Athens and Three Iconic Greek Islands

The seed of Western civilization is a chaotic tangle of busy streets and bougainvillea-fringed squares, a romantic litany of ruins and relics. It is no stranger to reinvention: factories are now chic hotels, historic sites a showcase for high-end fashion. But Athens is always poised to offer an education in the classics: turn the corner and she might just present you with a time-worn temple or amphitheater, set beneath the peerless gaze of the Parthenon.

Greece’s largest island is a distillation of every Mediterranean dream: exceptional food, flowery streets steeped in history and swathes of olive-green scenery, where lemon groves rise above sapphire-blue seas. A Cretan adventure can be anything you wish: a barefoot, beachside affair; a romp through ancient Minoan history, or a thrilling active escape, where inland forests and rocky gorges abound with rare wildlife. 

You may be forgiven for thinking the Greek flag drew its colors from Santorini, so synonymous with the country are the island’s whitewashed houses and deep blue seas. Indeed, this moon-shaped isle, the relic of a volcanic caldera, has become a poster child for Greek-island bliss, and with good reason: exquisite food and luxury hotels, black-sand beaches and legendary amber sunsets that have been the backdrop to a million honeymoons. 

A stone maze of boutiques and flower-filled alleys, of harbor towns and paradise beaches, the turning sails of old windmills – in many ways, Mykonos is the quintessence of the Greek Islands, the fair queen of the Cyclades. And in the same breath she is undeniably the place to be in summer, an A-list playground where the jet set lounge on gleaming yachts and clubbers party till dawn.