We’ve all seen Santorini’s blue domes and white buildings piled high above a glittering sea—if not in real life, then at least on Instagram, thanks to honeymooning and soul-searching acquaintances. It’s idyllic, sure, but it’s also becoming a victim of its own success.
According to the Express, Santorini and other popular Greek islands (like Mykonos and Crete) are facing an over-tourism crisis as Greece expects a record-breaking 32 million foreign tourists this year. Luckily, the country has some 6,000 islands, 227 of which are inhabited. Instead of flocking like a sun-seeking sheep to the same few spots, get off the beaten path this summer and visit the islands more popular with Greeks than foreigners. On a recent trip, I found a few places to start.
Paros
I visited Paros in May—early in the season—and though the island certainly wasn’t empty, there was plenty of room to roam around without the crush of tourist crowds. And while the island will certainly fill up as the warmer weather arrives, it’ll never get as crowded as Santorini, which draws an estimated 1.5 million tourists annually. What the quieter island lacks in dizzying clifftop villages, it makes up for in unpretentious charm:Whitewashed villages paved with stones give way to large expanses of arid landscapes, with goats grazing on the hills overlooking the glittering sea, secluded beaches, and rocky coves only reachable by boat. Sure, Paros lacks the five-star hotels you’ll find on Santorini and Mykonos, but who needs a hotel when you can stay at a a quaint Airbnb by the water—or one of White Key’s sprawling full-service villas?
Mornings were particularly sweet at Villa Jasmine, where I could saunter over to the open-air terrace to sip espresso and graze on the fresh fruit and spanakopita set out by Stella, the villa’s private chef. Every meal was a family-style feast composed of fresh fruit and veggies from the island, traditional Greek recipes, and free-flowing rosé. When—seeing that the wine is produced right on the island—I asked Stella if I could visit the winery, she worked with White Key’s concierge Vicky to arrange a private tour and tasting for the following afternoon, post-boating to the blue lagoon. This kind of request is not unusual: their concierge is accustomed to arranging helicopter tours, yachting excursions, yoga and pilates lessons, archeological visits, and mezze crawls—pretty much anything that’s legal.
Paros also has some fantastic restaurants, where you can eat really well for not much money. Start on the main square with an aperitif at Sommaripa Consolato, the ideal Greek all-day café with a nice but unfussy design and a small terrace with views of the port. Next, head downstairs to Mario’s for Greek salad, skewers of shrimp, and tzatziki made with black garlic. A few blocks away you’ll find Mediterraneo, a casual taverna that serves rustic fare. Don’t miss Statheros Meze Place, run by 25-year-old chef Konstantina Manolaki, whose mother, Argiro Barbarigou, is like the Rachel Ray of Greece, with a TV show and an award-winning restaurant in Athens.
Antiparos
A seven-minute ferry ride will get you to Paros’s sister island, Antiparos, which is even smaller and quainter. Upon arrival, we checked into Villa Melissa and promptly cancelled the day’s events in order to maximize time by the infinity pool, which overlooks the Aegean.
Outside of the main town, the villas are spread out, offering plenty of privacy, so it’s no wonder Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have a summer home here. We drove past their villa and boarded a small boat bound for the nearby uninhabited island of Despotiko accompanied by a local guide and the captain’s dog, who abandoned his master to explore the archeological ruins of the Temple of Apollo with us. Though there’s an ongoing excavation, the site was completely empty. Our guide simply opened the chain-link fence and led us into the ruins.
Tinos
For someone who loves Paros and Antiparos, White Key’s marketing manager Elena Fotiadi recommends Tinos next. “It’s not affected by tourism massively. It’s very authentic with fantastic food and little villages, fabulous virgin beaches, rough nature, and hiking paths,” she said. With more than 700 churches, Tinos may be known as a pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians, but it turns out that might be its saving grace. It keeps the island from getting overrun by selfie stick-wielding tourists and drunken antics that make vacation far less fun for the rest of us.
Hydra
Fotiadi also recommends Hydra, a small car-free island in the Saronic Gulf made famous in the 1950s by Sophia Loren and later by Leonard Cohen, who bought a house there for $1,500 in 1960. Today, yachts dock in the harbor, but you can still get lost in the narrow lanes, where donkeys transport goods. Neoclassical residences line the main town; for a bit of culture you can visit the Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art’s exhibition space in a former slaughterhouse.
The Small Cyclades
For a relatively short trip, it might be best to stick with the Cyclades, in particular the Small Cyclades, a chain of twelve islands located between Naxos, Amorgos, and Ios. “They are a well-kept secret that combines extreme natural beauty, exotic beaches with transparent turquoise water, and extremely friendly locals,” Konstantina Manolaki—the young proprietor of Statheros Meze Place in Paros—told me, adding, “Don’t worry about which island to start with; they are interconnected by small boats. Simply get there and enjoy what I can only describe as paradise on earth.”