| THE GREEK ISLANDS
The Greek islands have always occupied a special place in the hearts of this seafaring nation. This was held since those days when Odysseus island-hopped his way home from the Trojan Wars, right up to the modern era of shipping magnates. Officially there are 1,425 Islands in Greece, of which only 169 are inhabited. The largest Islands are Crete and Evia, the latter linked by a bridge to the mainland northeast of Athens. The remainder generally form distinct archipelagos. The most accessible islands from the Capital Athens where the largest Fleet of Charter Yachts is located are the Cyclades, spilling down into the central and southern Aegean to form a kind or circle, as their Greek name suggests. Across the Aegean to the southeast, the Dodecanese comprise a dozen islands close to the Turkish coast. Besides the principal Island of Rhodes, the best known are Kos and Patmos. The main grouping of Sporades, literally a 'scattering' of islands, is located north of Evia and includes Skiathos and Skopelos. In the eastern Aegean another group consists of Chios, Lesvos, and Samos, while in the northern Aegean closer to the northern mainland, lies a further collection embracing Thasos, Samothraki and Limnos. Outside of the Aegean in the Ionian sea lying northwest from Athens lies Corfu the first of the Heptnesoi, the seven islands of the Ionian. Sailing south from Corfu, you will arrive at the islands of Paxoi, Andipaxoi, Levkas, Ithaca, Cephalonia, and Zákinthos. Distances between the Greek mainland & Islands & Turkish Ports
Cypresses and olive groves , orange and lemon trees blossoming beautifully in spring lend there colour to the largely arid brown landscapes. Settlers have added dovecotes, windmills and now ruined castles. Their all too obvious attractions have made many of the Cyclades prey to the package tourist trade. Secluded corners remain to be discovered, however, and the charms of the popular islands, like Mykonos and Santorini, are powerful enough to withstand the commercial onslaught - even with the summer meltemi wind at the strongest in this south west corner of the Aegean.
The Quieter Islands include Patmos, something of an aristocrat, with hansome coastal villas and houses around the hallowed coastal Monastery of St John the Divine; Kalymnos, proud home of the sponge divers and a Mecca for under water fishing; Astypalaea, more remote and sedate, but still cultivating a rough chic; and Karpathos wher the villagers continue to wear traditional costume. The Dodecanese were united in 1908 against discriminatory Turkish legislation, and were subsequently joined by Rhodes and Kos. The Islands came under Italian rule at the time of the Italo-Turkish war in 1912, and were briefly occupied by the Germans before officially being handed back to Greece in 1947. Discernible traces of most periods of history can be found here, as well as glorious beaches and lively nightlife. it is hardly surprising that in recent years the revival of the archipelago's flagging economy has been almost exclusively thanks to the development of tourism. A map of the Dodecanese Region
The best beaches in the Sporades region are on the Island of Skiathos. Kanapitsa on Kalamaki peninsula is the most popular, but finer sand is at Koukounaries. Quieter are the sand dunes of Mandraki and secluded Agia Eleni. Nudists hide out at Banana Beach, for pebbles head for Lalaria. On the Island of Skopelos families enjoy Limnonari, whilst nudists go to Velanio. Finally on the Island of Skyros there is Magazia, along with pebble cove of Pefkos. The eastern Sporades stretch down from the coast of Asia Minor, linking northern Greece to the Dodecanese. Like the other Islands in the Aegean, they are the peaks of Mountains that once stood on the plains of the Aegean. Limnos, the most northerly of the group described here, hovers in its own limbo in the middle of the northern Aegean. Generally the Islands are more fertile and greener than the Cyclades and the Dodecanese. Lesvos and Sámos in particular will surprise the visiting yachts with there well-watered, cultivated plains and extensive pine forests. The Ionian comes as a gentle surprise, this is not the Greece of the popular travel brochures, but a shaded green country, sheltering red-tiled latin houses - an eccentric collection of Italian and French Architecture and English tastes (in Corfu the locals play cricket and you can buy currant buns and ginger beer) fused into a whole that is indubitably Greek. Evergreen cypress, pine, elm, green fields, flowers even in the height of summer, and everywhere the dull dark sheen of the olive, characterizing the lower land, whilst higher up the slopes are covered in pine and the tenacious mediterranean maquis. If the wind is in the right direction you can smell the pungent herby aroma a mile out to sea. The green luxuriance of the islands is in direct contrast to the high eroded mountains of Albania and mainland Greece that form the eastern boundary to the Ionian. Here there is a barren backdrop to the Islands that gives a taste of the topography to come. In between there are protected waters where the winds seldom blow to strongly, and a multitude of anchorages accessible only by yacht. From the inland sea bordered Levkas, Ithaca and Cephalonia, you leave the rolling, almost English, landscape of Zákinthos to confront the rocky slopes of the Peloponnisos.
Calculate your approx. distances between ports using the distance table below.
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