Exploring the Cyclades

The thing about the Cyclades is that they're all different. We take two weeks and travel between three islands, spending three or four days on each. You can build your own itinerary and it gives you a wonderful sense of freedom rather than just being on holiday and sticking to the agenda of some tour operator.

Whilst not strictly easy to get to, they're accessible enough, and the ferry journey from Piraeus or Rafina discourages enough people that it's not uncommon to find deserted beaches—particularly in June and early July which is an especially lovely time to go.

Even some of the tiniest islands have deep harbours that can handle the larger ferries. If you possibly can, try and stick to ferries operated by Hellenic Seaways or Blue Star. Seajets is another company that operates lots of very useful routes and they're usually absolutely fine (and very fast) but the vessels are much smaller, a little basic, and can get thrown around quite a lot if the sea is choppy. Open-seas.gr is a fantastic website that allows you to search for the route you want and shows you which companies operate it and at which times. Watching Athens fade into the distance from the deck of the ferry as the sun rises is pretty spectacular and always gives me a frisson of excitement.

I'll do a piece on each of the islands we've visited but I'm going to start with Sifnos as it's one of my favourites. We've been a couple of times and always stay at the Petali Village Hotel just above Apollonia. It's a lovely family run, understated hotel with spectacular views down to Apollonia:

These "village" hotels are common in the Cyclades and, as you might expect, are very much part of the village. This one is made up of three or four different—I'm loath to use the word "blocks," they're far from it—but rather, typical Cycladic houses that have been divided into bright, clean, modern rooms with either a terrace or balcony. They're huddled either side of a narrow path that leads down to the village. Strolling down for dinner at around 9 PM each night (this is Greece after all) you're likely to exchange a greeting with many of the locals sitting out on their balconies that overlook the path.

The hotel has a pool and a gym but we're not usually that interested in the "facilities"—there's too much exploring to do. They do serve a lovely breakfast though, on a large terrace overlooking the mountains. It's buffet style and there's delicious Greek yoghurt, local honey, fresh fruit as well as a selection of different hot and cold treats. Decent coffee too. And you always get lovely Greek shower gels and shampoos in the rooms—Korres or Apivita.

Sifnos is one of the more chic Cycladic islands. Others are much more rural with rolling fields and plenty of agriculture—more on this in subsequent posts—but Sifnos is wealthy and you can tell. Upmarket bars and expensive clothing shops line the winding streets and it's a little more expensive than some of its neighbours. I don't want to do it a disservice though—rest assured it hasn't lost any of its charm—delicious local food, loads of culture and spectacular scenery. One of our favourite restaurants in Apollonia is Okyalos. Try to go on a Sunday to get the revithada, a local speciality made with chickpeas cooked slowly in a clay pot for hours and hours! It's served with plenty of olive oil and lemon juice and, for such a simple dish, it's unbelievable how tasty it is.

For Sifnos you do need a car really. The distances aren't very long but it makes life so much easier to just go off exploring without relying on the buses. And the whole island is so small you really can't get lost. About five minutes away from Apollonia is Artemonas, a fascinating little village up on the hill that seems as though it's from a different era. We tend to wander around early evening, have a drink, and perhaps pop into one of the art galleries or the church. There are four or five incredibly handsome mansions, abandoned, with the gates chained up that line one of the streets. My dream is to buy one and open a high-end guest house or some sort of retreat—or I might just live in it.

Between Artemonas and Apollonia is another wonderful restaurant that's worth mentioning - To Kelari. Run by a couple and established in 1988, it's like going for dinner with friends. When we visited we were the only ones there (early in the season) and sat on the patio looking over the gardens. They gave us impeccable service, explaining what they'd cooked that day and where the produce was from and then chatted quietly and read the paper at one of the tables closest to the house whilst we were eating. After a delicious dinner including, among other things, a kilo of lamb chops and more revithada, we had a wander around the garden—heavy with the smell of jasmine. The owner pressed a gorgeous homemade almond biscuit wrapped in paper into our hands just as we were leaving.

The beaches are impressive and usually quiet until the school holidays start in mid-July. Chrissopigi is a firm favourite—very calm water, excellent for diving and across from the beach, forming a curved bay, is a monastery you can swim out to. There are usually a couple of fishing boats bobbing around in the bay and I think a walking trail may start from here too.

Vathy is towards the south of the island and is a bigger and slightly more organised beach. I don't mean there are sunloungers taking up the whole beach, but there are a few clusters of them if you'd like one. There's a fantastic restaurant here too, To Meraki tou Manoli. Wonderful seafood—chargrilled octopus and prawns—as well as fresh fish. I had the swordfish which was excellent.

Platys Gialos is a long, beautiful beach flanked by restaurants and gift shops. It's peaceful but there's more going on than at Chrissopigi or Vathy. If you fancy a treat—and it is quite expensive—head to Omega3 for lunch. It's quite different from your standard Greek lunchtime venue and serves sushi, tuna tartare and sea bream ceviche. It's not all raw fish though and they do have calamari, octopus, and plenty of delicious cooked fish dishes. A large selection of good quality white wines too.

After a day on the beach we called in at a fruit and vegetable market on the way back to the car and picked up a few peaches. These peaches turned out to be the juiciest most gorgeous peaches I've ever had and we ate them on our balcony when we got back to the hotel with the juice dripping down our chins.

Every evening on our way back from dinner we say to ourselves we will NOT call in at the sweet shop and every evening, without fail, we do. Three years ago there was an elderly lady with quite a personality running it and none of the cakes or sweets were much to write home about. All change last year though and there are jars of preserves, dried herbs, local yoghurt, honey and shelves stacked high with homemade sweet treats. A particular favourite are the sweet, gummy shards of orange peel coated in dark chocolate that melt on to our hands on the walk back to the hotel. We got a huge bag of local oregano which has such a superior flavour to anything from home and is adding a taste of Greece to our dishes throughout the cold winter months.

Sifnos gives us everything we want—beautiful beaches, delicious food, culture and enough nightlife to keep us entertained. This usually means a drink or two after dinner and then back to the hotel via the sweet shop before midnight. It's hard work being on holiday.