Greece
Kythira
Venetian ghost villages crumbling above spring-fed waterfalls, sea caves gnawing the island's edges.
The island sits between the Peloponnese and Crete, belonging administratively to Attica but culturally to itself. Venetian ghost villages crumble on inland cliffs, waterfalls pour through mill valleys, and the hillsides carry wild thyme thick enough to scent the air.
Palaiochora, the island's ruined medieval capital, hides in a gorge-edge site built to be invisible from the sea — Barbarossa found and destroyed it in 1537 anyway. Around Mylopotamos, the Neraida waterfall and old watermills make a shaded inland walk in the flowing months. Venetian, British and Greek layers stack across the island in castles, bridges and lighthouses, and after recent wildfires the island is actively welcoming visitors back.
Couple
Village guesthouses, waterfall-country walks and an island circuit that changes character around every bend.
Solo
Ruined Palaiochora, Venetian layers and enough open road to build a journey around curiosity.
- Palaiochora was built to be unseen from the sea — pirate-proofing as town planning, until 1537.
- Neraida's falls and the Mylopotamos watermills give the island's interior its green walk.
- Castle, bridge and lighthouse — Venice, Britain and Greece each left a layer.
- It belongs to Attica on paper, sits off the Peloponnese in fact, and behaves like neither.
Fatourada, Kythira’s spiced citrus liqueur, served chilled after a meal.
Xerotigana, crisp pastry spirals coated with honey, sesame and cinnamon.
Arniston
South Africa
A tidal cave hides beneath whitewashed cottages, broad enough for an ox wagon.
Sidi Ifni
Morocco
Spain left on the last day of June 1969, and the Art Deco is still standing.
Twillingate
Canada
Iceberg Alley delivers its giants past cliff paths, lighthouses and harbour villages.
Maio
Cape Verde
Three thousand turtles a summer nest on an island that is one whole biosphere reserve.
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.
Delphi
Greece
Stone terraces climb a sacred mountainside where the ancient world came to hear the oracle speak.