Aegean Greece: Eternal bliss

There’s nothing like a financial crisis to bring out the worst in people. Witness the shocking rise of Golden Dawn, a bunch of Nazi thugs masquerading as a nationalist party, currently rampaging through the streets of Athens. Ironically, another unfortunate side effect of Greece’s colossal debt mountain has been a drop in the number of German tourists, deterred by angry locals burning effigies of Chancellor Merkel in SS gear. This is bad news for Greece’s tourism industry, as Germans traditionally top the visitor table; but it’s good news for British philhellenes, who won’t have to fight Fritz for the best sun-bed next summer.

The brutal austerity measures imposed by Greece’s creditors are making things difficult in the capital, but outside Athens life remains as blissfully peaceful as ever. Lord Byron was right about the isles of Greece: ‘Eternal summer gilds them yet.’ Crete recently launched a clever viral campaign contrasting sensationalist headlines about civil unrest with the idyllic reality of island life. Fewer visitors also mean lower prices and emptier beaches. So despite the far-fetched speculation that Greece will have to sell off its islands to stave off financial ruin, you won’t have to fork out millions to find your own private paradise.

There are hundreds of islands in Greece and most of them are surprisingly unscathed by develop-ment. You just have to know where (and when) to go. The first rule of thumb is to avoid August, when prices shoot up and holidaymakers arrive en masse. The second general rule is to stay away from islands with airports — although there are some lovely exceptions, such as rugged Ikaria, where the eccentric locals sleep all day and stay up all night — even though most of them are centenarians. ‘I was two hours late for my own wedding; when I did finally arrive, the priest was still on his way,’ says Diane Kochilas, a food writer who runs a brilliant cooking school from her home on Ikaria, with organic ingredients plucked straight from the garden.