The sun-soaked isles are renowned for being naturally beautiful, produce-rich and ripe with history – but now they’re also becoming known for their eco-hotels, cutting-edge architecture and groundbreaking art, if you know where to look.
Rather like the recent Roman Empire TikTok trend, when women asked their male partners how often they thought of the ancient civilisation – weekly? Several times a day, really? – how often do you think of the Greek Islands? Its whitewashed villages, painterly ocean blues, sun-warmed beaches. No other islands in the world have swirled in and out of our imagination quite like these Mediterranean archipelagos. Leonard Cohen’s Hydra; the Kefalonia of Captain Corelli; the Skopelos of Mamma Mia; its waters sailed by Jason and the Argonauts, and Onassis’s yacht Christina. The stuff of myth and legend, and secrets too. Alongside the well-known stories and the islands that everyone sets course for, here are some new venue arrivals and a few of its more off-radar destinations to inspire your travels.
Spirited architecture
K-Studio is one of Greece’s most innovative architectural practices, designing Kaplankaya Marina in Turkey, Navarino Bay hotel in Greece and several private villas. On the island of Samos, though, it has created a visitors’ centre for Metaxa, the Greek brandy distillers (try it neat or mixed with lemon juice and Cointreau for a Greek Sidecar). Rather than impose a grand design on the landscape, though, it has worked with the existing buildings of the 100-year-old Liknon vineyard, creating an experiential route that takes visitors on a top-to-bottom journey, through an underground space with a glass wall revealing the root system of the vines and culminating in a tasting room with an open entrance framing the landscape. Yamas, as they say in Greece.
Astrotourism
It seems apt to go stargazing in Greece – after all, so many constellations and stars were given names from the Greek myths, from Andromeda and Perseus to Ursa Major and Gemini. Designated in 2023, the Aenos Dark Sky Park ** ** can be found on the island of Kefalonia in the nature reserve of the same name, surrounded by rolling hills of fir trees and home to snake eagles, honey buzzards and a herd of semi-wild horses. The centre hosts special astronomy nights, using green lasers to point out nebulae, clusters and the other planets of our solar system. Over on the island of Tinos, the newly opened Odera – the only hotel on the island – has launched astronomy retreats guided by author Valerie Stimac, who combines tales from the myths with stargazing sessions and astrophotography.
Island hotels
For every Mykonos and Santorini there are a dozen lesser-known islands, each with its own character and appeal. Take Kea in the Cyclades, for example, which may be the closest island to Athens – making it a popular weekending spot for families, although it has still retained its earthy, wild temperament. Trails of stone paths lead through oak forest and up mountains, taking you past the ruins of two temples from the ancient city-state of Karthea and to the small capital of Ioulida, with its cobblestoned streets and colourful patchwork of houses, as well as a distinctive lion sculpture, dating back to 600BC and thought to have been built by the architect with a rather more famous structure to his name: the Acropolis. There are few hotels, but the One&Only Kea Resort is a recent arrival, its villa suites designed in natural materials for a clean-cut minimalism, and with a beach club and spa that welcome daycationing sailors.
It’s not the only new hotel on the islands. On Folegandros, a near neighbour of Santorini, the solar-powered Gundari eco-retreat has been sensitively built amid a nature reserve, perched on a clifftop with lookout views over the Aegean – best taken from the infinity pool’s swim-up cocktail bar. But it’s the wellness credentials that really impress, with a bioclimatic spa set in the rock-face that offers holistic practices such as energy healing, sound baths and meditation, and traditional massages using oils infused with island herbs. The Beach House, meanwhile, set on a quiet bay on the south coast of Antiparos, has just been revamped by Athanasia Comninos, the force behind wellness hotel The Rooster; Andronis Minois, which opened beachside on neighbouring Paros last summer, resembles a white-cube Cycladic village albeit with its own subterranean spa and fine-dining restaurant. And another eco-minded hotel can be found on Naxos, where Laguna Coast Resort ** ** has opened 21 suites and villas as part of a project to protect the flamingo-flocked wetlands near Chora on the west coast.
Greek Island art
It’s exciting times for the Greek art scene. Over the past decade, Athens has evolved into a major art hub, with Gagosian residing in a Kolonaki villa and galleries opening in former warehouses, workshops and historic houses. This creative energy is rippling out to the islands. Last September, the Giatis-Simossi Museum opened on the island of Ios, devoted to modernist painter Yannis Giatis and his partner Gabriella Simossi. Giatis, who died in 1984, was born on Sinos but washed up on Ios in the 60s, the island inspiring many of his paintings – depicting a repeating figure of a bowler-hatted man adrift in the landscape. Along with his artwork the museum also showcases Simossi’s sculptures and hyperreal collages.
There’s a growing tradition of Athens’ curators returning to their island homes to spark summer shows. Hydra has drawn in artists since the 50s and 60s, when Leonard Cohen made it his home, and one of its most intriguing spaces is the Project Space Slaughterhouse, set in Deste Foundation, a former abattoir. Every summer, its annual exhibition draws in tastemakers from Athens and Europe – previous shows have included Jeff Koons, while 2025’s is by Romanian artist Andra Ursuta and includes her bronze sculptures and glass-blown work inspired by the region’s archaeological museums. The K-Gold Temporary Gallery has been popping up around Lesvos since 2014, but was recently made a year-round fixture in the town of Agia Paraskev: this year’s summer show is ‘Blue Moon’ by Yorgos Maraziotis, who uses neon, marble, metal and mirror in works inspired by oral testimonies from former residents of the neoclassical building that houses the museum. Head to the Minos Palace Hotel on Crete, and you can see the latest work by artist Danae Stratou, who has represented Greece at the Venice Biennale. Made of 113 ceramic vessels handcrafted in a local village and arranged in a spiral formation, Virtuous Spiral evokes the continuous movement of humanity through time. It’s curated by the G&A Mamidakis Foundation, which started its Art Prize for site specific works in 2023 and has plans to build a contemporary art gallery on the island. To continue art-hopping in the Greek Islands, make a note of the DEO Project on Chios, which for its fifth edition is bringing together 12 artists for a show titled ‘Once We Were Gardens’, set in an orchard.
