The wild one: Naxos
Mykonos and Santorini might grab the headlines, but with its lost-in-the-past villages, endless sandy beaches and low-key tavernas serving succulent local dishes, their Cyclades sister Naxos offers a calmer – and more charming – alternative.
From immense kouroi statues to flamingo-flecked salt lakes, the region’s largest island has plenty of attractions too. Bask on Alyko’s glorious sand dune-studded beaches, backed by cedar forests, and get lost in the narrow alleys of the mountain village of Chalki, where they make punchy local lemon liqueur Kitro.
How to do it
Direct flights from Athens to Naxos cost around £35 and take 45 minutes. Boutique beauty 18 Grapes has 18 gleaming suites near the lively resort of Agios Prokopios. Rooms from £140 per night (18grapes.com).
The otherworldly beauty: Milos
Santorini might be Greece’s volcanic poster child, but the lesser-known Cycladic island of Milos, where Alexandros of Antioch’s celebrated Venus statue was discovered in 1820, is equally spectacular.
Take time to marvel at the copy of the Venus de Milo in the island’s tiny museum, and then be wowed by brightly painted syrmata fishing huts and lunar-like beaches – including Sarakíniko, where blindingly white rocks rise dramatically out of transparent waters.
How to do it
Direct flights from Athens to Milos cost around £36 and take 40 minutes. White Pebble Suites is a sophisticated spa hotel with 12 rooms looking out over Pollonia’s dazzling waterfront. Suites from £198 per night (whitepebblesuites.com).
