Greece
Naxos
A marble gateway stands unfinished on the harbour, abandoned mid-construction 2,500 years ago.
The Portara stands alone on the headland — a six-metre marble gateway of four twenty-tonne blocks, framing nothing but sky and sea, the last piece of a temple abandoned mid-construction twenty-five centuries ago. Behind it the Venetian Kastro climbs through the town's lanes.
Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades, with a fertile interior that supports potatoes, cheeses, olives and fruit without turning the island into a simplistic claim of self-sufficiency. Ancient quarry landscapes around Melanes and Apollonas still hold unfinished kouroi. Beaches, mountain villages and the inhabited Kastro allow a visit to move easily between coast, food and archaeology.
Family
Long beaches, village lunches and ancient sites that work as relaxed stops rather than exhausting expeditions.
Couple
A harbour sunset at the Portara followed by a slow drive through marble villages and mountain tavernas.
- The Portara is the surviving doorway of an unfinished ancient temple on the harbour islet.
- Naxos is the largest Cycladic island and has a fertile interior of farms, orchards and mountain villages.
- Unfinished archaic kouroi still lie in the ancient marble-quarry landscape around Melanes and Apollonas.
- The Venetian Kastro rises above Naxos Town in a web of inhabited lanes, mansions and churches.
Arseniko — cave-aged until sharp and crumbly — with Naxian citron spoon sweet beside it.
The island's famous potatoes turn into croquettes — creamy inside, golden-crisp outside.
Isla Martín García
Argentina
Four Argentine presidents were imprisoned on this river island near Buenos Aires.
Shimoda
Japan
Perry's black ships forced Japan open here; now it is white sand, sleepy surf and snapper.
Rottnest Island
Australia
Cycle between clear bays and quokka habitat on Wadjemup, where holiday and prison histories meet.
Can Tho
Vietnam
Wooden boats trading pineapples and durian at dawn on the muddy Mekong.
Meteora
Greece
Monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars 300 metres above the plain, reached by rope and faith.
Agiofarango Gorge
Greece
Three hundred hermits once lived this gorge — a cave chapel and the Libyan Sea remain.
Rhodes Old Town
Greece
Medieval stone streets sealed inside fortress walls where Knights of St John once marshalled for crusade.
Karystos
Greece
Dragon houses of unknown origin crouch on windswept ridges above Greece's second-largest island.