Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Four unspoilt destinations in Greece
Piper Terrett takes a look at four places to stay in order to enjoy Greece at its most spectacular.
The Mani peninsula, towards mainland Greece's southernmost point, with its wild "cactus-haunted hills" and "spires of yellow verbascum", is less like the "bucolic Mediterranean than the bleakly beautiful mountains of the north-west frontier of Pakistan", writes William Dalrymple in the Financial Times. Famous as the adopted home of writer and adventurer Patrick Leigh Fermor, its fortified towers still dominate the region, evidence of the Maniots' tradition of fighting where "every man is a chieftain, and every farm a fort".
The population regard themselves as descended from Spartans, and in 1826 even its women, legend has it, fought off Egyptian invaders, using their scythes as weapons. It's the ideal location for hiking and the region's churches house beautiful frescoes assuming you can persuade the tough "guardian grannies" who hold the ancient keys to let you in.
Where to stay: Citta Dei Nicliani, Koita an 18th-century tower, now a seven-room hotel. Doubles from €80 (+30 27330 51827; CittaDeiNicliani.com).
Try 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today
Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.
Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Aegina is the largest of Greece's Saronic islands, roughly 40 minutes by hydrofoil from the port of Piraeus. Yet it feels "a world away from the fumes and angst"of Athens, says Time Out. Its horse-drawn carriages and Neoclassical architecture are a legacy of its brief period as Greece's first capital in the 1820s, following the War of Independence. Aegina Town is on the harbour and has bustling tavernas and cafs.
The island is home to the 5th-century BC Temple of Aphaia (a goddess linked to Athena), as well as the abandoned, "atmospheric" medieval town of Paleochora and the Monastery of St Nektarios. Enjoy a swim at Marathona or Aeginitsa on the west coast, or try a seaside lunch in the village of Perdika in the south.
Where to stay: Hotel Apollon in Agia Marina, which has panoramic views of the islands. Doubles from €74 (+30 229 703 2271; ApolloHotelAegina.gr/en).
Serifos, the Cyclades
This is the island that Athenians "keepto themselves", says Amanda Dardanisin The Times. Serifos is in the Cycladesisland group, and is just a two-hour ferryride from Piraeus port. People come forits "feral beauty, the odd fossilised shapesand the blissful beaches and Tahitian-colouredbays" of the island's coastline.
The island is home to Greece's artistic"types" who slip in and out, but there isnone of the "cockiness" of Mykonos or the"over-cooked mood" of its Cycladic cousin Santorini. The prices are also cheaper.Visit the open air mining museum in Megalo Horio, or hike to the Venetian castle inHora, the "unspoilt hilltop capital".
Where to stay: Coco-Mat Eco-Residences Serifos converted miners' homes where doubles cost from €180 (+30 2106 251 971; Serifos.coco-mat-hotels.com).
Hydra, the Saronics
This Saronic island is located in the Aegean, just across from the Peloponnese, although it's easiest to get there via ferry from Piraeus. It was the location for Sophia Loren's 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin, and has remained "endearingly time-warped" since then, writes Marc Dubin in The Daily Telegraph. There are no motor vehicles (bar a few rubbish trucks) the locals use donkeys to haul heavy loads and the drovers' cries are part of the island's "sound track".
The harbour is surrounded by 18th- and 19th-century mansions, from the days when the island enjoyed great wealth from seafaring. The best beaches are Mandraki and Vlichos, says Time Out, although Bisti and Agios Nikolaos are more "secluded". If you're feeling energetic, climb the mountain from the town up to the Monastery of Profitis Ilias and the Monastery of St Triada the views "make up for the one-hour trek".
Where to stay: Phaedra, a secluded boutique. Doubles from £90 (+30 2298 053330; PhaedraHotel.com).
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Piper Terrett is a financial journalist and author. Piper graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1997 and worked for Germaine Greer and for Adam Faith’s Money Channel before embarking on a career in business journalism.
She has worked for most top financial titles, including Investors Chronicle, Shares magazine, Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money. She lectures part-time at London Metropolitan University and is the author of four books.
