Greece
Samothrace
Waterfalls crash through ancient forests on the Aegean's highest peak, where the Winged Victory was found.
Mount Fengari rises from the sea to 1,611 metres — the highest point in the Aegean — and Homer placed Poseidon on its summit to watch the Trojan War. The slopes are dense with plane trees and waterfalls, the sanctuary below once initiated kings into mysteries older than the Olympian gods, and the winged goddess who stood above it all is now in the Louvre.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Nike) was discovered on the island in 1863 and is now one of the most recognisable sculptures in the world. The Sanctuary of the Great Gods, where she stood, initiated members including Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias into mystery rites that pre-dated the Olympian religion. The Fonias River waterfall cascades through dense forest into natural swimming pools, and the island's mountains receive more rainfall than almost anywhere in the Aegean. Samothrace has no airport and limited ferry connections, keeping it one of the least-visited major Greek islands.
Solo
The summit of Fengari at dawn, the Sanctuary of the Great Gods in solitude, and the Fonias River waterfall pools after the descent.
Friends
The Fengari summit push, river gorge swimming, and tsipouro evenings in the villages at the mountain's base.
- The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Nike) was discovered here in 1863 and is now in the Louvre — the fountain basin where she stood in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods is still visible.
- The peak of Mount Fengari (1,611 metres) is the highest point in the Aegean islands — Homer places Poseidon watching the Trojan War from this summit.
- The Fonias River waterfall cascades through dense plane-tree forest into natural pools deep enough for swimming — the Samothrace mountains receive more rainfall than almost anywhere in the Aegean.
- The Sanctuary of the Great Gods initiated members including Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias — the mystery rites pre-dated the Olympian gods.
Wild goat kid slow-roasted over charcoal at village festivals in the shadow of Mount Fengari.
Tsipouro from local stills, drunk neat with meze plates of fried cheese and cured olives.
Queenstown
New Zealand
The town where bungee jumping was born, cradled between a glacial lake and jagged peaks.
Sete Cidades
Portugal
Twin crater lakes, one emerald, one sapphire, fill a volcanic caldera wreathed in Azorean mist.
Silverton
United States
A narrow-gauge steam train delivers you to a mining ghost town at 9,318 feet.
Vale do Paúl
Cape Verde
Sugarcane terraces spill down a volcanic crater into the greenest valley in the archipelago.
Santorini
Greece
White villages balanced on a caldera rim where the sea has flooded a volcano's shattered heart.
Mykonos
Greece
Windmills turning above a labyrinth of whitewashed lanes where the Aegean nightlife never stops.
Meteora
Greece
Monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars 300 metres above the plain, reached by rope and faith.
Delphi
Greece
Stone terraces climb a sacred mountainside where the ancient world came to hear the oracle speak.