Why gamble a whole holiday on one beautiful Greek island when there are so
many more just waiting to be explored? As any Grecophile will tell you,
hopping is the only way to go. You get three, four, five holidays for the
price of one, and the islands just beg to be approached by sea, revealing
their charms slowly, or in a sudden moment of sheer theatre.
Ferries are inexpensive, and more reliable and pleasant than ever — this
summer’s deregulation shake-up should improve services further. And the
destinations are as rewarding as the journey: islands, even close
neighbours, are their own little worlds, with their own rhythms,
imperceptible to the casual day-tripper.
The following routes offer an introduction to the art of island-hopping —
leisurely skips that may soon have you hopping back for more. You don’t
necessarily need a rucksack, but do pack a good guidebook, and check
domestic sea schedules before you go, at www.gtp.gr
Prices are for July/August; hotels are often up to a third cheaper in
other months
The Cyclades
Everyone knows the Cyclades. This idyllic chain, with its gleaming white
villages and blue church domes piled over the sea, provides Greece with its
most potent tourist clichés and postcard shots. And everyone knows the
Cyclades’ heaving fleshpots: Mykonos, Santorini, Ios. Fortunately, there are
plenty of Cyclades to go around. This tour of the western islands is simple
but satisfying: golden beaches, sugarcube houses, and fewer tourists to
share them with. The islands are so close together that travelling between
them is like playing hopscotch. You could see them all in 10 days, but
chances are you’ll be tempted to linger longer.
THE ROUTE
Start at Milos, a volcanic island with a small but devoted
fan club who return every year. The brochures advertise Milos as “a
geological paradise”, but you can give the Mining Museum a miss. Instead,
take a cruise around the island (or, even better, paddle; visit
www.seakayakgreece.com) to appreciate the cliffs in their fauvist colours,
the sea grottoes and the beaches tucked in-between. The last-named are
Milos’s strong point; there are miles of them, from popular lidos to
isolated sandy inlets. Up in Plaka, explore the ancient ruins, with a fine
museum and rare early-Christian catacombs.
Stay at the Lagada Beach, in the port, Adamas (00 30-22870 23411,
www.lagadahotel.com; doubles £70), and eat at Kynigos, the typical
waterfront taverna made modern: first-rate cooking in a stylish setting
(22870 22349; £16).
The next stop is Sifnos, so sophisticated and laid-back, it
seems almost Californian. Split your time between the cosmopolitan port,
Kamares, and the green and pretty interior. Kastro is an exotic old village,
and there are get-away-from-it-all beach havens at Vathi and Platys Gialos.
Sifnos is the best spot on this route for a splurge: the Alexandros hotel
has all the amenities, and a lovely location on the beach at Platys Gialos
(22840 71333, www.hotelalexandros.gr; doubles from £82).
Serifos starts with a bang, one of the most spectacular entrances any Greek
island can offer: the little capital, Chora, with its dazzlingly white
skyline draped over a peak high above the port. Unlike Sifnos, Serifos is a
dry, austere place, but the people are friendly and hospitable, and the fine
beaches along the eastern coast make it well worth a few days.
The Maistrali (22810 51381; doubles £58) is right on the beach at the port,
Livadi. Takis, on the waterfront, offers fresh fish and a fine selection of
Greek wines (22810 51159; £14).
Finally, there’s Kithnos, an out-of-the-way throwback
to the island-hopping days of the 1970s. Few foreigners ever call, but
nostalgic Greeks come here to sample its rustic charms, most evident at
Dryopida, a traditional village, or the attractive spa resort of Loutra. In
Loutra, Porto Klaras (22810 31276, www.porto-klaras.gr; £41 for two) has
studios with sea-view terraces. Everything is home-grown and home-made at
Taverna Katerina, which has a terrace overlooking Loutra’s Schinari beach
(£14).
The details: fly to Athens with British Airways (0870 850
9850, www.ba.com), Olympic Airlines (0870 606 0460,
www.olympicairlines.com), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) or Flyglobespan (0870
556 1522, www.flyglobespan.com). From there, fly to Milos with Olympic; £30,
one-way. Or take the ferry from the Athens port Piraeus with Ventouris Sea
Lines (www.ventourissealines.gr), from £23, one-way. Return to Piraeus from
Kithnos, also with Ventouris; from £14, one-way.
Inter-island ferries along the Kithnos-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos route are frequent
in summer. As an example, sailing from Milos to Kithnos takes between 45
minutes and 2 hours, and costs £6-£10. In time-honoured island-hopping
fashion, go down to the port a day in advance, check the schedules posted by
the travel agents and buy a ticket.
The Dodecanese
Furthest from mainland Greece, the Dodecanese islands followed their own
history after they were occupied by the crusading Knights of St John
(1309-1522), the Turks (1522-1912) and the Italians (until 1947), yet their
DNA is as Greek as Zorba. Beyond sharing a unique architectural heritage of
crusader castles, minarets, and Mussolini-era art-deco administration
buildings, however, the islands come in many flavours. The three on this
route offer a taster of Dodecanese diversity, from the cosmopolitan to the
arty to a best-kept secret. Allow two leisurely weeks.
THE ROUTE
Rhodes, the sun god’s own island, has been a popular
destination since Hellenistic times, when its Colossus was a wonder of the
world — so large, it took 900 camels to haul away the scrap after it
collapsed in an earthquake. But today’s Rhodes has its wonders, too,
beginning with the Old Town, built by the Knights and still encircled by the
towering walls that nearly kept out Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in 1522.
Hire a car to explore the rest — picturesque ruins at ancient Kameiros, the
Knights’ castle at Monolithos and Lindos, a town of sea captains’ mansions,
a little too popular for some. There are beaches everywhere you go;
vineyards, mountain villages and nightlife, too.
Stay in the Old Town, in character, at the Cava d’Oro hotel, in a 13th-century
house (22410 36980, www.cavadoro.com; £52); for dinner, take a taxi to the
New Town to try the gourmet Greek delights at Palia Istoria (22410 32421;
£30).
After Rhodes, hop to little Symi, “the Portofino of Greece”.
Favoured by the sultans because of the local talent for sponge-fishing and
shipbuilding, Symi was a rich island, and has a superb amphitheatre of
neoclassical mansions to prove it, rising up the steps in tiers from the
port to Chora. The rest of the island is made for walking, with little
chapels or beaches at the end of the trek.
Symi comes into its own at night, when the day-trippers leave and everyone
else gathers in its great restaurants and bars. Hotel Albatros has simple
but air-conditioned rooms — essential in toasty Symi (22460 71829,
www.albatrosymi.gr; doubles £38). For memorable Med cuisine, book a table at
Mylopetra (22460 72333, www.mylopetra.com; £60).
Kalymnos, the next hop, is completely different again — a
friendly island, still operating to the rhythms of old Greece. Yet, unlike
many of that description, Kalymnos offers plenty to see and do. The local
sponge fleet is the biggest in Greece. Pothia, the white and blue capital,
is a bustling town with three museums and little shops (chair-menders,
cobblers, coffee-grinders) that are an endangered species elsewhere.
Beaches, fjords and dramatic cliffs make Kalymnos a top destination for
rock-climbers. If the main beaches, Myrties and Massouri, seem too busy,
there are frequent caïques to Telendos, a serene mountain in the sea just
opposite, with pebble beaches and a handful of houses.
In Pothia, stay at the atmospheric Archontiko, once the residence of the
Turkish governor (22430 24051, www.travelinfo.gr/archontiko; doubles £28).
Dine on sea and land food at Pandelis, on the quay (22430 51508; £15)
The details: there are summer charters to Rhodes from 14 UK
and Irish airports. August fares from Gatwick or Glasgow start at £169,
through Charter Flight Centre (0845 045 0153, www.charterflights.co.uk).
Scheduled flights from Gatwick with BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) start at
£249.
The Symi-owned Anes Ferry Company (22410 37769, www.anes.gr) has ferries (two
hours, £5), catamarans and hydrofoils (one hour, £10) from Rhodes to Symi.
Although you could bag a seat on one of the slow bi-weekly ferries that
visit all the islands, Dodekanisos Seaways (22410 70590, www.12ne.gr) has
catamarans that make hopping in these parts quick and reliable. The trip
from Symi to Kalymnos takes two hours and costs £19; Kalymnos to Rhodes
takes three hours and costs £24
The Ionians
The Ionians were the home base of the pioneering island-hopper Odysseus, and
they deliver mythic grandeur in spades. Cliffs rocket out of the sea,
mountains bother the clouds, valleys of olives and cypresses evoke a
dishevelled Tuscany, beaches are unabashed calendar fodder. Their villages
may lack the usual island quaintness (an earthquake in 1953 saw to that),
but they are the genuine Greece. Another difference is that you’ll need a
car — this two-week route is as much a breathtaking driving trip as an
island-hop.
THE ROUTE
Fly into sprawling Cephalonia and drive over the mountains to
Sami, a good introduction to the scenery that stole the show in the film
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Unpretentious Sami was dolled up in plywood to
play Argostoli; spend time here visiting a pair of spectacular caves,
Antisami beach (the set for the Italians’ camp) and Agia Efimia, a laid-back
port. The seaside Sami Beach Hotel has a pool (26740 22824
www.samibeachhotel.gr; doubles £69). Try mamma’s cooking at the waterfront
Mermaid (26740 22202; £15).
From Sami, it’s an easy hop to Homer’s “craggy” Ithaca.
Dig out your walking shoes to find places immortalised in The Odyssey: the
cave of the Nymphs, the fountain of Arethusa, Odysseus’s palace. The sites
may be all conjecture, but are strangely evocative all the same — like
Ithaca itself, an island deaf to the siren song of mass tourism. Nightlife
may be nil, but the island has pebbly crescents, a crystal sea, bijou ports,
lofty, otherworldly villages such as Exogi and Anogi, and always, always,
stunning views. A good base is the Odyssey Apartments, in the capital,
Vathi, with a pool (26740 33400, www.ithaki-odyssey.com; £69). Splurge on
lobster at Paliocaravo (26740 32573; £30).
Next hop is Lefkas, of the landmark cliffs. Sappho is
rumoured to have leapt from one over unrequited love — for a man. Tucked
under their rocky faces, on the west coast, lie Porto Katsiki and other
beaches of such beauty, they are worth the hair-raising drive.
The biggest resort, Nidri, is a honky-tonk place, but a good base for sailing
trips. Stay at the Eva Beach Hotel (26450 92545, www.evabeach.gr; doubles
£65) and, in the evening, dine at the romantic To Pefko (26450 92075; £25).
Hop back to Cephalonia’s northernmost port, Fiskardo, spared by the earthquake
and now a magnet for mega-yachts: the Ionian St Tropez. Take the corniche
road to the island’s crown jewels: Assos and its Venetian citadel; and
Myrtos beach, with its play of white and azure under sheer cliffs. Then base
yourself on the south coast, at the Trapezaki Bay Hotel (26710 31502,
www.trapezakibayhotel.gr; doubles £65), near a score of beaches and places
to explore: Mount Ainos National Park, the Mycenaean tomb at Tzanata, the
capital, Argostoli, Byron’s “rock” and the Paliki peninsula — the real
Ithaca, according to the British authors of Odysseus Unbound (2005).
The details: flights from Gatwick to Cephalonia start at
£169, through Charter Flight Centre (0845 045 0153,
www.charterflights.co.uk). Book a car to pick up at the airport; from £158
per week with Greekstones (26710 42201, www.greekstones-rentacar.com), Be
sure to ask for a note authorising ferry travel.
The F/B Cephalonia (www.ferries.gr/strintzis-ferries) sails at 3pm from Sami
to Piso Aetos, Ithaca (45 minutes; £3, car £9), except on Saturday
afternoons, when it goes to Vathi (90 minutes). Check schedules with the
Sami port authority (26740 22031). From Frikes, on Ithaca, the Captain
Aristides sails at 10am for the two-hour trip to Vassiliki, on Lefkas (21041
22530; car £18); the same ship sails in 2 hours from Nidri to Fiskardo, on
Cephalonia, at 8.30am (car £18).
Dana Facaros is the author of many Cadogan travel guides, including Greek
Islands
