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.

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.

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.

Kythnos

Map of Kythnos

Kythnos is a lesser known island of Cyclades and the 9th bigger with 99km² extension and 1.500 population. Located between Kea and Serifos. Few foreigners visit this island which is even quieter than Kea. The coastline reaches 104km. Hora is the capital which is located in the center of the island and lies 7.5km Northeast of Merihas(an attractive ferry and fishing port). Hora seems unpromising at first sight, but into the narrow streets beyond the initial square there is a wonderful network of alleyways, weaving theis way past shops, churches and tiny squares with colorful cafes.

It's also known as Thermia due to the hot springs and the healing spas, in Loutra. The resort of Loutra, 4.5km North of Hora, is named after its mineral thermal baths. It is a nineteenth-century spa, designed by Ernst Ziller, the architect of many Greece's finest Neoclassical buildings.

Kimolos

Map of Kimolos

Of the three islands off the coast of Milos, only rugged, scenic Kimolos is inhabited. It's the 17th bigger island of Cyclades with 37km² extension and 910 residents. Volcanic like Milos, it profits from its geology and used to export chalk ( kimolia in Greek ) until the supply was exhausted. Bentonite is still extracted locally, and the fine dust of this clay is a familiar sight on the Northeastern corner of the island, where mining still outstrips fishing and farming as an occupation. Apart from the inhabited Southeast, the rest of the island is a nature reserve, which explains the lack of surfaced roads.

Even in August Kimolos isn' swamped by visitors. There is only one bus, no car or motorbike rental (rent from Milos) and few restautants.

Dazzling white Hora, the capital of Kimolos, is perched on the ridge above Psathi behind a few old windmills overlooking the bay. The magnificent, two-gated, 16th century castle was built against marauding pirates. The perimeter houses are still intact and inhabited, though its heart is a jumble of ruins except for the small church of Christ and the chapel of the island's own saint Agia Methodia, beatified in 1991. Just outside the castle to the North stands the 17th century church of Chryssostomos, the most beautiful on the island. Near the church is the archaeological museum (July-Sept , Tues-Sun, 08:30am-15:00pm, free ), displaying pottery from the Geometric to the Roman period. In a restored house near the Eastern gateway is the privately run Folk and Maritime Museum (July-Sept, daily, 09:00am-13:30pm, 1€).

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.

Andros

Map of Andros

Andros, the second largest island and the Northernmost of the Cyclades with 380km² extension and 9.221 population, is also one of the most verdant, its fertile, well-watered valleys and hillsides sprouting scores of holiday villas. Still home to a very hospitable people, an attractive capital, numerous good beaches, plus some idiosyncratic reminders of the Venetian period - such as Peristerones(dovecate towers) and the Frakhtes (dry-stone walls) - Andros has a special charm. Driving is also a joy, with precipitous coastal roads offering panoramic views over the Aegean.

Hora, the capital of Andros, is the most attractive town on the island. Paved in marble and schist from the still-active local quarries, the buildings near the bus station are grand 19th century edifices, and the squares with their ornate wall fountains and gateways are equally elegant. The old port, Plakoura, on the West side of the headland, has a yacht supply station and a former ferry landing from where occasional boats run tothe isolated but superbly idyllic Akhla beach in summer. More locally, there are beaches on both sides of the town headland, Nimborio to the North and the less developed Paraporti to the Southeast, though both are exposed to the winds in summer, that's why Gavrio, on the other side of the island, became the main port.

Gavrio is a pleasant small town set in an oval bay, but it has more taverns and bars than good hotels, which generally tend to be out of town. There is an adjacent town beach, but there are more attractive alternatives 5km Northwest of the port: beautiful Fellos and Kourtali.

Tinos

Map of Tinos

Tinos is the 4th larger islands of the Cyclades with 8.636 population and 194km² extension. A few foreigners have discovered its beaches and unspoilt villages, but most visitors are Greek who visit Tinos every year to see the church of Panayia Evangelistria, a grandiose shrine erected on the spot where a miraculous icon with healing powers was found in 1822. A local nun, now canonized as Ayia Pelayia, was directed in a vision to unearth the relic just as the War of Independence was getting under way, a timely coincidence  that served to underscore the links between the Orthodox Church and Greek nationalism. Today, there are two major annual pilgrimages, on March 25 and August 15, when Tinos is inundated by the faithful, and at 11am, the icon bearing the Virgin's image is carried in state down to the harbor.

Sifnos

Map of Sifnos

Sifnos is the 14th bigger island of Cyclades with 74km² extension and 2.625 population. It's a pretty, tidy and cultivated island and its size makes it easily explorable. Sifnos has a strong tradition of pottery(as early as the third century BC) and has long been esteemed for its distinctive cuisine, with sophisticated casseroles baked in the clay-fired gastres (pots), from the word gastronomy derives. The island is perhaps best appreciated today, however, for its many beautifully situated churches and monasteries, and for the beautiful scenery around Vathy in the far Southwest.

The areas to head for are the port, Kamares, the island's capital Apollonia, as well as the East and South coasts. There is nothing in the North worth peek, except maybe the small fishing village of Herronisos, but even that is too far and offers too little for the first-time visitor.

Generally the climate of the island is mild and healthy as all the Cyclades, and the ground is fertile enough. Main products produced are cereals, oil, wine, legumes, fruits, cotton textiles, pottery, and poultry and livestock products.

Salamina

Map of Salamina

Salamina is the largest island of Argosaronic islands, 95km² extension and 39.000 population, and the quickest possible island-hop from Pireas. The island itself is highly developed, has few tourist facilities and is close enough to the Athenian dockyards to make swimming unappealing. The island's port is at Paloukia, facing the mainland, just a short hop across a narrow, built-up isthmus to Salamina Town, the capital, on the West coast. Five kilometers or so beyond Salamina Town, Eandio has the island's cleanest and most attractive beaches. A similar distance from Salamina Town to the North, the monastery of Faneromeni is a working nunnery with impressive frescoes, beautifully sited amid pine woods overlooking the mainland. Salamina is well-known by one of the most significant sea battles of ancient times.

Poros

Map of Poros

Poros is an Argosaronic island. It has 4.010 residents and 22,600 km² extension. Popular with Brits and Scandinavians more than any other Argosaronic island- it is also busy with weekending Athenians, who can get there by road(via Galatas) or on cheap ferries from Pireas. There are in fact two islands, Sferia(Poros Town) - for food, nightlife and shopping- and the far larger Kalavria-a little more peace-, separated from each other by a small canal spanned by a bridge. The Town is a busy place, with constant traffic of shipping and people.