Athens
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 built
hurriedly to house the refugees who poured in from Asia Minor
during the 1923 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; 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 northeastern 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 that 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 northeastern 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 Taygetos, 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 Monemvasia and the thrilling Diakofto-Kalavryta
rack-and-pinion railway, which rollercoasts its way through the
deep Vouraïkos Gorge.
Meteora
The World Heritage 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, Serifos
and Sikinos, 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 (if crowded)
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 modern,
wealthy but somewhat charmless city, the other large towns, Hania
and Rethymno, are packed with beautiful Venetian buildings. Paleohora,
on the southwest 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 southwest 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 Kasos are great places to experience traditional island life.
Kasos 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
Kasos, they'll tell you to take your knitting.
Ionian
Islands
The Ionian group consists of seven main islands: Corfu (also known
as Kerkyra), Paxi, 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.
Northeastern
Aegean Islands
There are seven major islands in the northeastern 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 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. |
