Glamorous, crowded, beautiful, is very impressive from the first moment with its two states, Ermoupoli and Ano Syros, built amphitheatrically on their hills. Vaporia with the imposing mansions which gaze at the sea, Agios Nikolaos, the renonwed Apollon theatre and the Town Hall with its square, San Tzortzis of Ano Syros, Fragosyriani of Markos Vamvakaris, the famous Syrian “loukoumia”, the countryside of the island, Della Grazia (Posidonia) –there are so many things that come to your mind as you wait for the ship to moor at the port. Syros exudes urban aura. It is located at the centre of the Cyclades and it is their financial, administrative, and cultural centre. Ermoupoli has long seized being just a wonderful vacation place.…

Tinos is known all over Greece, as well as abroad, thanks to the rich pilgrimage of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. However, this island, with its extensive and rich history in the art of marble sculpture, possesses many unique features: its villages, real masterpieces of architecture, the …otherworldly landscape of Volax with the round granite formations, the suggestive rocky hill of Xombourgo with the ruins of the castle, 600 artfully crafted dovecotes, 750 churches and chapels, an excellent network of old paths that cross the whole island, and magnificent beaches. Typical of Tinos is the fact that its villages, with their marble-paved squares, springs, and well-kept houses with their yards full of flowers, are inhabited almost all year long…

Until the mid 1980s Folegandros belonged to the so-called barren line. Then it was included in the regular itineraries of Piraeus and started being discovered by West Europeans and Greek holidaymakers. The island is the ideal destination for mild/ alternative forms of tourism, a fact that is closely associated with its long tradition in self-sufficiency. “Land is what you see and home is where you fit in”, according to a popular Cycladic saying. True; neither in the farmhouses of Ano Meria nor in the old residences of Chora can a double bed fit in a room. The same applies in the countryside. No one would build a tall house, as the winds were very strong from November to February, and…

The first view offered to the visitor of Serifos is the infertile slopes with the “petrified figures” which bring to mind the myth of Perseus. Then, the ship turns to the port and the visitor views Livadi and Chora dominating with its cube-shaped, white-washed houses hooked on the conical rock, looking just like frozen white lava. Serifos has always been concealing treasures. Today, it generously gives its special energy to its faithful “lovers”, the people who got to know it, loved it, built houses here and made it their holiday destination every summer; people who love it for its authenticity and eroticism; for the wonderful beaches with the little taverns on the sand and the tamarix trees; for the unique…

First and last image: Ochre and white. Kamares rest on the foot of Agios Symeon and it is reflected on the waters of Agia Marina. The next image will be given by the route towards Apollonia and the villages around it that are tied with dozens of stone walls, which are called “louria” (straps) by the locals. Mild turns next to the gorge and a landscape moderately rugged. The sense of moderation is the gift of the gods to Sifnos, along with the gold and the silver of the antiquity which made it the wealthiest of all the states in the 6th century BC. What is fascinating in low profile Sifnos without exaltations? It is the Cycladic architecture which you…

A woman of dazzling beauty, like the statue of Aphrodite which made the island famous all over the world: this is how Milos looks like if you circumnavigate it. White, green, pink, red, yellow colours inedibly paint the slopes and the volcanic rocks with the amazing forms and shapes. Turquoise and green-azure waters, caves, rocky islets, lacy bays, “syrtmata”, little ports that are left in the past, extraterrestrial… Sarakiniko, colourful Klima with the people playing backgammon next to the sea while the sunsets, both being the protagonists in a unique spectacle that unravels around them. The gaze and the cameras cannot manage to record such beauty, within so few kilometres of coastline; more time is needed and the will to…

Naxos: a small, independent world, right in the middle of Cyclades, at the heart of historical development, fertile, rich in history, abundant in ancient, Byzantine and Venetian monuments, full of customs, music and festivals organized all year long. A hospitable place welcomes you with plenty of frangrances and flavors of cheece, wine and vegetable varieties able to captivate the most discerning diners. “Naxos surpassed all the other islands in prosperity”. Herodotus, Pindar, Archilochus of Paros, as well as the great writer Nikos Kazantzakis have written about the beauties of Naxos. And god Dionysus gracefully raised a glass of wine to its health… The castle of Naxos Chora is unique in the Aegean and inhabited for centuries. The island’s aristocracy was…

Call it cosmopolitan and you will be right. Call it famous in the Aegean, “birthplace” of water sports, gathering place for the young, favourite place of poet Seferis, and you will be right once again. Paros ignites people’s imagination since the pre-Historic times. Due to its abundant marble of high quality, it inspires artists. Due to the important religious monuments, with the most significant one being the pilgrimage of Panagia Ekatontapyliani, it attracts Christians like a magnet. As it used to attract the wanderers for six whole centuries, as well as the Venetians, the pirates and the Turks, today it attracts visitors from Greece and the whole world who enjoy its beaches, water sports with windsurf and kitesurf leading the…

One of the most beautiful destinations in the Cyclades. In many areas it seems still untouched by the tourist development. The special energy that Amorgos gives out, its unique nature, the contemplation from high above, the old paths which bring out the pleasant herb odour, the lovely deep blue color of its waters, make visitors keep it deep in their hearts, in a very special place. Thousands of small and big secrets are hidden in every corner of the island. Here they still thresh and winnow their ‘fava’. They keep ancient customs, such as the Captain’s, in Lagada. They make their ‘pavli’ from wheat and rye and boil the baked raki in the pot. They whitewash the alleys and they…