a down-to-earth attitude to tourism. Motorised watersports are permitted on one beach only, a different one each year. Skopelos Town and Glossa, on the west coast, are two of the most atmospheric towns in the Greek Islands; the former overlooked by two convents and a monastery, the latter famous for its architecture, with intricate wooden balconies and slate roofs.
Paxos
Far enough away from Corfu to escape that island’s excesses, Paxos has a quiet charm. The olive trees that cover most of it have grown unchecked for hundreds of years, forming a dense grove threaded by ancient paths. The west has dramatic cliffs, the east pretty beaches, and you can walk between the two in an hour. There are only three villages; the smallest, Loggos, is ludicrously pretty. The presence of yachties and Italians in summer ensures above-average dining.
Paros
Right on Athens’s doorstep. But day-trippers who get no farther than the wonderful harbour (arrival, as the writer Henry Miller famously described it, is like sailing through the streets) miss out on a surprisingly large and varied island. The northern section, known as Kalavria, is covered in pines, with the ruins of a sixth-century BC Temple of Poseidon and a coastline dotted with tiny beaches. In town, houses tumble down the hillside to the waterfront, where the harbourside buzz is the liveliest in the Cyclades.
Folegandros
Wind-blasted hills give it an austere, eerie aspect, belied by the most attractive island village in the Cyclades. There are two adjoining plateias, shaded by almond and pepper trees and lined with tavernas, and a kastro (castle) with a maze of alleyways. Excellent beaches exist at Anglos and elsewhere, but Folegandros is still very much a working agricultural island.
Crete
Rich in both natural attractions – mountains, beaches, gorges – and historical sights – Knossos and Phaestos – Crete is also at the leading edge of Greek island tourism. The half-dozen boutique hotels in Chania and Rethimnon are superb, and their larger five-star equivalents grouped around Elounda are world-class. Best of all are the people: occasionally fierce and unpredictable, always hospitable.
grhomeboy
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