Delos
Built between 296 and 240 BC, this partially restored marble theatre could once seat 6500 spectators in its 40 rows. The large cistern in front of it…
Must-see attractions in Cyclades
Serifos
Just over the headland that rises from the ferry quay, this gorgeous tamarisk-fringed beach has a long swoop of coarse golden sand and a rustic taverna.
Paros
Paros' best beach is a wide sandy crescent to the southeast with excellent conditions for water sports such as windsurfing and kitesurfing.
Santorini
Surreal red beach to the southwest backed by rust-and-fire coloured cliffs. Just up from the beach are several good restaurants.
Small Cyclades
Wide sweep of white sand to the east with shallow, clear waters ideal for swimming. There's a taverna across the street from it.
Cyclades
Beautiful, sheltered sandy cove at the north of the island, reachable either by boat or via a two-hour hike from Hora.
Small Cyclades
The island's best beach – a long sandy crescent to the northeast and a bay popular with yachts.
Santorini
Appealing volcanic sand beach to the southwest backed by cliffs and with a single taverna.
Tinos
Tinos’ religious focus is this large church and its icon of Our Lady of Tinos. It was uncovered in 1823 in the ruins of a chapel beneath the current…
Oia
This tiny port of colourful fishing boats lies 300 steps below Oia. It’s a steep haul down and up again but well worth it for the views of the blood-red…
Fira
Sitting 220m below Fira – three minutes by cable car, or 587 steps by foot – the Old Port, also known as Fira Skala, is now mainly used by cruise ship…
Hora (Mykonos)
Built between the 15th and 17th centuries, Mykonos’ most famous church comprises four small chapels – plus another on an upper storey reached by an…
Syros
Known locally as St Nicholas of the Rich, referencing the shipowners from the surrounding Vaporia neighbourhood, this beautiful Orthodox church (built in…
Milos
Clinging to a lonely patch of hillside just below Trypiti, this large Roman-era theatre entertained the citizens of Ancient Melos from the 1st to the 4th…
Syros
Proudly capping the medieval hilltop settlement of Ano Syros, this pretty cathedral is the mother church of the Cyclades' significant Roman Catholic…
Syros
After being badly bombed during WWII, it's a wonder anything survived in this stately 1820s Orthodox church – which made the discovery, in 1983, of a…
Cave of the Sacred Icon of Agios Giannis
Small Cyclades
The Cave of the Sacred Icon of Agios Giannis features a large open cave plus white-painted rocks surrounding the tiny entrance to the main sequence of…
Naxos
About 2km south of the village of Sangri is the rather unsympathetically restored 6th-century BC Temple of Demeter. The ruins and reconstructions are not…
Ios
Crowning a low hill just north of Hora, this Early Bronze Age settlement is one of the Aegean's most significant prehistoric sites. There are restored…
Sanctuary of Poseidon & Amphitrite
Tinos
From the 4th century BC to the 3rd century AD, the area adjacent to the beach at Kionia (3km northwest of central Hora) was a major religious sanctuary…
Kythnos
The island's most famous beach is the exquisite double bay of Kolona, a thin shadeless strip of sand anchoring a small headland to the main island. In…
Amorgos
A 3km ride along the looping road or a 30-minute hike from Aegiali, the mountain village of Tholaria sits near the ruins of ancient Aegiali, with…
Ios
A remote and beautiful 13km drive northeast of Hora lies what is locally believed to be the final resting place of Homer, Greece's greatest poet, who…
Fira
From Imerovigli, a sign points west for the track to Skaros, the conical peninsula jutting out into the caldera. Not only geologically interesting, it is…
Milos
This mildly interesting museum details Milos’ mining history, starting with the quarrying of obsidian on the island in 7000 BC. It’s located on the…
Santorini
In 1967, excavations in the southwest of Santorini uncovered an ancient Minoan city buried deep beneath volcanic ash from the catastrophic eruption of…
Naxos
In Flerio, near Mili, is an ancient marble-working area. There remain two examples of kouroi, large marble statues created in the 7th and 6th centuries BC…
Sifnos
Perched on an islet connected to the shore by a tiny footbridge, this handsome whitewashed monastery is considered to be the protector of Sifnos. Built in…
Archaeological Museum of Melos
Milos
This handsome neoclassical building contains some riveting exhibits, including a plaster cast of local lass, the Venus de Milo, who now resides in the…
Tinos
On the slopes above Pyrgos, this outstanding, modern, well-curated complex creatively explains the quarrying and sculpting techniques that have been used…
Amorgos
Reachable via a paved, steep and narrow road from the main Hora–Aegiali road, the handful of slate houses in this hamlet seems deserted at first glance…
Cyclades
Incorporating the ruins of the temple of Apollo (allegedly built by the Argonauts) into its building, monastery Zoodochos Pigi is 9km from Hora by road,…
Amorgos
Some 3km east of Aegiali, the small village of Langada is a picturesque maze of narrow whitewashed streets. There are several excellent tavernas here,…
Milos
Greece’s only Christian catacombs, on the slopes below Trypiti, date from the 1st century and were the burial site for some of the earliest believers…
Santorini
Tomato processing was a major industry on the island before the earthquake of 1952, and this is a unique look inside an old tomato factory in Vlihada. The…
Cyclades
A Venetian fortress that stood here in the 13th century gave Kastro its name. Today it is a charming, lived-in place, with winding alleyways between…
Cyclades
From the saddle between Kastro and Horio, a surfaced road leads southwest for 5km to Moni Episkopis, under renovation during research time. The remains…
