Athens ranks with Rome and Jerusalem for its glorious past, yet few fall in
love with the modern city. Most visitors never see beyond the nefos
(smog) and the high-rise apartment blocks which were built hurriedly to house
the refugees who poured in from Asia Minor during the 1922 population exchange
with Turkey. But beyond the off-putting veneer of concrete there is a kind of
dilapidated charm. Almost
every house and apartment has a balcony bulging with geraniums, and many of the
city's streets and squares are fringed with orange trees. Athens is a curious
blend of east and west, and first and third worlds; its raucous street vendors
and colourful markets are reminiscent of Turkish bazaars while crumbling
neoclassical mansions hark back to the city's brief heyday as the 'Paris of the
Mediterranean'.
The Acropolis, crowned by the Parthenon, stands sentinel over Athens
and is visible from almost everywhere in the city. Pericles set about
transforming the Acropolis into a city of temples after being informed by the
Delphic oracle in 510 BC that it should become a province of the gods. The city
was a showcase of colossal buildings, lavishly coloured and gilded, and of
gargantuan statues, some of bronze, others of marble plated with gold and
encrusted with precious stones. Now in ruins, the cool grandeur of the bare
marble is still breathtaking. Beside the Parthenon, which is unsurpassed
in its grace and harmony, is the Erechtheion, immediately recognisable
for its much-photographed Caryatids, the six maidens who take the place of
columns. The Ancient Theatre of Dionysos, where every Athenian citizen
took their turn in the chorus of Greek tragedies, is on the southern slope of
the Acropolis.
Nestled into the north-eastern slope of the Acropolis is the old village of Plaka,
virtually all that existed of Athens before it was declared the capital of
independent Greece. Its narrow labyrinthine streets retain much of their charm
despite gross commercialism. Fenced off on the verge of Plaka is the ancient Agora
(marketplace) which formed the centre of social and civic life in ancient
Athens. Other attractions include the National Archaeological Museum,
which houses magnificent gold artefacts from Mycenae and spectacular Minoan
frescoes from Santorini (Thira), among other exquisite objects and antiquities;
and the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic & Ancient Greek Art, with a
collection of the elegant marble figurines which inspired the likes of
Modigliani, Brancusi and Picasso.
Plaka is the most popular area to stay, and some budget hotels may let you
sleep on the roof in summer. Book in advance in July and August though, as
Athens becomes overrun with tourists.
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Greece's southern peninsula, is rich in history and
scenically diverse. Packed into its north-eastern corner are the ancient sites
of Epidaurus, Corinth and Mycenae, all easily reached from Nafplio.
The ghostly, capacious Byzantine city of Mystras clambers up the slopes
of Mt Taÿgetos, its winding paths and stairways leading to deserted palaces and
fresco-adorned churches.
Further south, you can explore the Mani, a region of bleak mountains
and barren landscapes broken only by austere and imposing stone towers, mostly
abandoned but still standing sentinel over the region. Other attractions in the
region include ancient Olympia, the beautiful medieval town of Monemvassia
and the thrilling Diakofto-Kalavryta rack-and-pinion railway, which
rollercoasts its way through the deep Vouraïkos Gorge.
Meteora
The monasteries of Meteora, in the province of Thessaly, are one of the most
extraordinary sights in mainland Greece. Built into and on top of huge pinnacles
of smooth rock with cheese-like holes in it, the monasteries provided monks with
peaceful havens from increasing bloodshed as the Byzantine Empire waned at the
end of the 14th century. The earliest monasteries were reached by climbing
articulated removable ladders. Later, windlasses were used so monks could be
hauled up in nets, a method used until the 1920s. Apprehensive visitors
enquiring how often the ropes were replaced were told 'When the Lord lets them
break'. These days access to the monasteries is by steps hewn into the rocks and
the windlasses are used only for hauling up provisions.
Cyclades
The Cycladic islands epitomise the postcard image of the Greek islands:
dazzling white buildings are offset by bright-blue church domes, while golden
beaches meet an aquamarine sea. Some of the Cyclades, such as Mykonos, Santorini,
Paros and Ios, have vigorously embraced the tourist industry;
others, such as Andros, Kea, Kythnos, Serifos and Sifnos,
are visited infrequently by foreigners but are favourites with holiday-makers
from Athens.
Mykonos is the most expensive and heavily visited of all Greek
islands. It has the most sophisticated nightlife and is the undisputed gay
capital of Greece. Barren, low-lying Mykonos would never win a Greek-island
beauty contest, but it does have superb beaches. The town is an enchanting
warren of chic boutiques and chimerical houses with brightly painted balconies
draped in bougainvillea and clematis; it's too perfect for some tastes. Santorini
(also known as Thira) is regarded by many as the most spectacular of the Greek
islands. Thousands of tourists come every year to gape at the sea-filled caldera,
a vestige of what was probably the world's largest volcanic eruption, ever.
Despite the crowds who visit in summer, Santorini's weirdness, apparent in its
black-sand beaches and mighty cliffs, holds a distinct allure.
If you want to escape the tourist hordes, Sikinos, Anafi and
the tiny islands to the east of Naxos offer some respite.
Crete
Greece's largest island has the dubious distinction of playing host to a
quarter of all visitors to Greece. It's still possible to find some peace by
visiting the undeveloped west coast, the rugged mountainous interior and the
villages of the Lassithi plateau. Crete was the centre of the Minoan culture,
Europe's first advanced civilisation, which flourished from 2800 to 1450 BC. The
palace of Knossos, just outside Crete's largest city, Iraklio, is the
most magnificent of Crete's Minoan sites. While Iraklio is a hell-hole, the
other large towns, Hania and Rethymno, are packed with beautiful
Venetian buildings. Paleohora, on the south-west coast, was discovered by
hippies in the 1960s and from then on its days as a quiet fishing village were
numbered, but it remains a relaxing place favoured by backpackers. Many
travellers spend a day trekking though the 18km-long Samaria gorge to get
to Agia Roumeli on the south-west coast. Further along the south coast,
which is too precipitous to support large settlements, are the villages of Loutro
and Hora Sfakion, linked by boat. The climate on the south coast is so
mild that swimming is possible from April to November.
Dodecanese Islands
Strung along the coast of western Turkey, the Dodecanese archipelago is much
closer to Asia Minor than to mainland Greece. Because of their strategic and
vulnerable position, these islands have been subjected to an even greater
catalogue of invasions and occupations than the rest of Greece - Egyptians, the
Knights of St John, Turks and Italians have all done their bit as conquerors. Rhodes
is the largest of the Dodecanese islands and its town is the largest inhabited
medieval settlement in Europe. The Avenue of the Knights is lined with
magnificent medieval buildings, the most impressive of which is the Palace of
the Grand Masters, restored, but never used, as a holiday home for Mussolini.
The imposing Acropolis of Lindos shares its rocky outcrop with a Crusader castle
above winding streets with whitewashed, elaborately decorated houses.
Other popular islands in the Dodecanese include Kos, Symi and
Patmos. The untouristy islands of Lipsi and Tilos have
fantastic beaches without large crowds, and the far-flung Agathonisi, Kastellorizo
and Kassos are great places to experience traditional island life. Kassos
is a rocky little place just south of Karpathos, populated only by prickly-pear
trees, sparse olive and fig trees, dry-stone walls, sheep and goats. If you tell
Karpathians you're off to Kassos, they'll tell you to take your knitting.
Ionian Islands
The Ionian group consists of seven main islands: Corfu (also known as
Kythera), Paxoi, Kefallonia, Zakynthos, Ithaki, Lefkada
and Kythira. Strung along the west coast of Greece, the Ionian islands
are the only group not in the Aegean, and in many ways they are more reminiscent
of their close neighbour, Italy. Apart from tiny Meganisi, none are
'undiscovered', although, as with all Greek islands, anyone who forays into
their hinterlands will be rewarded with the delights of unspoilt villages.
Corfu, with its beguiling landscape of vibrant wildflowers and slender cypress
trees rising out of shimmering olive groves, is considered by many to be the
most beautiful of the Greek islands.
North-Eastern Aegean Islands
There are seven major islands in the north-eastern group: Samos, Chios,
Ikaria, Lesvos, Limnos, Samothraki and Thasos.
Huge distances separate them, so island hopping is not as easy as it is within
the Cyclades and Dodecanese. Most of these are islands are large and have very
distinctive characters. Samos, the birthplace of philosopher and mathematician
Pythagoras, is lush and humid with mountains skirted by pine, sycamore and
oak-forested hills. Egg-shaped Samothraki has dramatic natural attributes,
culminating in the mighty peak of Mt Fengari (1611m) which looms over valleys of
massive gnarled oak and plane trees, thick forests of olive trees and damp dark
glades where waterfalls plunge into deep icy pools.
Sporades
There are four inhabited islands in this mountainous and pine-forested
northern archipelago: Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros.
They are all heavily touristed and expensive. People go to Skiathos for the
exquisite beaches and the nightlife; if you're there for anything else, you'll
probably leave quickly. Skopelos is less commercialised than Skiathos, but is
following hot on its trail. There are some lovely sheltered beaches, but they
are often pebbled rather than sandy. Alonnisos is still a serene island, partly
because the rocky terrain makes building an airport runway impossible. The water
around Alonnisos has been declared a marine park and consequently is the
cleanest in the Aegean. Every house has a cesspit, so no waste goes into the
sea. Skyros is less developed than the other three, designed to attract posers
rather than package tourists.
Saronic Gulf Islands
The five Saronic Gulf islands are the closest of all to Athens, and Salamis
is virtually a suburb of the capital. Aegina, Hydra, Spetses
and Poros are all surprisingly varied in architecture and terrain, but
they all receive an inordinate number of tourists and are expensive. Hydra, once
the rendezvous of artists, writers and beautiful people, is now overrun with
holiday-makers but manages to retain an air of superiority and grandeur. Motor
vehicles, including mopeds, are banned from the island: donkeys rule.
There are 46 villages in the region of Zagoria, north of Ioannina. As with
many inaccessible mountainous areas in Greece, these villages maintained a high
degree of autonomy in Turkish times, so their culture flourished. The houses are
built entirely of slate from the surrounding mountains, and the villages, with
their winding cobbled and stepped streets, look as if they've leapt straight out
of a Grimm's fairy tale. Many of the villages are now sadly depopulated, with
only a handful of elderly inhabitants.
The area is thickly forested with hornbeam, maple, willow and oak, and bears,
wolves, wild boars, wild cats, wild goats and rare Rissos quadrupeds roam the
mountains. Vlach and Sarakatsani shepherds still live a semi-nomadic existence,
taking their flocks up to high grazing grounds in the summer and returning to
the valleys in autumn. The Vikos-Aoös National Park encompasses much of this
area, which, although popular with trekkers, is untouched by mass tourism.
Minor Islands
Between Naxos and Amorgos in the Cyclades there is a chain of small islands
variously called the Minor Islands, Back Islands and Lesser Islands. Only four
of the islands have a permanent population: Donoussa, Koufonisi, Iraklia
and Shinoussa. The islands were densely populated in antiquity, as
evidenced by the large number of graves which have been found, but these days
they are inhabited only by a few goatherds and an increasing, though still
relatively small, number of visitors attracted to the pristine beaches. The
islands have domatia (rooms) and tavernas at their ports, but don't
expect anything fancy.
The Mani
Grey rocky mountains, mottled with defiant clumps of green scrub,
characterise the Mani region of the Peloponnese. The people of the Mani claim to
be direct descendants of the Spartans, the fierce warriors who chose to withdraw
to the mountains rather than serve under foreign masters. Until independence,
the Maniots lived in clans led by chieftans. With fertile land scarce,
blood-feuds were a way of life, so families constructed towers to use as
refuges. To this day Maniots are regarded by Greeks as fiercely independent,
royalist and right-wing. Areopoli, the capital of the Mani, is aptly
named after Ares, the god of war. In the narrow, cobbled streets of the old
town, grim tower houses stand proud and vigilant. The Diros caves, 8km
south of Areopoli, were inhabited by Neolithic people and may extend as far
north as Sparta. Visitors are taken on a boat trip along the subterranean river
through narrow tunnels and immense caverns filled with myriad clusters of
stalactites and stalagmites. Further south, there are stark, barren mountains,
broken only by deserted settlements of mighty towers. Vathia, the most
dramatic of the traditional villages in this region, is a barnacle-like cluster
of tower houses perched on a lofty rock.
Gavdos Island
Stuck out in the Libyan Sea south of Crete, Gavdos Island is the most
southerly place in Europe. Rumour has it that this was the island where Calypso
the sea nymph held Odysseus captive on his way home from the Trojan War. The
island has three small villages and pleasant beaches, and it is perfect for
those craving isolation. There are no hotels but several of the locals rent
rooms and freelance camping is tolerated. Fishermen from Gavdos take visitors to
the remote, uninhabited island of Gavdopoula.
Almost
every house and apartment has a balcony bulging with geraniums, and many of the
city's streets and squares are fringed with orange trees. Athens is a curious
blend of east and west, and first and third worlds; its raucous street vendors
and colourful markets are reminiscent of Turkish bazaars while crumbling
neoclassical mansions hark back to the city's brief heyday as the 'Paris of the
Mediterranean'.