Video timeline: 00:00 Intro, 00:40 Map of the islands, 00:48 Lindos, Rhodes, 01:55 Useful tips: How to get here, where to stay, language, how to pay 02:47 How to get around, 03:00 Beaches: Tsambika Beach, Rhodes, 03:26 City of Rhodes, music: @ElectroKebap, 04:56 Symi, 05:24 Yialos, 06:23 Kali Strata, 06:53 Panormitis Monastery, 07:24 Seafood, 07:50 Marathounda Beach, 08:20 Kalymnos, 08:39 E bike tour, hiking, 10:05 Pothia, 10:30 Sponge diving, Koutouzi Sponge, 11:34 Vathy
Zambia: Become one with the landscape on a walking safari in South Luangwa National Park.
Norway: Black coffee and crystalline fjords on a multi-day train tour beneath the midnight sun.
Bhutan: In this tiny Himalayan nation, valleys plunge, mountains soar and traditions bind.
Philippines: Plan the ultimate island-hopping adventure to the pearl of the Western Pacific.
São Paulo: In Brazil’s most populous city, every gig and gallery reflects the diversity of its people.
Ghent: With its innovative art spaces and left-field restaurants, this city’s rebel spirit lives on.
Kosovo: Explore the Balkan nation’s deep-forested hills, gushing waterfalls and fresco-adorned monasteries.
Cincinnati: German flavours abound in the bakeries and breweries of this Ohio city.
Vienna: From jazz age revamps to culinary havens, these hotels embrace the sound and flavour of the city.
Plus,picks from the 60th Venice Biennale; tours and tastings in England’s vineyards; the flavours of Provence; the best music hotspots in Bristol; where to stay in Denver; a family getaway in Sicily; a city break in Gdansk; a coastal escape in Northumberland; the best food and travel reads; and kit for campervanning.
We talk with author Adam Alexander and the hunt for Rajasthan’s lost chilli, and Simon Reeve on his latest TV series, the beauty of the wild and more. In our Ask the Experts section, the experts give advice advice on driving from London to Lake Garda, treehouse stays for UK bluebell season and family adventures in Sri Lanka. The Info delves into Walpurgis Night, while Hot Topic explores the end of the 100ml liquid rule in UK airports and the Report asks whether the voluntourism industry can truly help those in need.
Plaka is the chief town in Milos. It is perched on the top of large rock, overlooking the gulf of Milos. No cars can enter the village because of the narrow spaces between walls and buildings. Motorbikes, mopeds and the like are the only usable vehicles.
Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 0:52 Boat trip to Zakynthos’ north coast 3:00 Blue Caves 10:41 Shipwreck Beach (Navagio Beach) 14:56 Swimming in the sea 19:32 Navagio Beach viewpoint 23:17 Fjords of Zakynthos’ west coast 27:54 Tsilivi Beach 28:53 Seacret Beach Club 32:53 Boat trip to Zakynthos’ south coast 34:43 Turtle island & turtle spotting 40:13 Kalonisi islet 43:50 Sunset
Piraeus 1.0 – We boarded Viking Sky at Piraeus port in Athens, so were in harbour over night. I began to notice the blueness and the ‘dome-i-ness’ of my surroundings. Acclimatising my eyes to the change in architecture from North Norfolk.
Still painting late into the night watching the the buildings turn into silhouettes and the blue mountains in the distance fade to smudges.
Koper, Slovenia – Tito Square in Koper has a strong Italian influence and even the language spoken here is part Italian and part Slovene. It was a capital city under the Venetian Republic. I couldn’t paint this journey without including a tourist photographing the magnificent architecture.
This was the sight that greeted us as we approached the Greek island of Santorini. Beautiful coloured buildings above what looked like cave entrances. The town sits on the top of what appears to be a giant rock and is reached by cable car, or donkey for the more intrepid.
With long sandy beaches, a balmy climate and monuments from various historical eras, Kos was among the first Aegean islands to attract visitors –during the 1930s, under Italian rule. Despite its touristic role, Kos is in fact one of the most fertile Greek islands, with rich volcanic soil and an adequate water supply from its single mountain range.
Local melons have long been famous – old-timers as far away as the Cyclades remember the melon-peddlers from Kos – and they’re still sold at the roadside. Agriculture continues to co-exist with tourism, baled hay and grazing cattle (there are said to be almost as many cows as people – 18,000 – on Kos) found just behind beachfront hotel complexes.
As a strategic border island with Turkey, a military presence is inevitable if usually not intrusive – though it’s quite possible to catch a glimpse of exercising tanks, cattle and hotel wings all at once.
Mýkonos, also spelled Míkonos, island, dímos (municipality), and perifereiakí enótita (regional unit), South Aegean (Modern Greek: Nótio Aigaío) periféreia (region), southeastern Greece. Mýkonos is one of the smaller of the eastern Cyclades (Kykládes) group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
According to legend, it is the piece of rock thrown by Heracles to destroy the Giants. It is a rugged granite mass, about 33 square miles (85 square km) in area, lying next to Delos (Dílos) and between Tínos to the northwest and Náxos (Náchos) and Páros to the south. Mýkonos has several beaches, and on the north coast the Gulf of Pánormos forms a deep indentation. Located on the west side of the island is its capital, Mýkonos town; the town is the centre of a thriving tourism industry and is renowned for its nightlife.
Filmed in September 2022.
Thera, Modern Greek Thíra, also called Santorin, or Santoríni, island, southernmost island of the Cyclades (Modern Greek: Kykládes) group, southeastern Greece, in the Aegean Sea, sometimes included in the Southern Sporades group. It constitutes a dímos (municipality) within the South Aegean (Nótio Aigaío) periféreia (region).
Geologically, Thera is the remaining eastern half of an exploded volcano. Its bow-shaped rim and the remnant isles of Thirasía and Aspronísi form an open lagoon that measures 37 miles (60 km) in circumference. In the centre of the lagoon are two active volcanic islets, Néa Kaméni (“New Burnt Island”) and Palaía Kaméni (“Old Burnt Island”). Thera proper consists largely of lava and pumice, the latter of which is the island’s main export. Red-wine grapes are also grown. The lagoon is rimmed by red-, white-, and black-striped volcanic cliffs rising to almost 1,000 feet (300 metres). The summit of Thera is the 1,857-foot (566-metre) limestone Mount Profítis Ilías in the southeast. The chief town, Thíra (locally called Firá), was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1956. Other settlements include Emboríon and Pírgos to the south and the port of Oía at the north entrance to the lagoon, which was destroyed by the 1956 earthquake.
Rhodes, the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands, is known for its beach resorts, ancient ruins and remnants of its occupation by the Knights of St. John during the Crusades. The city of Rhodes has an Old Town featuring the medieval Street of the Knights and the castlelike Palace of the Grand Masters. Captured by the Ottomans and then held by the Italians, the palace is now a history museum.
An endless expanse of shimmering waters paired with unmatched Greek hospitality awaits visitors to the islands of the Aegean Sea. Each island is home to a unique spirit and mythology.
From Patmos (a favorite of Aga Khan) to Hydra (which captivated Henry Miller, Leonard Cohen and Sophia Loren), the islands are imbued with a seductive sense of history, tradition and adventure.
Several films over the decades have been filmed on them, including Boy on a Dolphin (1957) on Hydra, The Big Blue (1988) on Amorgos and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) on Santorini.
Sources of inspiration for millennia, the ancient ruins, cliffside monasteries and volcanic rims are all can’t-miss sights. Venturing on an Odyssey of their own, the author and the photographer boarded a traditional Greek sailboat and set out to capture the calming atmosphere, quintessential characters and breathtaking architecture of these gems of the Aegean. A spectacular journey re-created in the pages of Greek Islands.
Boomers Daily 