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Further north lies Gyra, a sandy spit of a beach punctuated by windmills. Where to go and what to do: The understated capital, although rebuilt after an earthquake in 1948, still has one of the prettiest settings in the Ionian, surrounded as it is by a canal, a lagoon with abundant birdlife and a natural fish farm. That means its clear waters, idyllic coves, lush vegetation and dazzling beaches are less crowded and more pleasant in the summer. Need to know: Although Lefkada is conveniently wedged between the mainland and the popular island of Kefalonia, it attracts far fewer tourists than its neighbour.
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How to get there: Notoriously hard to reach in times past, and slow on the tourism uptake, Kythira has been discovered by specialist tour operators such as Sunvil. Finally, there is Agia Pelagia, the island’s café-laden hub whose boats offer excursions to Elafonisos, an island where the sugar-fine sandy beaches may well be the best kept secret in the Med.
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There is also Kapsali (pictured), a relaxed resort with a twin horseshoe of beaches, and Avlemonas, whose fjord-like inlet shimmers with turquoise waters. There is a good number of extraordinary frescoed churches, up there with the most impressive in Greece. There are tidy sloped vineyards and estates with centuries of wine-producing history. Where to go and what to do: There are shimmering sea grottoes and forested ravines smelling overwhelmingly of wild oregano, one of the island’s main exports. It’s also a place whose surprising variety of landscapes have preserved its independent charm. No surprise then that the island has been conquered more than a few times in its long history, including by the Russians and later by the British.īut it’s not just the varied heritage that attracts visitors to this island, the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite. Need to know: Standing sentry on the tip of the Peloponnese peninsula, Kythira has long been the crossroads between the Aegean and the Ionian seas, and it’s also the last port of call before Crete. READ MORE: Plan your trip with our complete guide to island-hopping in Greece 2. How to get there: Travel Republic are one of the few holiday companies that can arrange holidays in Astypalea. There are also Maldives-like stretches such as Koutsomitis and Kounoupa, reached only by caïque.Īrcheology geeks can marvel at Hellenistic mosaics depicting zodiac symbols in the baths of Talaras or scratch their heads at a mysterious 2,750-year-old infant cemetery at Kylindra, where newborn babies were once buried in clay urns. They range from organised strands, such as Livadia or Maltezana, a notorious haunt of Aegean pirates, to wild but approachable spots like Vatses or Kaminakia. Where to go and what to do: The beaches are beautiful and pristine.
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But there are plenty more reasons to visit.Īstypalea is an out-of-the-way retreat, whose capital Chora – built on a hilltop surrounded by concentric rings of whitewashed houses and crowned by a Venetian castle – is still exhilaratingly unspoiled. Need to know: Drifting in the middle of the Aegean Sea in the shape of a butterfly whose ‘wings’ are connected by a thin strip of land, rocky, rugged Astypalea hit the headlines when it declared its aim to be Greece’s first smoke-free island. Here our Greece expert John Malathronas picks seven under-the-radar Greek islands you should have on your travel wish list for 2019. While there’s a lot to be said for big hitters such as Corfu and Crete, many of Greece’s lesser-known islands also have charms aplenty.
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