Travel to Folegandros, Greece

Photo Credit : www.islasdelegeo.com

FOLEGANDROS, Greece -Imagine a place isolated enough that dissidents of the state are sent into exile there.

Now, make the place so in-toxicating that some exiles choose to settle there.

That is Folegandros, a rugged Greek Island in the Aegean Sea.

It is smaller, harder to reach and virtually unknown com-pared with many Greek is-lands-Crete, Mykonos and Santorini that draw tourists from around the world. It doesn’t boast any major ruins. It has no airport or deep water port, and it is reachable only by passenger ferries and other watercraft that link the islands to one another and mainland Greece.

Cruise ships don’t call. Most tourists don’t either. That means Folegandros is left to those who spot it on the map.

I was one of the lucky ones that got to soak up five days of the sun’s steady rays, gobble the local specialties of sweet cheese and fresh caught sea bream and ply miles of goat paths across the hills of sage and chamomile.

The island’s steep flanks shelter windless coves with gentle pebble-and-rock beaches. The hillsides are spider-webbed with seemingly endless stone walls that frame the field of the farming forebears. Folegandros is about 8 miles long, and traversing its length is a short car trip on the narrow, two-lane road that tiptoes across the island’s spine and connect the island’s three main villages.

With the silvery green sage and dusty red hills, the azure Ae-gean gives Folegandros a color wheel like few other places.

Chora, a quickly developing community that is home to most restaurant and lodging establishments on the island, is perched dramatically on a northern cliff.

Folegandros’ Livadaki Beach is a collection of bright, smooth stones that accentuate the crystal clear water.

At night, Chora pulses with the sounds of disco and other mu-sic from the clubs.

Another grand part of the is-land is Angali Beach-a trip that will steel your nerves for the rest of your stay. Angali is flanked by hills and cliffs as well as eateries and guest houses.

I hiked back from Angali, picking our way along a rocky path past a discreetly tucked-away beach with nude frolickers and up a vast hillside high above the coastline.

Much of the walk follows no distinguishable path until it reaches a small hillside church and a stone path leading back to the main road, near Chora.

In Chora, I ate dinner at a restaurant in the plateia. The wind rushed through making it chilly, but far from unpleasant.

The next morning, I took the bus to Folegandros third big village, Ano Meria, a quiet farming community strung across a chain of hilltops. It is home to the stunning church of Profitis Elias, with its sky blue domes.

A stone path at the edge of the village led me a couple of miles down to the secluded Livadaki Beach.

The beach is a collection of bright, smooth stones that accentuate the crystal clear water, which starts out emerald green and dissolves into the impossibly blue Aegean beyond.

Getting there: The island is about 100 miles from Athens, Air France, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Lufthansa, Northwest, United and US Air- ways provide connecting ser-vice from Phoenix. Ferries sail to the mainland port of Piraeus (near Athens), as well From Santori, Milos and many other Greek Islands.

See more:
www.folegandros.gr
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