Category: Greek Islands videos (Page 14 of 19)

Ambling through Apeiranthos, the beautiful ‘marble village’ on Naxos island

May 13, 2014 / admin / 1 Comment

Apeiranthos is sometimes referred to as “the marble village” because many of its buildings, lanes and public squares have been constructed from marble and stone. Click on the photo to see a full-size image.

Marble marvel: One of our memorable excursions on Naxos last October was a visit to Apeiranthos, described in many travel guides and websites as one of the island’s prettiest mountain villages.

Literally made of stone, Apeiranthos is often called “the marble village” since many of its squares, streets and buildings have been constructed with slabs and sheets of the crystalline rock.

The village is home to four separate museums (Archaeological, Folk Art, Geological and Natural History), the Zevgoli Tower (which dates to the 17th Century), several tavernas and cafés, and some local artcraft and gift shops.

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Village is situated 28 km from Naxos Town

We got to Apeiranthos by taking one of the local buses which, at that time of season, operated only a few return trips per day on the 28 km route between Chora (Naxos Town) and the village. Return fare cost €12.40 — a price of €3.10 per person each way. The highlight of the ride was the tremendous scenery we got to enjoy, particularly the mountain and valley views on the twisting section of highway above Filoti village (check out the post below for a videoclip showing some of the fabulous views from the bus). Despite the limited departure and return bus trips, we still had several hours at Apeiranthos — plenty of time to explore the village and vicinity, as well as stop for a drink and snack at Samaradiko Café.

The village was fairly quiet during the several hours we spent visiting the museums and walking around. We saw several small tour groups and perhaps three dozen other tourists (at most) wandering through the village or having coffee or lunch in one of the cafés. Besides the people working in restaurants and shops, we saw just a handful of local residents plus a few cats and dogs. We had most of the village entirely to ourselves which was wonderful, since we don’t like crowded places.

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A video walk along the marble-paved streets

Below is a two and a half-minute videoclip that I shot while we were walking through passageways and up some of the marble- and stone-paved steps. I think it will give you a reasonably good impression of what it’s like to actually wander the village’s residential hillside streets.

To see more of this charming mountain village, click here to view over 300 photos in the Apeiranthos album on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page.

If you would like to learn more about Apeiranthos, click here to read a richly detailed article that was written by Konstantinos Toubakaris and published on the travel website This is Naxos. Take note that if you plan to do further research, you will probably encounter several variations in the spelling of the village name. Besides Apeiranthos, I have seen guides, maps and websites use Apiranthos, Aperanthos, Aperathos and Aperathou. They’re all one and the same place.

Here’s a 2.5-minute videoclip I shot while walking around “the marble village” of Apeiranthos on October 9 2013.

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Views of Naxos from the bus to Apeiranthos

May 13, 2014 / admin / 1 Comment

I shot this 5-minute-long video while we were taking the bus from Naxos Town to the mountain village of Apeiranthos last October 9.

Valley views: We rented a car during our second visit to Naxos back in 2006 so we could spend a day driving around the island and visiting a few of the nearly three dozen different mountain villages. Since I was behind the wheel on the ride up to the villages and had to concentrate on the road rather than the scenery, I didn’t get much of a chance to enjoy the impressive views.

I finally got that opportunity last October when we took the local bus to several villages, including Chalki, Filoti, Apeiranthos and Koronos, on three different days. Each time I got to watch the scenery pass by while somebody else handled the driving.

The stretch of road from Filoti to Apeiranthos was my favourite since it offers breathtaking panoramic views of the beautiful valley and mountain scenery, as well as Filoti village hundreds of feet below. And since we were sitting high up in a bus, we had a vastly better vantage point than we ever would have gotten had we been riding in a compact rental car again.

Above is a 5-minute video I filmed while the bus was climbing the mountainside above Filoti. Please pardon the shaky filming — it was difficult holding the camera steady while the bus maneuvered along the many bends in the road. You’ll get to see Filoti village numerous times between the 1:40 mark and the end of the clip.

Enjoy the ride!

Sea, sky, sunsets and scenery: amazing timelapse film of Santorini’s incomparable sights and views

April 30, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Click the arrow on the image (above) to watch the Studio Phosart production, Timelapse in Santorini, a breathtaking film of Santorini’s spectacular scenery

Year-long project: When you view Santorini’s marvellous scenery in person, it literally leaves you breathless. The island and its views can look equally stunning in photos and videoclips, too. And if you click on the link posted above, you’ll get to see the island’s immense natural beauty from a different and utterly amazing perspective — time-lapse film photography.

A production of Athens-based Studio Phosart, the Timelapse in Santorini video was filmed by Miltos Fotopoulos. According to notes on the studio’s Vimeo page, the project took a year to complete — but once you view the film, I’m sure you’ll understand why.

Promotional videos mark a travel milestone — a full century of organized tourism in Greece

April 12, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

The English-narrated video Greek Tourism. An eternal journey features stunning views of some of the most beautiful and famous sights and attractions in Greece

Significant Century: With its long and storied history, Greece has been associated with tourism for what seems like an eternity. Not surprisingly, tourism is the country’s oldest industry.

“The Greek passion for travelling, for both knowledge and adventure, began long ago with Odysseus, the paradigm of the eternal traveller; with Herodotus, the first tourist and most famous story teller; and with Pausaniuas, who wrote the first travel guide 2,000 years ago,” narrator Donald Morgan Nielson notes in the promotional video Greek Tourism: An eternal journey.

The five and a half minute film features utterly splendid video photography of spectacular scenery from the Greek mainland and some of the Greek islands, and is accompanied by soaring, uplifting music by Dimitris Papadimitriou. With a script directed by Andonis Theocharis Kioukas, the video was produced by QKas Productions for the Greece National Tourism Organisation (GNTO), and has been posted on the GNTO’s Visit Greece YouTube page.

From 10,000 tourists in 1914 to over 17 million in 2014

The video celebrates the 100th anniversary of officially-organized tourism in Greece. Back in 1914, respected Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos founded the first national service to oversee Greek tourism. That same year, 10,000 tourists visited the country, and the numbers just kept on growing from theret. They reached record proportions last year, when more than 17 million people visited the country — an all-time high. And even though it’s still early in 2014 and the main summer tourist season hasn’t even begun, Greece appears on track for another banner year.

There was an 8.4% increases in the number of international arrivals at Greek airports in January, February and March compared to the same quarter last year, while travel officials report that summer bookings from major markets like Germany and the USA have risen substantially. And with more than 150 new airline routes operating to Athens this season, along with numerous new international direct flights to Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and other islands, Greece appears likely to top its target of 18 million visitors by the end of the year.

Frankly, I’m surprised the number of visitors isn’t considerably higher. But once more people get to view Greek Tourism: An eternal journey, I’m sure they’ll consider planning trips to see the amazing sights and attractions for themselves.

Below is a slightly shorter version of the video which will let you enjoy Dimitris Papadimitriou’s inspiring music without the narration. Turn up the volume, sit back, and enjoy the 4-minute journey to “Greece … a small piece of heaven on earth.”

Marvellous winter moments on Mykonos

March 4, 2014 / admin / 2 Comments

Mykonos Island “when no one’s watching” from Andreas Bekas on Vimeo.

Mention Mykonos, and most people instantly imagine sun-scorched rocky hills; crescent-shaped beaches packed end-to-end with people partying under searing sunshine; throngs of tourists swarming the iconic windmills on the hill near Little Venice; gigantic cruise ships docking at both of the island’s ports; and luxurious private yachts dropping anchor in almost every bay. That’s a fairly accurate image of what the island is like during the peak travel months of July and August.

But Mykonos has a completely different look during winter when the island’s 10,000 residents have the beaches and monuments entirely to themselves. The hillsides are verdant with winter flowers and greenery; the quiet beaches are empty of people, lounge chairs and umbrellas; and there’s nary a soul to be seen near the windmills or on the seaside at Little Venice.

Spectacular video by Andreas Bekas

In his spectacular time-lapse video Mykonos Island: When no one’s watching, photographer Andreas Bekas captures the Mykonos landscape in moments of peace, quiet, solitude and colour that few tourists ever get to see.

The 2.5-minute video opens with striking sunrise views of the Agios Iakovos chapel near Agios Sostis (which I profiled in a June 10 2013 post), and features scenes including: the five windmills at Alefkandra; the Armenistis lighthouse; the Bonis windmill on the hill above Mykonos Town; vast expanses of green countryside; the blissfully empty beaches at Paraga, Kalfatis and Panormos; the remarkable Paraportiani Church; and a moody view of the Little Venice seafront. The clip concludes with an aerial view of an eerily quiet Mykonos Town and harbourfront at sunset; a star-filled sky above a rustic dovecoat; and tall green grass rustling in wind.

Makes me wish I could take a winter trip to Mykonos!

Arriving at Parikia port on Paros

February 10, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

The Seajets passenger ferry Superjet enters Parikia Bay as it heads to port at Paros island on October 13 2013

The town of Parikia looms larger as Superjet approaches the ferry quay. I shot the photos above, as well as two of the videos below, from the Blue Star Ferries ship Paros as it departed Parikia en route to Athens.

This is a short clip of Superjet that I shot from the Blue Star Paros.

This video (Part 1 of 2) shows views of Parikia and some of its waterfront on the south side of the port. I shot this clip from a deck of the Blue Star Paros as it approached and prepared to dock at Parikia en route from Naxos to Piraeus.

This is the second clip I shot from the Blue Star ferry. It shows parts of Parikia and the bay on the north side of the port.

For a completely different perspective, here’s a video shot from land, showing the Paros docking at Parikia. It was filmed by YouTube member Steffen Mork.

Beach and coastal scenery on Chios

February 2, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

This videoclip, Beaches of Chios, was posted online by YouTube member Xvijana, who said the clip shows beaches visited during a 2013 visit to the East Aegean island. The clip shows a variety of beaches starting on the west side of Chios, moving from south to north, and then clockwise from the northeast to south.

Winter distraction: I’ve had enough of winter! I’m tired of ice, sleet and snow, and fed up with having to wear several layers of clothing to cope with the mind-numbing cold temperatures outside. But it’s only February 1, and spring is still a long ways off.

So I’m trying to distract myself by viewing online photos and videos of places I’d like to visit on one of our future trips to Greece.

The East Aegean island of Chios is one of those places. I don’t know if we’ll get there in 2014, but this video by Xvijana makes me want to visit just to see the island’s incredible variety of beaches and coastal scenery.

Xvijana’s video took my mind off winter for a few minutes … I hope it’s an equally enjoyable distraction for you, too!

Picture yourself … warming up at a beach on Ios

January 23, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Another polar vortex has brought biting cold weather to the northeastern USA and Canada this week, so I’ve been trying to distract myself from the chill by looking at photos and videos of beaches. Like these of the long, gently curving golden sand beach at Gialos, the port village area of Ios. It was sunny and a toasty 28 degrees Celsius (84 F) when I shot these pics — nearly 40 degrees warmer than it is outside my window at the moment. If only I could be enjoying that sun, heat and sand right now! Click on the photo to view a full-size image.