TotalGuide I Greek islands The Aegean island oasis through its organic restaurant menu 1 (00 30 211 800 2912, onar-andros.gr; Andros, Cyclades mains about £18). Crete What’s its secret? Beyond Andros is not your typical rocky, arid How do I get there? the crowds Cycladic island: it’s lush, woody, etched Take a taxi from Athens airport (about with mountain paths and watered by £32, or £44 at night) to Rafina for one In terms of terrain, the touristy north mineral springs (bottled and sold across of the daily boats (ferries.gtp.gr; 1-2hr, coast pales by Greece). The capital, Chora, can feel from £13). Planet Holidays (planet- comparison to the exclusive and well-heeled with its holidays.co.uk) has seven nights at drama of the museums and art galleries. It’s home Paradise Art Hotel in Chora from southwest, to several ship-owning families — rub £643pp, B&B, including flights, ferries particularly between shoulders with them at the Yacht and transfers. Or try inntravel.co.uk. tiny beach village Club, where, after 8pm, the first-rate Sougia and the pretty port of Chora restaurant opens to non-members Where can I island-hop? Sfakion, which is (00 30 228 202 9072, noa.com.gr; From Andros, it’s easy to island-hop served by buses mains about £19). The feisty Andriots down the east of the Cyclades and from Chania. The 2 The sleeping beauty of 3 Poseidon’s love nest: the have succeeded in keeping their return home on a flight out of Mykonos massive Lefka Ori the Dodecanese romantic hideaway eastern shore pristine and this is where mountains come — the ferries and catamarans that Halki, Dodecanese Paxos, Ionian you’ll find the best beaches. Visit Achla, transported you to Andros from Rafina down in brown folds to the sea, ruling out a perfect arc of white sand, overlooked continue onwards to Tinos (45-90min; What’s its secret? What’s its secret? roads and making by a New Age eco-lodge, Onar — settle from £7) and Mykonos (1hr 10min- Looking for time-stood-still charm? Pint-sized Paxos — 10km by 3km, boats the way to in for a long lunch and sample your way 2.5hr; from £13). travel. As a result, You’ve come to the right place. Halki’s coated in emerald forest, fringed by places like Loutro town clock was stopped decades ago little pebbly beaches and coves — is feel like time-warp — because its chiming kept everyone a magic retreat for loved-up couples. islands. Take a room awake. With just one settlement, a In legend, it was formed when the at the Old Phoenix harbour town tiered with pastel houses, trident-wielding Poseidon carved off (old-phoenix.com; it’s only 75 minutes by ferry from the lushest corner of nearby Corfu so doubles from £40, room-only) and Rhodes, yet light years away in every he could frolic in private with the sea- you’ll feel you’re in other respect. Nothing much happens nymph Amphitrite. All three coastal the Med of the ‘50s. here, but Pondamos, one of a handful of villages — Gaios (the capital), Lakka and quiet beaches, has incredible sunsets. Loggos — are exquisite, but chocolate- There’s a string of waterfront tavernas: box Loggos is the gem. It’s a five- try Magefseis for charcoal grills (00 30 minute walk from Levrechio Beach, Rhodes 224 604 5065; mains about £7); or, for where you dine under olive trees at Beyond home-fired pizzas, Remezzo (00 30 Taverna Bouloukos, on tables wobbling the crowds 224 604 5368, remezzochalki.gr; mains in the sand (00 30 266 203 1336; mains about £9). Inland, a monastery, a castle about £11). At sunset, head west to The island’s and a ruined village rise, stone-silent, canoodle over cocktails at Erimitis bar/ southern headlands amid fig trees, beehives and goat-pens. restaurant, and watch the cliffs light up are among the like a curtain of shot silk (00 30 697 775 loveliest, least- How do I get there? 3499, erimitis.com; mains about £15). visited corners of Ferries from Rhodes to Halki (or ‘Chalki’) Rhodes. Their leave from the port of Kamiros Skala on How do I get there? cliff-clinging lanes have an Amalfitan the west coast (30 minutes and £48 by Ferries and hydrofoils to Paxos leave feel, culminating in taxi from the airport). Three boats make from Corfu’s New Port (10 minutes and the solitary, dreamy the crossing several times a day in high £13 by taxi from Corfu airport). The Venetian castle of season (£10 one-way; leave the airport 95-minute ferry costs £9, one-way; Monolithos, where by 4pm to be sure of catching the last the one-hour hydrofoil is £17.50, one- a gorgeous view boat; see mbc-travel.com for tickets way (paxos-greece.com). Simpson reveals outlying and timetables). Nissia Holidays (nissia Travel (simpsontravel.com) has a range islands, and beyond them sunny holidays.com) arranges bus/ferry of accommodation: a week at Loggos’s nothingness. Half airport transfers (£62pp return) and has Waterfront Apartments starts at £877pp, an hour away near self-catering properties on Halki; a one- with flights to Corfu and transfers. another Venetian bedroom place starts at £460 a week. castle, Kritinia, is Where can I island-hop? your lunch stop. Where can I island-hop? Visit vine-clad Antipaxos, Paxos’s even Clifftop Mylos Cafe Snack-Bar (mains A day return to Tilos on the Dodekanisos tinier neighbour. It’s 20 minutes by about £6) does Seaways catamaran (12ne.gr/en) gives shuttle boat (£13 return) from Gaios. deeply satisfying you five hours to explore (40min; £22 Head for Voutoumi Beach, where the bean soups and return; Tues and Thur). The inter-island Bella Vista Taverna (00 30 697 778 yoghurt with honey Prevelis calls at Halki on Thursday and 4133) is perched up 200 steps. For boat and rosehip. Sunday mornings en route to Karpathos, excursions, see paxos-holidays.gr. Crete and Santorini (www.anek.gr). Island reviews continue on page 52 > 48 SUNDAY TIMES TRAVEL MAY 2019 MAY 2019 SUNDAY TIMES TRAVEL 49 TotalGuide I Greek islands 4 5 6 The under-the-radar island-hop Floats our boat Who said three’s a crowd? Naxos, Paros and Antiparos together create a heavenly odyssey, says James Ellis — and you’ll scarcely see a soul hen I was a teen growing up in Greece, main ferry hub and thronged, but Scenic route: holidays were never like those of the hopping in a taxi we soon leave it clockwise from top left, olive grove at pals I’d left behind in England. Not for behind for the sleepier northern Filoti village with me a cheap charter flight to Marbella village of Naoussa. Its Venetian-era Mount Zas in the or Magaluf. Instead my Greek friends buildings line a small port packed background; Agios Wand I would jump on a sun-baked ferry and hop from with fishing boats, and stone-paved Prokopios Beach on Naxos; animal magic one island to another until our money ran out. streets lead around a quayside lined at a little church near That sense of adventure is what my wife and I are with tavernas. We spend a couple of Mount Zas; Naoussa hoping to instil in our eight-year-old twins, 35 years later, days kicking back on local beaches, Harbour, Paros, at dusk; outside a as we plan our first trip to the islands as a family. It’s been bobbing in the terrace hot tub of the Greek restaurant at decades since my last visit, and unsure of where to head Parian Boutique Hotel (parianbout night; typical Greek to, we spend hours poring over maps, trawling the iquehotel.com; doubles from £84, church; the port at internet and quizzing friends for recommendations. room-only) and polishing off Antiparos; alley in Naoussa; octopus Finally, we settle on Naxos, Paros and Antiparos. All are octopus in tavernas. Axinos (00 30 left out to dry within a child-friendly 90 minutes’ sail of each other 228 405 3388; mains about £10), with and, crucially, are accessible by ferry from Mykonos, its perfect sunset view, is a winner. which has direct UK flights. Large and fertile Naxos, Paros’s lesser-known neighbour, Antiparos, is our final with its green interior and great beaches, and Paros, best- stop, just a 15-minute boat ride from Parikia. A decade known for its busy ferry terminal, but beautiful beyond ago, this Cycladean speck briefly gained fame when Tom it, are both new to me. Antiparos is a concession to my Hanks bought a house here, but despite the celebrity youth — I came nearly every summer as a teenager. endorsement, it’s pleasing to find little has changed. The A few weeks later we’re standing on the dock in quaint port town of Chora consists of just one main street Mykonos, waiting to board the 45-minute ferry to Naxos. covered in bougainvillea, a small square reverberating The sun is burning off the morning mist, gulls scream with cafes, and a ruined Venetian-era castle. Our and dock workers yell as the boat pulls up. It seems quayside hotel Kouros Village (kouros-village.gr; chaotic, but the hulking ferry manages to disgorge its doubles from £86, room-only) has a pool area, ideal passengers and swallow us up in a matter of minutes. for the twins when they tire from our daily explorations Naxos is one of the larger Cyclades islands, but on by hire car (antiparos-cars.com).