Greece
Patmos
The island where St John wrote Revelation — his hillside cave still open to Aegean wind.
The cave is set into the hillside between the port and the monastery — a low-ceilinged rock chamber where St John is believed to have received the visions of the Apocalypse nearly two thousand years ago. Above, the fortress-monastery of St John the Theologian crowns the hill, its grey walls visible from every bay on the island.
Patmos was inscribed as World Heritage in 1999 for the Monastery of St John the Theologian (founded 1088 AD), the medieval Chora surrounding it, plus the Cave of the Apocalypse. The Cave of the Apocalypse, where tradition holds that St John dictated the Book of Revelation around AD 95, remains a pilgrimage site. The monastery treasury holds illuminated manuscripts, Byzantine icons, and one of the oldest surviving fragments of the Gospel of Mark. The island has no airport and limited ferry connections, keeping the atmosphere contemplative even during peak season.
Solo
The Cave of the Apocalypse in early morning, the monastery treasury's illuminated manuscripts, and the Chora's lanes after sunset once the pilgrims have departed.
Couple
The Byzantine Chora with its whitewashed mansions and hidden chapels, a harbour-side dinner at Skala, and the spiritual weight of a place that has been sacred for two millennia.
- The Cave of the Apocalypse — where St John is believed to have received his visions around AD 95 — is set into the hillside between the port and the monastery.
- The Monastery of St John the Theologian (built 1088) holds illuminated manuscripts and Byzantine icons in its treasury, open to visitors on certain mornings.
- Patmos's Chorá, the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse were inscribed together as World Heritage in 1999.
- The island has no airport and limited ferry connections — the permanent population of around 3,000 keeps tourist numbers manageable outside August.
At Pantheon in Chora the grill runs octopus and meats in a small courtyard beneath the monastery walls.
Pasteli — sesame-honey bars — is the Dodecanese sweet to carry home.
Manuel Antonio
Costa Rica
Capuchins patrol the sand beneath dozing sloths where rainforest walks into the ocean.
Tortuguero
Costa Rica
Jungle canals where green sea turtles haul onto black volcanic sand under a moonless sky.
Kadavu
Fiji
Manta rays circle the world's fourth-largest barrier reef, off villages the road barely reaches.
Monuriki
Fiji
The island from Cast Away truly belongs to crested iguanas brought back from the brink.
Nisyros
Greece
Walk into a live volcanic caldera where sulphur vents hiss through cracked earth.
Kastellorizo
Greece
Greece's most remote island — a speck of paint-peeled colour two kilometres from the Turkish coast.
Samothrace
Greece
Waterfalls crash through ancient forests on the Aegean's highest peak, where the Winged Victory was found.
Methoni
Greece
A stone causeway from a Venetian fortress ends at a lone tower standing in the sea.