Lush-green Samos

Lush forested mountains, sweet local wine, sacred ancient sites and almost tropical beaches all conspire to make Samos an immensely appealing island getaway. Since it’s the busy ferry hub of the eastern Aegean islands and the jumping-off point for the nearby Turkish coastal resort of Kusadasi, however, visitors all too often just pass through without sampling the delights of what is, in fact, one of Greece’s very best islands.

While high summer brings a plethora of package tourists to resorts around the pretty port towns of Vathy and Pythagorio, there is space aplenty for independent travellers seeking to get away from it all, too. Hiking the interior brings one into rolling mountains redolent of pine, wildflowers and jasmine, dotted by welcoming traditional villages. Samos’ long and curving coastline is crowned by cliff-top churches offering stunning views of secret coves where temperate turquoise waters gently lap.

Samos also boasts a distinguished history. Its identity as the legendary birthplace of Hera, wife of Zeus, is attested by the ruins of the sanctuary in her honour, the Ireon – one of several architectural wonders on the island where both the great mathematician Pythagoras and the hedonistic father of atomic theory, the 4th-century BC philosopher Epicurus were born. The most illustrious Samian of modern times, Themistoklis Sofoulis (1860–1949), was a respected prime minister and a pioneer of Greek archaeology.