Turkey
Gökçeada
Turkey's largest island: organic vineyards, empty beaches and Greek stone villages coming slowly back to life.
The ferry docks and what strikes you first is the quiet. Turkey's largest island holds fewer people than a single Istanbul neighbourhood, most of them farming under the island-wide project that earned Gökçeada its organic-island name. On the hillsides, Greek stone villages that emptied last century are filling again, café by café, while the western beaches face the open Aegean with hardly a footprint.
Gökçeada spreads 287 square kilometres off the Gallipoli peninsula, with a settled population of about 10,000 year-round. An island-wide organic farming project has made it Turkey's organic island, its wine, honey and olive oil mostly produced that way. Greek Orthodox villages like Tepeköy and Zeytinliköy, emptied through the 20th century, are being slowly restored by returning families, artists and small farmers. The western beaches are consistently rated among Turkey's cleanest, and the ferry crossing from the mainland takes about 90 minutes.
Solo
An island of empty beaches, half-woken Greek villages and organic farm breakfasts: solitude without hardship, a place to read, walk and eat well in near-total quiet.
Couple
Empty coastline, restored village pensions and farm-to-table meals make Gökçeada an island escape that feels private without being remote.
- Turkey's largest island, 287 square kilometres, carries a year-round population of just 10,000.
- An island-wide organic farming project has made Gökçeada Turkey's organic island.
- Greek villages like Tepeköy and Zeytinliköy are being slowly restored by artists and farmers.
- The island's western beaches face open Aegean and are consistently rated among Turkey's cleanest.
Thyme and pine honey from organic hillside hives, drizzled over yoghurt at farm breakfasts.
Dibek coffee ground in stone mortars at Zeytinliköy's café tables, mastic pudding on the side.
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