Pserimos (Kapari)

Map of Pserimos

The little island of Pserimos (or Kapari), 80 population-15km² extension, filled with remote beaches, is one of the smallest islands of Aegean and is located between Kalymnos and Kos. Belongs to Dodecanese complex. The northern end of the island called "Akra Vasiliki", while the southernmost "Akra Roussa" and the north "Akra Koraki." It got its name because of the homonymous plant that grows there.

Throughout the season, so many excursion boats arrive that they have had to build a second jetty at little Avlakia port. In midsummer, day-trippers blanket the main sandy beach that curves in front of Avlakia's thirty-odd houses and huge communal olive grove. Three other beaches are within easy reach: the clean sand-and-gravel strand at Vathy is a well-marked, 30minute walk east, starting from behind the Taverna Iy Pserimos. It takes 45 minutes of walking north along the main trans-island track to get to grubbier Marathounda, composed of pebbles. Best of all is Grafiotissa, a 300m-long beach of near-Caribbean quality half an hour's walk west of town.

Nissyros

Map of Nissyros

The volcanic island of Nissyros is unlike its neighbours in almost every respect. Its much greener than dry Tilos and Halki to the south, blessed with rich soil that nurtures a distinctive flora, and it supported a large agricultural population in ancient times. In contrast to long flat Kos to the north, Nissyros is round and tall, with the high walls of its central caldera rising abruptly from the shoreline around its entire perimeter. And Nissyros conceals a startling secret. Behind those encircling hills, the interior of the island is hollow. For most visitors, the volcano is Nissyros' main attraction. It's easy enough to see it on a day trip from Kos.

The port and sole large town, Mandhraki on the northwest coast, is an appealing tight-knit community with some fine ancient ruins, while two delightful villages, Emborio and Nikia, straddle the crater ridge.

Much of the island's income is derived from the offshore islet of Yiali, a vast lump of pumice, all too clearly visible just north of Mandhraki, that's slowly being quarried away. Substantial concession fees have given the islander's economic security.

Nissyros also offers good walking, on trails that lead through a countryside studded with oak and terebinth.

Tilos

Map of Tilos

Tilos (61km²  extension and 780 population) shares the characteristics of its closest neighbours: limestone mountains like those of Halki, plus volcanic lowlands, pumice beds and red-lava sand as on Nissyros. With ample groundwater and rich volcanic soil, the islanders could afford to turn their backs on the sea, and made Tilos the breadbasket of the Dodecanese. Until the 1970s, travellers were greeted by the sight of shimmering  fields of grain bowing in the wind. Nowadays the hillside terraces languish abandoned, and the population of five hundred dwindles to barely a hundred in winter.

While recent development has turned the port of Livadhia ever more towards  tourism, Tilos remains low-key. This is still a place where visitors come to get away from it all, often for extended stays.

Kasos

Map of Kasos

Kasos, the southrnmost Dodecanese island with 66km² and 1.100 inhabitants, less than 48km northeast of Crete, is very much off the beaten tourist track. Eever since 1824, when an Egyptian fleet punished Kasos for its active participation in the Greek revolution by slaughtering most of the 11.000 Kassiots, the island has remained barren and depopulated. Sheer gorges slash through lunar terrain relieved only by fenced smallholdings of midget olive trees. Spring grain crops briefly soften usually fallow terraces, and livestock somehow survives on a thin furze of scrub. The remaining population occupies five villages facing Karpathos, leaving most of the island uninhabited and uncultivated , with crumbling old houses poignantly recalling better days.

Halki

The little island of Halki (27km² extension and approximately 500 residents), a waterless limestone speck west of Rhodes, continues to count as a fully fledged member of the Dodecanese, even if its population haw dwindled from three thousand to barely three hundred n the century since its Italian rulers imposed restrictions on sponge-fishing.

While visitation has brought the island back to life, except at the height of summer Halki tends to be very quiet indeed. That said, in the middle of the day in high season, when day-trippers from Rhodes vastly outnumber locals in its broad quayside-cum-

square, Emborio can feel more like a stage set that a genuine town.

Kastellorizo(Megisti)

Map of Kastellorizo

Although Kastellorizo's official name of Meyisti means "Biggest", it's actually among the very smallest Dodecanese islands with 9km²  extension and 500 residents. It's just the biggest of a local archipelago of islets. It's also extremely remote, located more than 100km east of Rhodes and barely more than a nautical mile off mainland Asia. At night its lights are outnumbered by those of the Turkish town of Kas opposite, with which Kastellorizo has excellent relations.

The island's population has dwindled from around ten thousand a century ago to five hundreds now. Having been an Ottoman possession since 1552, it was occupied by the French from 1915 until 1921, and then by the Italians. When Italy capitulated to the Allies in 1943, 1500 Commonwealth commandos occupied Kastellorizo. Most departed that November, after the Germans captured the other Dodecanese, which left the island vulnerable to looters, both Greek and British. By the time a fuel fire in 1944 triggered the explosion of an adjacent arsenal, demolishing half the houses of Kastellorizo, most islanders had already left. Those who remain are supported by remittances from more than 30,000 emigrants, as well as subsidies from the Greek government to prevent the island reverting to Turkey.

Yet Kastellorizo has a future of sorts, thanks partly to repatriating "Kassies" returning each summer to renovate their crumbling ancestral houses as second homes. Visitors tend either to love Kastellorizo and stay a week, or crave escape after a day. Detractors dismiss it as a human zoo maintained by the Greek government to placate nationalists, while devotees celebrate an atmospheric, little-commercialized outpost of Hellenism.

Rhodes

Map of Rhodes

Rhodes(Rodos), the biggest island of Dodecanese islands with 1.401km² and 115.500 population, is deservedly among the most visited of all Greek islands. Its star attraction is the beautiful medieval Old Town that lies at the heart of its capital, Rhodes Town - a legacy of the crusading Knights of St John, who used the island as their main base from 1309 until 1522. The ravishing hillside village of Lindhos, topped by an ancient acropolis, is another worth visiting place. It marks the midpoint of the island's long eastern shoreline, adorned with numerous sandy beaches that have attracted considerable resort development. At the southern cape, Prassonisi is one of the best windsurfing spots in Europe.

Rhodes Town

By far the largest town on the island, Rhodes Town straddles its northernmost headland, in full view of Turkey less than 20km north. The ancient city that occupied this site, laid out during the fifth century BC by Hippodamos of Miletos, was almost twice the size of its modern counterpart, and at 100.000 held more than double its population.

While the fortified enclave now known as the Old Town is of more recent construction, created by the Knights Hospitaller in the 14th century, it' one of the finest medieval walled cities. It gets overcrowded with day-trippers in high season, but at night it's quite magical, and well worth an extended stay.

Donousa

Donousa (13,6km² and 163 population) is a little out on a limb compared with the other Lesser Cyclades and ferries call less frequently. Island life is on the pleasant port settlement of Stavros, spread out behind the harbor and the village beach. Most sunbathers head for Kendros, a long and attractive stretch of shadeless sand twenty minutes over the ridge to the east. A World War II wreck can be easily spotted by snorkellers. The village of Mirsini is an hour's walk from Stavros, while a nearby path leads down to Livadi, an idyllic white-sand beach with tamarisks for shade. In high season a beach-boat runs from the port to all beaches, many of which are nudist. Locals don't seem to mind.

Schinousa

Map of  Koufonisia(Schinousa)

A little to the northeast of Iraklia, Schinousa(8km² and 250 residents) is just beginning to awaken to its tourist potential. Its indented outline, sweeping valleys and partly submerged headlands - such as the sinuous, snake-like islet Ofidousa - provide some of the most dramatic views in the group.

An asphalted road leads up from the port of Mersini to the capital, Hora (Panagia), for 1.2km. From Hora you can reach no fewer than sixteen beaches dotted around the island, accessible by a network of dirty tracks. Tsigouri is a ten-minute track walk downhill from northwest Hora and gradually being developed. The local's preferred choice of beaches are Alygaria to the south, Psilo Ammos to the northeast and Almyros, half an hour southeast.

Iraklia

Map pf Koufonisia

Iraklia the westernmost of the Lesser Cyclades and with the least spoilt scenery has just over 150 permanent residents and 18,078km² extension. As the first stop on the ferry service from Naxos, the island is hardly undiscovered by tourists, but with fewer amenities than some of its neighbours, it retains the feel of a more secluded retreat.

The port of Ayios Georgios is a small but sprawling settlement behind a sandy tamarisk-backed beach that gets quite crowded in August. Livadi, a big, shallow beach, is 2km southeast of the port and its crystal-clear waters are the main tourist attraction of the island. The asphalted road continues 3km on to the tiny capital Panayia(Hora), which has no lodgings to speak of. In season, a local boat sails from the port at 11am to make a tour of the island, stopping at the small sandy beach at Alimia and the nearby pebble beach of Karvounolakos.

Amorgos

Map of Amorgos

Amorgos, the 7th bigger island of the Cyclades(121km² extension and 1970 inhabitants), with its dramatic mountain scenery and laidback atmosphere, is attracting visitors in increasing numbers. The island can get extremely crowded in midsummer, the numbers swollen by film buffs paying their respects to the film location of Luc Besson's The Big Blue, although fewer venture out to Liveros at the island's western end to see the wreck of the Olympia which figures so prominently in the film. In general it's a low key, escapist clientele, happy to have found a relatively large, interesting, uncommercialized and hospitable island. Families tend to stay around Katapola, while younger tourists prefer Aigiali. This is the island to try rakomelo - a kind of fermented grappa with honey, herbs and spices, drunk in shots.

Capital of Amorgos is Hora, located in the center of the island, one of the better-preserved settlements in the Cyclades, with a scattering of tourists shops, cafes, taverns and rooms. Dominated by an upright volcanic rock plug, wrapped with a chapel or two, the 13th century Venetian fortifications look down on nearly thirty other churches, some domed, and a line of decapitated windmills beyond.

Anafi

Map of Anafi

A ninety-minute boat ride to the east of Santorini, Anafi, the 16th bigger island of the Cyclades with 271 population and 38,636km² extension, is the last stop for ferries. It was so for the Argonauts who prayed to Apollo for some land to rest. He let the island emerge from the sea for their repose. Tourists visit Anafi for weeks in midsummer to enjoy exactly that: its seclusion. Although idyllic geographically, Anafi is a harsh place, its mixed granite and limestone core overlaid by volcanic rock spewed out by Santorini's eruptions. Apart from the few olive trees and vines grown in the valleys, the only plant that seem to thrive are prickly pears. The quiet, unassuming capital, Hora, provides a daring dash of white in a treeless, shrub-strewn hillock, its narrow, winding streets offering protection from the occasionally squally gharbis wind that comes unencumbered from the southwest.

Folegandros

Map of Folegandros

Folegandros is the 19th bigger island of Cyclades, with 32,384km² and 765 inhabitants. It's located between Milos(15 miles) and Sikinos. It also called Polukandros.

The sheer cliffs of Folegandros rise 300m from the sea in places and until the early 1980s they were as effective a deterrent to tourists as they had historically been to pirates. Folegandros was used now and then as an island of political exile from Roman times right up until 1969, and life in the high, barren interior was only eased in 1974 by the arrival of electricity and the subsequent construction of a road running from the harbor to Hora(capital) and beyond. Development has been given further impetus by the recent increase in tourism and the ensuing commercialization. The island is becoming so trendy that Greek journalists speak of a new Mykonos in the making, a fact that is reflected in its swish jewellery and clothes shops. Yet away from showcase Hora and the beaches, the countryside remains mostly pristine. Donkeys are also  still very much in evidence, since the terrain on much of the island is too steep for vehicles.

The island's real character and appeal are rooted in the spectacular Hora, the capital of Folegandros, perched on a cliff-edge plateau, a steep 3km from the port. Locals and foreigners mingle at the cafes and taverns under the trees of the five adjacent squares, passing the time undisturbed by traffic, which is banned from the village center. Towards the northern cliff-edge and entered through two arcades, the defensive core if the medieval castle (Kastro) neighborhood is marked by ranks of two-storey residential houses, with almost identical stairways and slightly recessed doors.

West of Hora, a paved road threads its way along the spine of the island towards sprawling Ano Meria. In the middle of the settlement stands the large church of Agios Georgios.

Sikinos

Map of Sikinos

Sikinos has so small extension and population -40km² and 270 residents- that the mule ride or walk from the port up to the capital was only replaced by a bus in the late 1980s. At roughly the same time the new jetty was completed. Until then Sikinos was the last major Greek island where ferry passengers were still taken ashore in launches. With no extravagant characteristics and no nightlife to speak of, few foreigners make the short trip over here from Folegandros or Ios. The end result, however, is the most unspoilt rural countryside in the Cyclades where the image of a priest riding a donkey can suddenly materialize from over a hill.

Hora or Sikinos , the capital, consists of the double village of Kastro and Horio. Most of the facilities are in the larger, northeastern Kastro, whereas Horio is mainly residential. Northeast from Hora is Paleokastro, the patchy remains of an ancient fortress. In the opposite direction , a ninety-minute walk takes leads to an old path throufh a steeply terraced landscape to Episkopi, where elements of an ancient temple-tomb have been incorporated into a seventh-century church - the structure is known formally as the Heroon, though it is now thought to have been a Roman mausoleum rather than a temple of Hera.

Serifos

Map of Serifos

Serifos is the 13th bigger island of Cyclades with 75km² extension and 1.420 population. Capital of the island is Serifos(Hora), located Southeast of Serifos. Other major settlements are Koutalas, Megalo Livadi and Kentarho. Serifos has long languished the mainstream of history and modern tourism. Little has happened here since Perseus returned with Medusa's head in time to save his mother, Danae, from bing ravished by the local king Polydectes, turning him, his court and the green island into stone. Many would-be visitors are deterred by the apparently barren, hilly interior, which, with the stark, rocky coastline, makes Serifos appear uninhabited until the ferry turns into picturesque Livadi Bay. This element of surprise continues as you slowly discover a number of lovely beaches around the island.

Serifos is also great for serious walkers, who can head for several small villages in the under-explored interior, plus some isolated coves. Many people still keep livestock and produce their own cognac-red wines, which are an acquired taste.

Capital of Serifos, Hora, is quiet and atmospheric (only 2km from Livadi) and one of the most unspoilt villages of Cyclades. The best sights are in the precarious upper town: follow signs to the castle to reach the top via steep and occasionally overgrown stairways. The central square, Agios Athanasios, has an attractive church and a small but colorful Neoclassical town hall. 

Kea

Map of Kea

Kea(Tzia), the nearest and the Westernmost island of the Cyclades to the mainland, is an extremely popular island with 131km² extension and 2.500 population. It's coastline reaches 88km. Kea is relatively sparsely inhabited island, except, Korissia, Ioulida and Vourkari which is the most expensive area of ​​the island. The most beautiful areas of the island are located on the Northeast side. The highest mountain is Prophet Elias (568 meters). Also the island has one of the biggest natural harbors of the Mediterranean, the Gulf of St. Nicholas. But the main port of Kea is Korissía.

Kea's capital is Ioulida which is beautifully situated in an amphitheatrically fold in the hills. It is a typical Cycladic town, but is architecturally  the most interesting settlement on the island. Accordingly it has numerous bars, full in summer, but during other times the town is quiet.

Santorini

Map of Santorini

Santorini or Thira is located in the southern Aegean Sea, in the Cyclades island group, south west of Ios and Anafi. It's the 12th bigger island of Cyclades with 76km² extension and 18.883 population. Distance from Piraeus is 128 nautical miles and 63 nautical miles from Crete. The Athinios is the island's biggest port and Fira is the capital. Santorini is one of the most famous tourist centers of the world. It is known for its volcano.

As the ferry manoeuvres into the great caldera of Santorini(Thira), the land seems to rise up and clamp around it. Gaunt, sheer cliffs loom hundred of meters above the deep blue sea, nothing grows or grazes to soften the awesome view, and the only colors are the reddish-brown, black and grey pumice layers on the cliff face of Santorini. The landscape tells of a history so dramatic and turbulent that legend hangs as fact upon it.

These apocalyptic events, though, scarcely concern modern tourists, who come here to take in the spectacular views, stretch out on the island's dark-sand beaches and absorb peculiar, infernal geographic features. The tourism industry  has changed traditional island life, creating a rather expensive playground. There is one time-honored local industry, however, that has benefited from all the outside attention: wine. Santorini is one of Greece's most important producers, and the fresh, dry white wines it is known for (most from the assyrtiko grape for which the region is known) are the perfect accompaniment to the seafood served in the many restaurants and taverns that hug the island's cliffs.

Syros

Map of Syros

Syros is a living, working island with only a fleeting history of tourism, rendering it the most Greek of the Cyclades. It's the 11th bigger island of Cyclades with 84km² extension and 21.500 population. It is located in the central part of the Cyclades and is 83 nautical miles from Pireas and 62 from Rafina. There's a thriving, permanent community, the beaches are busy but not overflowing and the villages don't sprawl widely with new developments. As well as being home to a number of excellent restaurants, the island is known for its numerous shops selling loukoumia (Turkish delight), mandolata (nougat) and halvadopita(soft nougat between disc-shaped wafers). In addition Syros still honors its contribution to the development of rembetika songs.

The island's sights -including the best beaches- are concentrated in the South and West. The North part is unpopulated and barren offering little interest. Most people tent to stay to Ermoupolis, the capital, which offers better connections to a cariety of beaches none further than 15km away.

Possessing an elegant collection of grand townhouses that rise majestically from the bustling, cafe-lined waterfront, Ermoupolis is once of the most striking towns in Cyclades, and it certainly worth at least a night's stay.

Medieval Syros was largely a catholic island, but the influx of refugees from Psara and Hios during 19th century created two distinct communities. The Orthodox, which accounts the 2/3 of the population, in the Lower Ermoupolis and the Catholics in the Upper Town.

Dilos

Dilos is the smallest island of the Cyclades with 14 residents and 3,5km² extension. It is located a few kilometers West of Mykonos. The island's highest point is the crown of the hill Cynthus, located in the center of Dilos and has a height of 115 meters. The history of Delos is interwoven with the mythology as it was the birthplace of Apollo, son of Zeus, and Artemis. For this reason Delos was a sacred place in antiquity.

Ios

Map of Ios

Ios is the 8th bigger island of the Cyclades with 2.024 population and 108km² extension. Though not terribly different -geographically and architecturally- from its neighbours, no other Greek island attracts the same vast crowds of young people as Ios. Although it has worked hard to shake off its late-twentieth-century reputation for alcohol excesses and to move the island's tourism one class up with some success, Ios is extremely popular with young backpacker set who take over the island in July and August.

The only real villages, Yialos, Hora and Mylopotas, are clustered in a western corner of the island, and development elsewhere is restricted by poor roads. As a result there are still some very quiet beaches with just a few room to rent. Most visitors stay along the arc delineated by the port, at Yialos, where you'll arrive, in Hora above it, or by the beach of Mylopotas. Despite its past popularity, sleeping on the beach on Ios is strictly banned these days and so is nudism.

Hora or Ios Town, the capital, is a twenty-minute walk up behind Yialos port, and is one of the most picturesque towns in the Cyclades, filled with meandering arcaded lanes and whitewashed chapels. Still, it gets pretty raunchy when the younger crowds moves in for the high season. The main road divides it naturally into two parts: the old town climbing the hillside to the left as you arrive and the newer development to the right. The archaeological museum (Tue-Sun, 8:30am-3pm, free), in the yellow town hall, is part of an attempt to attract a more diverse range of visitors to the island. It contains some interesting finds from ancient Skarkos, a few kilometers inland from Yialos.

Yialos, with its surprisingly peaceful beach- isn't in the same league as Hora, but it provides a refreshing, breezy escape from the hot, noisy capital. Alternatively there's the popular Mylopotas, the site of a magnificent beach, lots of water activity outlets and surprisingly little nightlife.