No-one has written a better guide to the Greek islands than Dana Facaros – “The Cadogan Greek islands Guide.” Erudite, funny and soulful. We have cribbed from it so often, that to make amends, we have offered Dana a platform here whenever she wants, and are honoured whenever she accepts! She writes this time about … Read More
Fiscardo on the northern tip of Kefalonia or Cephalonia is a real contender – critics complain that it shuts down in winter, but really, when something is this lovely the rest of the time, does it matter? The corniche drive from the airport up to here is breathtaking – the road snakes vertiginously along the … Read More
Five Star Greece was proud to join the sponsors who brought Martha Graham to Ithaca, as part of the Return to Ithaca open air festival. After a party the night before hosted at the grandest villa in Ithaca, the great day dawned wild and stormy. By nine o’clock in the evening, massive thunderhead clouds were … Read More
No excuse now not to join the cognoscenti and hipsters who have been enjoying their private Koufonisia for years, and basking in its inacccessibility. We are very glad to see that next summer, from 17th June to the 15th September, there will be a fast Superjet boat everyday, from Mykonos to Koufonisi (except Sunday), from … Read More
We now know that it is a myth that Eskimos have 25 words for snow, but it is true that Greeks have about 25 words for noisy fun/merrymaking/fuss/chaos/milling about and general liveliness. Fassaria is one of these words with connotations of annoyance. Vavoura is one that indicates lots of noisy people having a good time. … Read More
Whoever as a child read Mary Renault’s fabulous historical books “The King must die” and “The Bull from the Sea”, about Theseus, the gallant young Athenian bull-leapers, King Minos, poor mad Ariadne, and tragic Hippolytus, set in Minoan Crete, will love the fact that Red Bull are doing their leaping on Santorini this year, with the … Read More
Ithaca, while being undoubtedly the loveliest island in the Mediterranean, has always had shocking food by Greek standards. Now there is a reason for foodies to make the trip there – Penelope’s is an old waterside taverna in the cute village of Frikes The somewhat corpulent ex -mayor of the island has given up politics … Read More
“We don’t call them pigeons, we call them “Twenty-twoooos,” because that is what their call sounds like,” said the old lady who runs Vangelis, one of the two tavernas in the main piazza in Chora, which turns into one large, elegant, open-air drawing room in August – Patmos is home to six princes, at least 10 counts, 7 … Read More
I can’t help it – I just love Flying Dolphins, those long tubular hydrofoils that skitter from island to island delivering packages, passengers and news and are a real life-line for the remoter islands. Patmos now has two, one from Samos and one from Kos, both islands with international airports, so Patmos is much easier … Read More
I met Vangelis our new concierge for Antiparos; a charming young man with blue eyes in a brown face, and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen, so it was very hard to focus on what he was saying – couldn’t make up my mind if that was a good thing or a bad thing in … Read More
I urge you to discover Tinos for yourselves. My 24 year old daughter who is accompanying me on this trip, so far has only really seen the point of Mykonos and seems to have an in-built homing device programmed for Le Caprice; Now her plan is to buy a house on Tinos and go to Mykonos … Read More
