Just across the water is Kimolos, where every restaurant is family-run and the coastline is filled with colourful fishermen’s houses stacked up like jewels. Stay in Messa Kastro, built around a Game of Thrones-style castle, and chill on the white sands of Prassa beach.
A block of honey-laced goat' s cheese baked in parchment, or a plate of bouyiourdi (tomatoes, feta cheese and spicy peppers cooked in a clay pot) mopped up with bread. . . just thinking about Greek food is enough to get us looking up flight times. Both Serifos and Sifnos have a reputation for being culinary hotspots: wander through the blue-domed churches, cobbled streets and stylish boutique hotels of Sifnos’ capital, Apollonia, to find restaurants packed with creative menus, serving everything from high-end Greek cooking to casual meze plates. On nearby Serifos, even the simplest dishes are a delight: think pitta dipped into creamy taramasalata and rich fennel pie, which is known as marathopites on the island. Afterwards, explore the ceramics boutiques that Serifos is known for, along with its clusters of cubist houses. Or wander up the winding stairs to the 15th-century Venetian castle where you’ll be rewarded with sweeping views across the pretty Aegean coastline. Don’t forget to try the typically Cycladic chocolate pudding, the delicious pastaki serifou, while you’re here.
If an energetic skip up a mountain followed by an afternoon diving is your idea of a perfect break, then you’ll love Amorgos and Koufonisia. On Amorgos, where much of the French classic The Big Blue was filmed, you can set off on the six-mile hike to Palia Strata after breakfast and go past Hozoviotissa Monastery towards Aegiali Bay. You’ll climb high into the hills and look down at an island that seems to have been coloured in using a child’s paintbox – blue-green sea, emerald hills, scorched mountain rocks, white town of Chora – and is known as one of the most beautiful in the Cyclades. Explore the 13th-century castle and the monasteries and for even more views, go for a cocktail or three in of the clifftop bars of nearby Tholaria. You’ll need your trainers just as much on nearby Koufonisia: hike along the vertiginous paths from Chora (a different one! ) to Pano Meria.
Finish with an afternoon of diving in the reefs around Pano Meria and try to spot monk seals and rainbow wrasse. For golden sandy beaches, make your way to Panagia or Detis with its translucent waters and more diving opportunities. As the sun sets, tour the island by boat, peer into the sea caves and have drinks on one of the tiny islets that surround it.
A block of honey-laced goat' s cheese baked in parchment, or a plate of bouyiourdi (tomatoes, feta cheese and spicy peppers cooked in a clay pot) mopped up with bread. . . just thinking about Greek food is enough to get us looking up flight times. Both Serifos and Sifnos have a reputation for being culinary hotspots: wander through the blue-domed churches, cobbled streets and stylish boutique hotels of Sifnos’ capital, Apollonia, to find restaurants packed with creative menus, serving everything from high-end Greek cooking to casual meze plates. On nearby Serifos, even the simplest dishes are a delight: think pitta dipped into creamy taramasalata and rich fennel pie, which is known as marathopites on the island. Afterwards, explore the ceramics boutiques that Serifos is known for, along with its clusters of cubist houses. Or wander up the winding stairs to the 15th-century Venetian castle where you’ll be rewarded with sweeping views across the pretty Aegean coastline. Don’t forget to try the typically Cycladic chocolate pudding, the delicious pastaki serifou, while you’re here.
If an energetic skip up a mountain followed by an afternoon diving is your idea of a perfect break, then you’ll love Amorgos and Koufonisia. On Amorgos, where much of the French classic The Big Blue was filmed, you can set off on the six-mile hike to Palia Strata after breakfast and go past Hozoviotissa Monastery towards Aegiali Bay. You’ll climb high into the hills and look down at an island that seems to have been coloured in using a child’s paintbox – blue-green sea, emerald hills, scorched mountain rocks, white town of Chora – and is known as one of the most beautiful in the Cyclades. Explore the 13th-century castle and the monasteries and for even more views, go for a cocktail or three in of the clifftop bars of nearby Tholaria. You’ll need your trainers just as much on nearby Koufonisia: hike along the vertiginous paths from Chora (a different one! ) to Pano Meria.
Finish with an afternoon of diving in the reefs around Pano Meria and try to spot monk seals and rainbow wrasse. For golden sandy beaches, make your way to Panagia or Detis with its translucent waters and more diving opportunities. As the sun sets, tour the island by boat, peer into the sea caves and have drinks on one of the tiny islets that surround it.