Treasured Islands
Savour a sunset without the crowds in Folegandros
Santorini is known for its epic sunsets illuminating whitewashed houses, volcanic slopes and shimmering blue seas, but, less pleasingly, it’s also known for epic crowds. Happily you’ll find all the same ingredients (minus the hordes) in nearby Folegandros, a hiccup of land at the southern edge of the Cyclades, and a place of exile for political dissidents in Roman times. You might well chance insulting a tyrant to savour the sunset from Hora – one of the loveliest villages in the archipelago. From its higgledy-piggledy core, follow a footpath to Panagia: a church standing sentinel over the island, whose hilltop perch means it catches the last drops of the day’s sunshine.
• Ampelos Hotel has sparse, comfortable rooms looking up to Panagia (from£100;ampelos-resort.folegandros.top-hotels-gr.com).
• Santorini has the closest airport to Folegandros. EasyJet, among others, flies from London Gatwick and Manchester (from £95; easyjet.com). It’s roughly 40 minutes by fast boat to Folegandros (£80 return; seajets.gr).
Eat a meal you’ll feel good about for months in Hydra
Hydra is vehicle-free; mules, donkeys and walking are your only options for exploring this long, slender Saronic island. Fortunately, it’s only an idle ten-minute stroll from the ferry terminal to Techne (pictured above), one of the brightest culinary stars in the Aegean: a restaurant serving modern Greek cuisine with a side order of views out to the Peloponnese. Dishes are centred on local, seasonal sustainable ingredients and seafood landed fresh from the waters below, such as sea bream fillet, mussels, fine beans, Jerusalem).
