Greece
Folegandros
Cliff-edge Chora glowing white against a 200-metre drop into indigo Aegean.
The Chora sits on the edge of nothing — white cubes and blue domes balanced on a cliff that drops two hundred metres straight into the Aegean. The zigzag path to Panagia church climbs above it, and the medieval Kastro at its heart was built against pirates.
The inhabited Kastro is woven directly into Hora rather than preserved as a separate monument. Beyond the village squares, footpaths cross dry-stone farmland, chapels and the quieter northern island. Angali, Agios Nikolaos and Katergo reward walkers and boat passengers, giving Folegandros enough texture for far more than a sunset stop.
Couple
Clifftop evenings in Hora, the Panagia walk and a boat or footpath to a quiet beach.
Solo
Old paths through Ano Meria, a lived-in medieval quarter and space to slow down between villages.
- Hora sits high above the Aegean, with its medieval Kastro woven into the inhabited village.
- A zigzag path climbs from Hora to the Church of Panagia and a wide island view.
- Old farm paths cross the island between Ano Meria, chapels, fields and remote beaches.
- Angali, Agios Nikolaos and Katergo reward walking or a small-boat journey rather than resort access.
Matsata — hand-rolled pasta with rabbit or rooster stew; Synantisi in Ano Meria has rolled it since 1920.
Thyme honey from the hillsides, poured over fresh mizithra.
Sidi Ifni
Morocco
Spain left on the last day of June 1969, and the Art Deco is still standing.
Arniston
South Africa
A tidal cave hides beneath whitewashed cottages, broad enough for an ox wagon.
Tatami Ridge (Kumejima)
Japan
Hexagonal basalt slabs stretching into turquoise shallows like a giant's abandoned floor.
Hornby Island
Canada
Warm shallows, sandstone shelves and a creative community ring a small Gulf Island.
Nafplio
Greece
Stone steps climb to a Venetian sea fortress above a harbour of bobbing fishing caïques.
Prespa Lakes
Greece
Byzantine hermitages painted on cave walls above a lake shared by three countries.
Ioannina
Greece
Ali Pasha's lake fortress — silversmith workshops and Ottoman mosques on an island reached by boat.
Chrysi Island
Greece
An uninhabited island of shell-pink sand and ancient junipers, now visited only on its own terms.