View across the caldera from Grace

INTO THE BLUE SOME DESTINATIONS GO IN AND OUT OF FASHION, BUT THE GREEK ARE ETERNAL. IT CAN BE HARD TO CHOOSE JUST ONE TO VISIT – SO WE’VE DONE THE HARD WORK FOR YOU, AND PICKED OUT SIX CLASSICS WORDS RACHEL HOWARD WHENEVER I’M ASKED which Greek island is go at sunset they’ll still take your breath away. With maze of whitewashed alleys still feels utterly A typical dish at my favourite, I change my mind. With around monasteries, gorges, and remote hamlets, Crete’s serene. Follow dirt tracks over thyme-scented Santorini Grace. 6,000 to choose from, it depends what kind of hinterland is heaven for hikers as well as historians. hills to deserted pebble coves, take a boat trip to Below, clockwise from top: Pavezzo Country mood I’m in. If I feel like a desert-island fantasy, The wild southern shores are a welcome antidote Psili Ammos beach, or hike up to Profitis Ilias Retreat, Lefkada. I’ll take the slow boat to Kastellorizo armed to the over-developed north and west coasts. church on the island’s highest peak. Church on Santorini. with little more than a sarong and sunscreen. STAY AT Rodialos House (www.rodialos.com), STAY AT Arhontariki (www.archontariki-.gr) Agiofili beach, If I fancy yacht spotting from a cliff-top terrace, a secluded villa inspired by Minoan architecture. a seventeenth-century manor house in Chora, all Lefkada. Opposite, from top: Porto I’ll zip over to Santorini on a high-speed ferry. Watch the sunset from the terrace or enrol in a stone archways, shady nooks and stunning views Katsiki, Lefkada. There’s a Greek island for every mood and cookery class run by owner Maria Frangaki. beyond the monastery to the sea. Chora, Patmos every budget. These are my current favourites. EAT Traditional dakos (rusks piled with tomato, EAT Fish doesn’t come fresher than at Tarsanas goat’s cheese and oregano), lamb chops, and (www.patmosmarine.gr), a restaurant in a boatyard BEST FOR LOVERS snails with rosemary and vinegar at Kipos tis where the tables are on the owner’s caique. Arkoudainas. For a posh spin on Cretan cuisine, KASTELLORIZO BEST FOR GOURMETS With around 250 inhabitants squeezed into five reserve a table at Avli, a romantic Venetian mansion square miles, this far-flung island within squinting in Rethymno, with a 500-year-old wine cellar. Nikos Tselemendes, author of the first modern distance of is tiny – just a handful of BEST FOR ESCAPISTS Greek cook book, was born on Sifnos, an island pastel-coloured houses clinging to a horseshoe PATMOS celebrated for its inventive cuisine. You’ll find harbour. The rugged land is criss-crossed by Aside from the Orthodox pilgrims snaking their creamy goat’s cheese and caper leaves in the footpaths. Wander off and find your own rocky way up the hill to the eleventh-century Monastery Greek salad, revithokeftedes (addictive chickpea outcrop, where the only intrusion will be the odd of St John, Patmos is miraculously unscathed by croquettes), and meat dishes stewed in monk seal. Apart from swimming through the mass tourism. The island’s crown jewel, Chora, earthenware pots, which make great souvenirs. Blue Cave and a shopping trip across to Kas to a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been Sifnos is the quintessential Cycladic island: chapels pick up a Turkish carpet, there’s little else to do discovered by the likes of David Bowie, but its poking out of groves, sheltered coves with but gaze into your beloved’s eyes. postcard-perfect tavernas and bleached villages STAY AT The ground-floor suite of Mediterraneo perched on craggy hills. The finest village is hotel (www.mediterraneo-megisti.com), a Kastro – a must-see, if only for the spinach and waterfront mansion restored by French architect feta pie from the hole-in-the-wall bakery. Marie Rivalant. Breakfast on croissants and STAY AT Elies Resort (www.eliesresorts.com) Turkish tea on the terrace then descend the The crown jewel of overlooking the sandy bay of Vathy. The Olea ladder straight into the sea. Patmos, Chora is a spa offers treatments using olive oil and sea salt. EAT Chickpea pie and octopus fritters at maze of whitewashed EAT At To Tsikali, in Vathy, produce from the Getting there BA, Aegean Alexandra. Don’t overdo the wine – tables are so owners’ farm is served at tables in the sand. and easyJet all fly to . close to the sea you might fall in. alleys that still feels Savour the caper salad and aubergine stuffed From , there are BEST FOR LUXURY utterly serene with lamb and cheese under the tamarind trees domestic flights to Crete, Kastellorizo (via ), SANTORINI at Chryssopigi taverna. Feast on lobster and truffle oil risotto and crisp calamari rings at Ta Santorini, and Preveza, near Cosmopolitan, classy, and world famous for its Lefkada. Ferries to most Vatrahia below Kastro. sunsets, Santorini is a honeymooners’ heaven. islands depart from Five-star hotels are lined up along the volcanic BEST FOR BEACHES port; boats for Lefkada from caldera, a sheer 300-metre drop to the sea. LEFKADA Patras. For ferry schedules, Spas in converted ‘yposkafa’ – cave dwellings The lush Ionian islands opposite have some go to www.greekferries.gr carved out of the cliff face – make for memorable of the most spectacular beaches in Greece. The When to go Avoid August, massages. Dubbed ‘the black pearl of the cliffs along Lefkada’s west coast plunge down to when Greek families descend Aegean’ because of its black sand beaches, white sand beaches with cobalt waters so clear en masse. June and Santorini’s volcanic soil also produces superb you can see the sea bed from the twisting September are perfect. May asyrtiko wines. You can taste some of the finest mountain roads. Glorious at sunset, Kathisma and early October are best at the lovely Sigalas winery. and Porto Katsiki are the most famous – and for walking holidays or cultural breaks; you will have STAY AT Santorini Grace (www.santorinigrace. busiest. It’s worth climbing the 360 steps carved the islands to yourself and com), where the service is as sleek as the all- into the rock-face to get to Egremni beach. If white interiors. hotel rates drop. For more you’re feeling lazy, hop on a water taxi from the ideas on where to stay, visit EAT Dimitris Lazarou’s squid, fennel and leek pretty fishing port of Agios Nikitas to beach, www.smallhotelsingreece.com risotto and fava (yellow split pea purée) with green or sail out to one of the deserted islets scattered and hazelnuts at Saltsa (www.saltsa.gr). around Lefkada. Just don’t disembark at Scorpios, Flash-fried red mullet and minty tomato fritters at Onassis’ island – it’s off limits to the hoi-polloi. Katina, a homespun taverna on Ammoudi bay. STAY AT Pavezzo Country Retreat (www. BEST FOR ANTIQUITIES pavezzo.gr), a hilltop cluster of stone cottages, CRETE with a pool, top-notch restaurant and hamam. Crete is like another country – vast, mountainous, EAT Roast goat, home-made pies and yoghurt fiercely independent. The island’s first inhabitants, with thyme honey at Oasis taverna, hidden among the Minoans, were extraordinary architects. Their the pine trees above Egremni beach. Fish straight palaces at Knossos, Zakros, and Phaestos from the sea and shrimps sautéed in ouzo

bristle with tour buses in high season, but if you at Stavros, best of Sivota’s seaside tavernas. photographs: xxxxxxxxx; xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx; photographs: