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.

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.

Naxos

Map of Naxos

Naxos is the largest and most fertile of all the Cyclades islands, 430km² extension and 18.864 population, and with its green and mountainous highland scenery it appears immediately dissimilar to its neighbours. The difference is accentuated by the unique architecture of many of the interior villages: the Venetian Duchy of the Aegean, headquartered here from 1204 to 1537, left towers and fortified mansions scattered throughout the island, while medieval Cretan refugees bestowed a singular character upon Naxos's Eastern settlements.

Today Naxos could easily support itself without visitors by relying on its production of potatoes, olives, grapes and lemons, but it has thrown in its lot with mass tourism, so that parts of the island are now almost as busy as Paros in season. The island has plenty to see: the highest mountains of Cyclades, intriguing central valleys, a spectacular North coast and long, marvelously sandy beaches in the Southwest. It is also renowned for its wines, cheese and kitron, a sweet liqueur distilled from the leaves of this citrus tree and is available in green, yellow or clear varieties depending on strength and sugar level.

Capital of the island is Naxos Town. A really special place because of the looming fortifies castle. This is where Marco Sanudo, the 13th century Venetian who founded the town and established the Duchy of the Aegean, and his descendants ruled over the Cyclades. The most of the town's life occurs by the crowded port esplanade but there is more life in Naxos Town in the vast network of backstreets and low-arched narrow alleys that lead-up through the old town, Bourgo, to the Castle itself. There are a lot of taverns, shops and cafes in Evripeous Square, too.

Milos

Map of Milos

Milos is the 5th bigger island of Cyclades. It has 158km² extension and 5.000 population approximately. Volcanic Milos is a geologically diverse island with weird rock formations, hot springs and odd outcrops off the coast. Minoan settlers were attracted by obsidian. This and other products of its volcanic soil made it one of the most important of Cyclades in the ancient world. Today the quarrying of many rare mineral has left huge scars on the landscape but has given the island a relative prosperity which today translates into several gourmet restaurants.

The Western side of Milos, as well the other islands around it, including Kimolos, is a nature reserve protecting three endemic species: like the extremely rare Mediterranean seal, the Milos viper and the Milos wall-lizard.

Capital of Milos is Plaka, the largest of a cluster of traditional villages that huddle beneath a small crag on the road Northwest of Adhamas., the lively main port of Milos, a small hamlet until it was populated by refugees from a failed rebellion in Crete in the 1840s.