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Perched right at the very western side of the Dodecanese and dotted with pretty whitewashed houses, Astypalea has a distinctly Cycladean feel. This butterfly shaped island is considered quite isolated due to its distance from others and hence receives very little tourism, with the exception of August when.....
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Perched right at the very western side of the Dodecanese and dotted with pretty whitewashed houses, Astypalea has a distinctly Cycladean feel. This butterfly shaped island is considered quite isolated due to its distance from others and hence receives very little tourism, with the exception of August when Athenians descend. It does however have a small domestic airport with daily flights to Athens and can be reached by ferry from Kos and Naxos in 4 hours, albeit not every day. It hence remains an extremely peaceful island where time seems almost to have stood still. Despite this, Astypalea actually has a lot to offer. High up above the attractive port of Pera Gialos is the island’s sleepy capital of Chora. A short uphill walk from here past eight perfectly preserved old windmills brings one to a superb byzantine castle, with its strong fortified wall on the south (sea facing) side and with two beautiful whitewashed churches contained within it, the views from here are fabulous. Lit up at night it gives the town a sense of awe and romance as one can imagine the island’s ancestors defending their home from pirates. To the south of Chora is Livadia. Nestled into a lush valley filled with orchards, vineyards and sweet smelling flowers, here you will find a quaint little fishing village and a lovely pebbled beach. The island’s most popular (although still not crowded) beach is at the attractive holiday town of Analipsi or ‘Maltezana’, so named because the first settlers were a group of pirates from Malta. This is one of Astypalea’s only sandy beaches. Venturing further afield, perhaps by boat, one can also enjoy the village of Vathi and delightful beach of Vai to the north, or secluded Kaminakia and Vatses beaches in the south. Wherever you choose to go on Astypalea, you can be quite sure you won’t find hoards of beer swilling tourists.
*Credit and thanks to KF, IMFJ, Hans-Heinrich Hoffmann, G. Fuip, Erweh and Hanzz for the photos featured on this page. Want to see your photo on this page? Why not send it to us? We promise to consider every photo we receive, although we cannot guarantee publication. |