General Information
Greece is not a country of seamless five star luxury or smooth, silent service as one finds in the Far East – and the islands are close to Nature , both in the good sense, i.e. sea, birds, starry skies, full moon over calm water, donkeys, fishes jumping at dawn, vines, tomatoes, figs, bare-feet, breezes, and weather-beaten farmers, and in the less good sense, i.e. mosquitos, barking dogs, heat, wind, crowing cockerels, flies, storms, power-cuts and cancelled ferries, and the fact that the weather-beaten farmer is also the only one who can get in touch with the plumber who is his son-in-law. We do try to present the best houses there are, but the lifestyle in summer on a Greek island, except perhaps on Mykonos, is not St Tropez. To compensate for that, the sea, the light, the atmosphere, the beauty are we think, incomparable at least in Europe, and the relaxed friendliness of the Greeks captivates more people than the slight air of chaos and improvisation annoys. State of the art infrastructure and a high functioning bureaucracy are not Greece’s claims to fame, although living in less than perfect order does mean that Greeks are inventive, spontaneous, and full of common sense and quick-fix abilities.
If you want to see Greece but feel insecure about throwing yourself into the realities of the country, then a yacht is often the solution. You can remain reasonably cocooned, although you are still of course a plaything of the gods when it comes to weather, which is all as it should be and part of the grand old Homeric tradition. Greece is on a very human scale – you can talk philosophy to a taxi-driver, sip coffee with old fishermen, it is a country to relax and let your hair down, and feel the stress of urban life and social pressures dissolve, and possibly, let the spirits of Greece’s past slip into your mind.
Peace and Quiet:
August is high season and very busy on most islands – beaches are crowded, the bays are ful of yachts, and towns and villages buzz till late at night. Music from discos, yachts and bars carries over water, so for peace and quiet, choose either to come at a different month, or choose to go off the beaten track. (See When to Go)
Beaches, Private beaches, Beach houses and privacy.
No beach on the Mediterranean is private except for hotel beaches. When a beach is described as “private”, it means that the property has direct access to the beach, that access by road is difficult, and that few people go there. Some areas of a beach are in practice private because the house has been allowed to adapt/furnish it, (i.e. Skinos, Porto Heli 9K) so people to tend to stay away, but this is not a legal requirement.
Access to any beach by boat is a universal right, so beachfront + August + privacy are not a realistic combination!
Houses on beaches are divine in calm hot weather, in windy weather, be prepared for spray and dust! Beachfront houses tend to be simpler in style and furnishings, partly because the lifestyle is barefoot and wet-bikinis, and people don’t want to worry about sandy feet or salt water on the deckchair mattresses.
Weather:
There are two basic weather patterns in the islands in summer:
1. Calm and hot, possibly more humid, with less reliable weather in Autumn and Spring:
The Ionian islands, the Sporades, The Saronic Gulf islands.
2. Windy, dryer and cooler, with calmer and more reliable weather in autumn and spring:
The Cyclades, the Dodecanese. The windiest islands are the Cyclades in late July/August, though the Meltemi, the famous north wind that rages down the islands can blow 120 days a year, and comes in three strengths:
Kapelata – blows hats off
Kareklata – blows chairs over
Trapezata – blows tables over.
The Cycladic islanders call the Meltemi “the island doctor” as it keeps the islands cool and fresh.
Child – Friendly
A good area for misunderstanding between Europeans and Americans; Child- friendly in Europe tends to mean a house where children can’t do too much damage, while for U.S. guests, child-friendly means a house adapted to avoid as many accidents to the child as possible.
Greeks adore their children and spoil them rotten, feed them till they are fit to burst, try and run their lives, marriages etc, and when children are little, they supervise them at all times. Like most Europeans, they do however assume that bigger ones are intelligent beings with a wish to survive. They do not consider minor drops from terraces, direct access to the sea, sharp edged furniture, steep staircases, open fire-places or unfenced swimming pools a particular hazard, don’t change their houses around in any particular way to accommodate children, and take a generally robust view about things that Americans could find alarming. If you are particularly concerned about safety, please advise us and mention your specific concerns, so that we can try to minimise distress to both guest and owner!
High Season
July through August, especially August. Santorini high season is till late September.
Disadvantages:
Crowds are inevitable and islands like Mykonos, Corfu, Santorini, Paros and Spetses are really very full – beaches and restaurants are crowded, you must reserve rental cars, flights etc well ahead.
Advantages:
Well, the weather is pretty well guaranteed to be good!
For those who love the life, colour and buzz of summer, this is the best time to go, to people spot, to enjoy all the shops, bars, tavernas etc that come to life in summer, and close off season.
Off season:
Disdvantages:
Bars and tavernas may be shut, After early September, weather is no longer high summer – be prepared for some rain/wind/cloud, if only for a few days, but the sea is warmer and clean, the sun is milder, the evenings are longer and there is a very mellow quality to life. In spring, weather is not yet proper summer – you could get 80 degrees and sun, you could get a cold, windy spell – 60-70 degrees. The sea is colder, the days are long and the sun is extremely strong though the cooler air temperature will fool you – factor 30 sun cream!
Advantages:
The quality of life improves – Food is better, people have more time for you, beaches are quiet if not deserted, islands revert to being real places rather than tourist resorts, even Mykonos. Nights are cooler, this is the best time for walking, exploring, visiting archaeological sites and churches.
Off the Beaten Track:
Benefits:
Less people, unspoilt landscape, uncrowded beaches, traditional values and village life. Get away from it all and slow down.
True hospitality offered by locals, another world from the one you probably come from. Can be totally idyllic.
Disadvantages:
Infrastructure such as telephone lines and power can be a bit dodgy, especially in or after storms! Telephone lines going over the hills tend to get nibbled by goats…. Rustic life can also mean cocks crowing, dogs barking, and, sadly, inadequate litter control. Sometimes smaller islands suffer a lack of good tavernas, and bad shopping, also, these islands are generally harder to get to. Houses tend to be less luxurious as equipping and furnishing houses on these islands is complicated, so owners try to keep it simpler.
On the beaten track:
Benefits:
Infrastructure such as airport, inter-island transport, access to Athens, telephones, dining, organised beach sports, shopping, etc are of a higher standard. There is more to keep youngsters and party-goers happy in the evening. See and be seen, Mykonos and Santorini are hip! The beaten track is usually beaten for a good reason – pretty villages, great accommodation, touristic value.
Disadvantages:
In high summer, expect crowds, hassle, noise and expensive prices! Mykonos in high season is hard to get table reservations and even hard to get an umbrella on the beach.
ISLAND GROUPS- where to go...
Please see our island portraits for individual island information!
Choosing the right island is possibly as important as getting the right villa. You must be honest with yourself as to how important luxury and entertainment are to you. Serifos may be chic and hip but if you have a group of teenagers dying to go clubbing and shop in cool boutiques, they (and you) will not enjoy the holiday. If you go to Mykonos because the villas are very luxurious but you hate crowds and wind and noise, then again you are likely to have a rotten time. In general, islands with an airport are (very) touristy, while those without are quieter.
CYCLADES;
Mykonos, Tinos, Sifnos, Syros, Serifos, Paros, Antiparos, Santorini, Kea, Andros, Koufonisia, Milos,(Naxos, Ios, Folegandros, Amorgos, Naxos)
White-washed villages, sugar-cube houses, blue domed churches, treeless, mountainous, barren, very windy in summer, reliable sunny weather early and late in the season.
Mykonos and Santorini are the King and Queen of these islands. The landscape is yellow, barren and dramatic, with bright blue windy seas, whitewashed cubic villages and blue domed churches. Photogenic, hip and picturesque. The “meltemi”, which is the prevailing north wind all summer, can get very strong indeed. It is known as the island doctor for its bracing and cleansing effect, and it comes in three strengths: the Kapelata – blows your hat off, the Kareklata – blows chairs over, and the Trapezata – blows tables over. Not for those who don’t like wind or rough seas. Late and early season are great here as the weather is calmer and there is enough life until late in the season for things to be open.
There is often a main port, and then a mountaintop capital called the Chora, where the picturesque old houses are.
Mykonos prices are steep, and beachfront properties there are scarce to non-existent. Mykonos is wild and parties like mad, fantastic beaches, crowds especially in August and July, great shops, bars, clubs and restaurants. Can be hard to get an umbrella on the beach in the afternoon, or a table at a good restaurant.
Antiparos is quiet and secluded, with a cute town, some very nice beaches but not an awful lot goes on there, quite a few private villas, no good hotels. Ideal for quiet, laid-back island life.
Nearby Paros is good for sports, lots of fun villages, great sandy beaches and moderate night life etc. It is a very popular island but has retained its character.
Andros is mountainous, windy, untouristy, and has lovely landscape and beaches.
Tinos is quiet, devout, traditional, with Greece’s most beautiful villages and the famous intricately carved dovecotes.
Kea is an unspoilt island with a more fertile landscape than the other Cyclades, and a lively yachting scene.
Santorini is beautiful and has some of the best hotels in Greece – very crowded from July to September. Not for those with weak knees or mobility problems as there are steep steps everywhere and little car access! Beach life is less of a feature than the other islands, but shopping, dining and sightseeing are unrivalled.
Syros and Sifnos are moderately lively, picturesque and windy. Some excellent food and sandy beaches. Serifos is very picturesque and unspoilt – not for clubbers or shoppers though!
DODECANESE AND SAMOS
Patmos, Samos, (Kos, Tilos, Symi, Rhodes, Kalymnos, Leros, Chios et al.)
Patmos and Samos are islands where we have houses. Turkey is just across the water, Patmos is very atmospheric and elegant, and of course is the island of St John the Evangelist and the monastery where he received the Revelations. The Chora is the only place to be.
Samos is a large and varied island with some wonderful mountain villages and lots to see. It has an airport, can be windy, but not as windy as the Cyclades. Ephesus is just a day trip away.
ARGO-SARONIC & PORTO HELI
Hydra, Spetses, Porto Heli, (Poros and Aegina)
Hydra and Spetses - Hot, calm islands, historically wealthy and interesting. Easy access from Athens (3 hours by car and then water taxi, or 2-3 hours by frequent hydrofoil from Piraeus).
Picturesque villages with merchants’ mansions, not great for beaches but glorious swimming. All these places are well situated for sightseeing on the mainland, such as Epidauros, Mycenae, Corinth, Nauplion, and for ease of access to Athens.
Spetses is known as the Hamptons of Athens – easy to get to, it has always been a popular island for summer houses – relaxed but with a rather elegant social life. The island has good shopping and dining. Take advantage of the calm waters and pretty swimming coves by going on boat trips, thus avoiding the beaches which aren’t great.
Hydra is a picture postcard island with an artist colony and a fine historical town. Very limited beach life.
Porto Heli is a 6 minute water taxi ride away on the coast opposite. Not a beautiful town, but a very upmarket resort with some of the highest property values in Greece, where wealthy families have summer homes and the King of Greece vacations, so bring your jewellery and charter a yacht to go with the house! Shipping magnates congregate here with their yachts and hop between friend’s villas in Spetses and Porto Heli. Ideally placed for sightseeing on the mainland.
IONIAN
Corfu, Paxos, Levkada, Ithaca, Cephalonia, Zakinthos, (Kythira).
Gentle, fertile, mountainous and beautiful islands on the west coast of Greece facing Sicily, in the Ionian Sea, the forgotten side of Greece.
Wetter off-season than the Aegean islands, and a shorter summer season – hence the greenery!
These are the islands to go to if you don’t like the wind. The calm water and sensational swimming attract the yachters. Some sandy beaches, mostly clear, pebbly coves and limestone cliffs and grottoes. Italianate villages with tiled rooves, olive groves and cypress trees. These islands were part of the Venetian empire for 400 years and have an Italianate charm that is unlike the rest of Greece.
Greek Purists do not consider these to be true Greece, as they have a definite character of their own which is not the image of sugar-cube houses and windmills that the Greek Tourist Office promotes, but they still love to come and enjoy the greeness and the fabulous swimming.
The islanders from here are less geared to wealthy Athenians, so tavernas and shopping are rather unsophisticated.
CORFU
Large and rich island with a huge amount to see and do, especially the fabulous old Corfu Town with its venetian architecture , churches and museums, but parts of the coastline have been developed intensely.
Zakinthos has Greece’s most famous beach “Shipwreck Bay” and blue grottoes in the beautiful and unspoiled north of the isladn. The south has been definitively spoiled by downmarket tourism. Luckily the two areas are competely distinct!
Cephalonia has some famously beautiful beaches and the port of Fiscardo, considered one of Greece’s most picturesque villages.
Paxos and Ithaca are harder to get to and are “off” the track. Expect goat bells, mountain herbs, fishing boats in the early morning, donkeys and dogs, and some very picturesque little villages. Ithaca is sublimely beautiful but not for those wanting fine dining outside the house, night-life and shopping! Paxos is small and chic, with beautifully preserved pastel fishing villages, and home to some very jet setting families who live a simple, low-key summer existence here.
SPORADES
Skiathos, (Skopelos, Alonnissos & Skyros)
Islands here are calm, green, with white houses with tiled roofs and balconies. This is where Mamma Mia was filmed.
Skiathos, which has an airport, is the island here where we have houses. It is a well established tourist island with some of the finest beaches in Greece and famous pine forests as well. Rather crowded in summer, with a rather built-up coastline, fun for teenagers and people wanting a bit more zip and life than on the sleepier islands. It has a mountainous and unspoilt interior, and on the coast it buzzes all summer. Rather more genteel than Mykonos! The other islands are beautiful and unspoilt with lush forests, great beaches and pretty villages – great for cruising around as the sea is usually calm and the coast lines are tremendous.
PELION & MITZELLA
Mountainous and unspoiled peninsular on the North-west coast. Famous for its lush forests, streams, picturesque mountain villages, wonderful peasant food, beautiful walks and pristine sandy beaches. Hard snowy winters.
CRETE
Crete is an island for luxury hotels with hotel villas, or rough travellers – we have not go much to offer here in the way of private villas. The island is beautiful, large, rugged and with fascinating sites and monuments. Visits to Knossos can be combined with a stay on Santorini, which is well connected to Crete by air and boat.
EVIA (EUBOIA)
This is a large, fertile, mountainous and beautiful island close to Athens and connected by a bridge as well as ferries, so great for those needing to be in touch with a city. It has a wild and windy east coast with cliffs and roller-pounded sandy beaches that are uncrowded even in August. The west coast is the calm and pebbly inland sea between Evia and Athens. The villages are pretty well post-war 1950’s onwards, and gets crowded with local tourism, but prices are low and the food is excellent., but the landscape is beautiful and you won’t see many foreign tourists here, although domestic tourism is well developed.
BOATS
If you have the time and the money, combining a villa stay with a boat is wonderful – you can see more of the island or islands that you are on, find deserted beaches and coves, or even just get from one island villa to another. The sea is after all what Greece is all about…Cruising is a fantastic way of seeing more than one island while staying in safe luxury. It can be a bit isolating if you want to meet the locals and get a feel for Greece. The classic itinerary for first time visitors includes Mykonos and Santorini, butbe warned - the Meltemi north wind that whistles down the Cyclades in summer can wreak havoc with timetables and also with fragile stomachs. Avoid the Cyclades in summer if don’t like wind, and opt for the other areas like the Ionian, the northern Aegean or the Saronic Gulf.
We can put together itineraries within Greece and taking in parts of the Turkish coast as well. Itineraries are generally fixed in tandem with the Captain of the boat that you choose, so it is best to select a yacht first, then firm up the details where you want to go.
