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.

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.

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.

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.

Hydhra (Ydhra)

Map of Hydhra

Ydhra belongs to the Argosaronic complex. It is one of the most atmospheric destinations in Greece. With 49km² extension and 2.000 inhabitants approximately is the 4th bigger island of the Argosaronic islands (it's located between the Argolic and the Saronic gulf). Capital of the island is the Ydhra Town. Its harbor and main town preserved as a national monument. Entirely traffic-free with a bustling harbor and narrow stones streets climbing steeply above it, it feels like a Greek island. Away from the main settlement the rest of the island is roadless, rugged and barely inhabited. It is extremely picturesque and cosmopolitan island with sophisticated atmosphere and noticeably high prices. The island has a very limited number of beaches and the interior is mountainous and little-visited.

This island is a popular destination for foreign tourists and Athenians, given the relatively short distance from the capital. It has significant shipping history and tradition.

 

Ydhra