This text was initially printed in February 2019.
With over 200 inhabited islands, there are many locations to get pleasure from a Greek island-hopping journey.
There’s little question that tourism performs a significant position in native economies. However many locations – particularly within the Mediterranean – are buckling underneath the burden of overtourism.
Whereas governments are taking steps to restrict customer numbers and enhance infrastructure, it’s additionally as much as us, as accountable travellers, to think about the affect now we have on the locations we go to.
The excellent news is that sunsets aren’t restricted to Santorini. You’ll discover them throughout Greece – together with seaside tavernas, hilltop villages and shiny blue swimming coves.
Listed here are 5 lesser-known islands the place you’ll be able to escape the crowds and expertise a extra relaxed facet of Greece.
1. Syros
With quiet seashores, neoclassical structure and winding lanes lined with family-run tavernas and cafes, Syros ticks all of the bins – however with out the crowds of its neighbour, Mykonos.
Ermoupoli, the capital of each Syros and the Cyclades, is a fairly metropolis of marble squares, pastel-painted mansions and Nineteenth-century tenement blocks. It has a wealthy historical past as a buying and selling port and the streets nonetheless buzz with market stalls and locals catching up over espresso. As you stroll round, you’ll possible catch a whiff of loukoumi (turkish delight), a standard candy made in family-run outlets throughout town. If you happen to be a part of Intrepid’s Athens to Santorini journey, you’ll have a go at making loukoumi your self.
Past the capital, discover deserted windmills, stroll to the previous fortified medieval settlement of Ano Syros or discover the Bronze Age ruins of Kastri – one of many earliest settlements in Greece.
2. Sifnos
Sifnos is a spot the place you’ll be able to hike to a monastery within the morning, purchase handmade ceramics at lunch and settle right into a taverna for a night of recent seafood and tsipouro.
Sifnos’ rugged panorama is dotted with church buildings and monasteries – essentially the most spectacular is probably the Agios Nikolaos which sits on a rocky outcrop – olive groves, and valleys of untamed juniper and almond timber.
It’s additionally the right place to select up a ceramic memento, given its fame because the Aegean’s pottery capital. Its culinary fame is simply as wealthy due to Nikolaos Tselementes, a famend native chef who wrote the primary broadly influential Greek cookbook in 1910. Remember to pattern native dishes like revithada (chickpea stew), mastelo (slow-cooked lamb with wine and herbs) and kaparosalata (caper salad).
3. Folegandros
It could be simply an hour’s ferry journey from Santorini, however Folegandros has a really completely different really feel – with Athenian holidaymakers outnumbering worldwide guests. Its foremost city, Chora, is without doubt one of the oldest medieval cities within the Cyclades and sits dramatically on a 200-metre-tall cliff. Vehicles aren’t allowed within the centre, so there’s a really relaxed environment – assume shaded courtyards, quiet stone laneways and cats snoozing within the solar.
However the actual magic occurs on the Church of Panagia. Comply with the zigzag path up the hill behind city for wide-open views of the Aegean and, you guessed it, a blazing sundown that’s not half as busy as Santorini.
4. Kythnos
If you happen to’re on the lookout for a mixture of mountaineering and lazy seaside vibes, Kythnos could be your spot. This sleepy island has a number of the most rugged terrain within the Cyclades, with bald hills, cliffs, coastal caves and peaceable seashores the place you’ll be able to sprawl out to your coronary heart’s content material.
The path from Loutra to the Citadel of Oria winds alongside breezy headlands to a medieval fortress that sits on a 250-metre-tall ridge. After, deal with your leg muscle tissues with a soak in Loutra’s mineral-rich sizzling springs, used since historical instances for his or her therapeutic properties.
5. Crete
Crete may not be a secret, however enterprise past Chania, Heraklion and the seaside resorts and also you’ll see a facet of the island that the majority vacationers miss. Intrepid’s Highlights of Crete takes you inland to the foothills of the White Mountains, the place you’ll keep in a standard guesthouse constructed by a neighborhood couple utilizing stone and timber from the land. Evenings are easy, with family-style meals, native wine and conventional people music.
At decrease floor, discover a few of Crete’s many gorges, together with Agia Irini carved by way of the west facet of the White Mountains – a much less crowded different to the well-known Samaria Gorge. Look out for kri-kri (endangered Cretan goats) and wild oregano alongside the trail.
Learn extra: Mezes, mountain goats and mother-daughter reminiscences in Crete
The favored islands are fashionable for a motive. However spend a while in these quieter ones and also you’ll discover simply as a lot magnificence, historical past and scrumptious meals – whereas easing the stress on locations which have hit saturation level.
Prepared for an island escape? Discover Greece on an Intrepid small group journey.
