I love the high arched ceiling and rustic stone walls of the dining room at Alati, a new seafood restaurant that has just opened at the Vedema Resort on Santorini. Located in Megalochori village, the Starwood Luxury Collection member resort consists of suites and villas in 45 coquette houses built around a 400-year-old winery. This photo of Alati’s stunning interior caught my eye when it was posted on the Vedema Resort Facebook page today. To see more of the exclusive resort, which follows “a barefoot chic philosophy,” check out this 1 minute 46-second promotional video (below) from the Vedema website.
Luxury hotels crown the spectacular caldera cliffs in Santorini’s Oia village
Reader favourite: Santorini is the world’s best island for 2014, according to a survey of Travel + Leisure magazine readers.
Santorini beat out three Hawaiian islands as well as Bali, Indonesia to claim top spot in T+L’s World’s Best Awards 2014. Last year, Santorini held fourth place.
The American travel magazine announced the results of its 19th annual reader poll on July 2.
Although Santorini was the top-rated island globally and the only European island to make the worldwide Top 10, Greek islands scored well on the Top Islands in Europe poll, claiming three of the top 5 spots. Santorini captured the #1 rating, of course, while Crete took #3 and Mykonos claimed #5. (Two Italian islands, Capri and Sicily, took the #2 and #4 places, respectively).
Last year, Santorini and Crete held the same rankings for best islands in Europe, while Mykonos failed to crack the Top 5.
The annual reader survey is highly influential and should help Greece maintain its record-setting appeal to travellers from North America. Last year, Travel + Leisure had an average monthly print circulation of nearly 1 million copies, and its web edition achieved an average of 38 million page views per month. The publication has a readership of 6.5 million people, more than 2.4 million of whom are considered “affluent” travellers with a high personal net worth.
When the magazine announced Santorini’s top ranking in a post with a photograph of Oia on the T+L Facebook page, one reader added the comment: “Now I understand why gods choose Greece to live.”
Indeed!
You can view hundreds of photos of the world’s #1 island in my Santorini photo collection on Flickr. There are thousands of pics of Europe’s #5 island in my Mykonos photo collection, also on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. Unfortunately, there’s no collection of Crete photos at this time — I haven’t been to that island since 2004 and don’t have images from that vacation online. Clearly, I’ve got to get back to Crete!
Kitesurfers challenge the wind and waves off Mikri Vigla beach on Naxos. We shot this photograph from our dune- and seaview table at Kontos Taverna. Click on the picture to view a full-size image.
[Editor’s note: This is the third instalment in an ongoing series of reports about our Greek holiday in the spring of 2014. Click here to see Part 1, and click here to access Part 2. Full-size versions of the photos shown below can be viewed in the Naxos May 21 2014 album on Flickr.]
Wednesday May 21
Hikes & bikes: Warm, bright and breezy would summarize Wednesday succinctly. Morning brought a clear sky, light breeze and warm temperatures that would climb into the high 20s (Celsius) during the afternoon. Our big decision of the day would be figuring out whether to just chill out and relax for awhile at the Lianos Village Hotel pool, do something more active like hiking or cycling, or do a bit of both.
During our leisurely breakfast, Dan and I agreed to take a short hike along the coast in the Stelida area to get some exercise first, and then see how the rest of the day would unfold. So we left the hotel and made our way down the hill to the northwest end of Agios Prokopios beach, where we could access hiking trails on Cape Agios Prokopios from the end of the road near Avali restaurant.
This telephoto image, shot from our terrace at Lianos Village Hotel, shows two white and blue apartment buildings on a hill overlooking the north side of Cape Agios Prokopios. That’s Paros island across the channel. Walking trails on the Cape offer excellent views of the east coast of Paros.
Studio apartments along the road to Agios Prokopios beach
Pedestrians get a good view of the Naxos Imperial Hotel and its swimming pool as they pass the resort on the main Stelida road to Agios Prokopios beach
Pink bougainvillea provides a pop of bright colour on a white apartment building with blue trim next to the road to Agios Prokopios beach
Sheep snooze under a shade tree on a farm field in Stelida
Springflowers fill a churchyard at the northwest end of Agios Prokopios beach
Tall bamboo lines one side of a Stelida road at the end of Agios Prokopios beach
A view of Agios Prokopios beach from the dirt road shown in the photo above
Avali restaurant is located on the hillside at the northwest end of Agios Prokopios beach. Walking trails on Cape Agios Prokopios can be accessed from the road that runs past the restaurant. Avali has the best beach views of any restaurant at Agios Prokopios; its seaview terraces are perfect places to enjoy the Naxos coastal scenery while having a drink or meal.
Wildflowers flank a footpath on Cape Agios Prokopios
Please click on the 2 in the link below to continue reading and view dozens more photos from our day on Naxos.
A windsurfer skims across St George’s Bay near Naxos Town
Bigger album: Just wanted to advise that more photos have been added to the Naxos May 20 2014 Flickr album that accompanies Part 2 of my holiday trip report, which I recently posted on the blog.
More than 90 additional photos have been uploaded to the album, which you can view by clicking here.
I’m currently putting Part 3 of the trip report together and hope to publish it later this week.
If you want to see more of Naxos in the meantime, click here for instant access to the Naxos photo collection on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. The collection features thousands of pictures from our two Naxos holidays in 2013 as well as previous visits to the island, and also includes photos of the various hotels at which we have stayed.
A view of Petra beach and bay, as seen from Kalikatsou Rock on Patmos island. Below is a view of the bay from the top of a cliff above the southwestern end of Petra beach. Although the long beach is comprised of stones rather than sand (see bottom picture), the waters of the bay are crystal-clear. Petra is just one among dozens of scenic beach and bay areas scattered along the Patmos coastline. Click on the photos to view full-size images of each.
View from a cliff near the western tip of Petra beach
Looking toward Tragonissi Island from the stone shore of Petra Bay
A chalkboard menu lists dinner specials at Chrisospilia restaurant
Missed opportunity: The colourful open-air dining terrace at Chrisospilia restaurant caught our attention while we were walking around Chora village shortly after arriving at Folegandros island several years ago. It was late afternoon and the restaurant wasn’t open at the time, but the chalkboard menu indicated that the evening dinner specials would include a variety of chicken, pork, lamb, pasta and risotto dishes, along with grilled shrimp and grilled octopus.
We meant to return for a meal, but Chrisospilia somehow slipped our minds while we were busy exploring the island, and we never made it there (surprisingly, we didn’t get back down the street where it’s located, even though we thought we had walked every lane in Chora at least twice.)
It wasn’t until we were reviewing our trip photos back home, and saw several pics of Chrisospilia, that we realized we had forgotten to drop by for dinner. We had delicious meals at other restaurants, but their dining areas weren’t as attractive as Chrisospilia’s. We’ll try to check it out if we ever return to Folegandros. It has received a series of excellent reviews this year on TripAdvisor.com, which currently ranks Chrisospilia as the #11 restaurant out of 44 on the island.
Scarlet and pink bougainvillea provide a colourful canopy for the open-air dining terrace at Chrisospilia restaurant
Ah, this is the life! A bikini-clad young woman catches some rays from the comfort of an air mattress floating on the calm waters at St George’s Beach. Naxos basked in gorgeous summery weather on May 20.
[Editor’s Note: Full-size versions of all the photos that appear in this post can be viewed in the Naxos May 20 2014 album on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page.]
Tuesday May 20
Suddenly summer: When I woke up around 9 a.m., I almost felt scared to open the curtains to see what the weather was like. Would it be another day of clouds and rain, as had been forecast? Or would we get lucky and have a hint of nice weather instead?
We got lucky! There was sunshine and a bright blue sky — an absolutely gorgeous morning. It looked like our spring vacation was starting off the exact same way our holiday had begun last fall — with clouds and rain our first day on Naxos followed by sunny clear skies the rest of the trip. I couldn’t wait to to have breakfast outside — our first outdoor meal since we were in Greece last October.
I always love starting my day with a cup of coffee on the poolside breakfast patio at Lianos Village Hotel. With colourful gardens and a swimming pool just steps from our table, views of the beautiful blue Aegean Sea, and a few of the neighbourhood cats lingering at our feet, the sun-shaded terrace is the place where I have enjoyed eating breakfast the most out of all our trips to Greece. The setting and atmosphere make me feel completely carefree, content and relaxed. A little voice inside my head keeps repeating: “Kalimera! You’re on vacation! You’re in Greece!” I wish every morning could begin like this!
Sunshine and an almost cloudless sky greeted me when I pulled open the door and stepped onto our terrace our first morning on Naxos. This was our view looking south to Agios Prokopios and Agia Anna.
Please click on the number 2 in the link below to continue reading my trip report and view dozens of photos from our day on Naxos.
