Category: Saronic islands (page 1 of 2)

Cozy and romantic Love Bay Beach on Poros island

February 14, 2022 / / 0 Comments
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The Love Bay sign on Poros island

Love Bay and Beach on Poros island

view from Love Beach on Poros island

Love beach on Poros island

Love Bay Beach — Λιμανακι της Αγαπης in Greek — is indisputably the love-liest seaside sunbathing and swimming spot on Poros island

 

Cozy cove:  For Valentine’s Day we wanted to post about an appropriately-themed place in Greece, and Love Bay Beach on Poros island immediately sprang to mind.

A picturesque cove nestled beneath lush green pine trees. A small arc of soft golden sand wedged between the low cliffs and rocks of the surrounding coastline. Gorgeous emerald waters lapping quietly ashore.  And its name –Λιμανακι της Αγαπη (Love Bay). Could this pretty place possibly be any more romantic? 

For us, it was literally love at first sight when we laid eyes on Love Bay. It was a hot, sunny day in June several years ago, and we were taking a walk on the scenic coastal road that winds down the southwestern side of Poros. As we approached a bend in the road and got a glimpse of the bay, the stunning green hues of the calm sea took our breath away. We had the same reaction only moments later when we spotted the cozy little beach through a narrow break in the row of pine trees lining the road. 

We have seen countless beautiful coves and beaches in Greece, yet this one seemed special. It’s cozy and comfortable (with room for little more than three dozen lounge chairs and umbrellas); it’s picturesque, unpretentious, and completely relaxing.  And romantic. And then there are those amazing, sublime turquoise waters! We visited at least nine different beaches on Poros, and this was our favourite. We would love to go back.

 

 

 

You’ll find more of our photos of the beach and bay below the following links to websites and social media pages containing information and photos of Love Bay Beach:

♦ The Love Bay Beach Poros  is the official beach website. It provides a brief history of the family that established the bar and organized the beach some decades back, and explains how Love Bay got its name. It also contains contact information and directions;

♦ The Love BAY Poros island is the beach’s official page on Facebook. Its posts include several dozen  photos and a few short videos;

♦ Several photos and a brief description of Love Bay can be found on the beaches page on the Visit Poros website, along with a link to a Google album containing several dozen more pictures;

♦ A clickable slide show and a separate gallery of 12 images can be viewed on The Love’s Bay page of the Poros Island information website 

Below are more of our photos, beginning with a series of images showing vistas of the bay from lookout points on the coast road, followed by a sequence of ground-level pictures of the beach and its views.

Coast road above Love Bay on Poros island

View of Agia Sofia chapel at Love Bay on Poros island

Coast road view of Love Bay on Poros island

Coast road view of Love Bay on Poros island

Water colours on the coast near Love Bay on Poros island

The Diamontopoulou villa at Love Bay on Poros island

Above: Views of the sublime sea colours and crystal clear waters along the shore in Love Bay, and glimpses of the Agia Sofia chapel and Diamontopoulou villa on the north side of the bay. We shot the photos from vantage points on the road along Poros island’s southwestern coast.

 

Love Bay and beach on Poros island

Love Bay and beach on Poros island

Above: Two glimpses of Love Beach through a gap in the pine trees that encircle the bay

 

Agia Sofia chapel at Love Bay on Poros island

Looking across the turquoise waters toward Agia Sofia, a private Bzyantine-style stone chapel on the seaside of the Diamontopoulou villa property near the beach

 

 

 

 

Love Bay on Poros island

The Love Bay sign at the entrance to the beach

 

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Beach view from the top of the entrance steps

 

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Love Bay and beach on Poros island

Love Bay and beach on Poros island

Love Bay and beach on Poros island

Views of the bay from various points on the beach

 

Agia Sofia chapel at Love Bay on Poros island

Agia Sofia church at Love Bay on Poros island

Views of Agia Sofia chapel from the rocky shore at the north end of Love Beach. It’s a private church, situated on the grounds of the Diamontopoulou villa.

 

Beach bar at Love Bay on Poros island

The beach bar sells snacks, beverages and cocktails

 

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Love Bay Beach on Poros island

Our visits to Love Bay Beach took place during the first 10 days of June, which is still low season for tourism. If you travel to Poros during peak travel season (July and August), you can expect to find the beach much busier, with all the lounge chairs snapped up early in the morning

 

 

Where to go in Greece: A video guide to 25 beautiful places

January 30, 2022 / / 0 Comments
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25 most beautiful towns to visit in Greece is a 27-minute film from Lifestyle Hal

 

So many pretty places:  A new video from a popular travel blogger might prove inspiring and helpful to people who are hoping to visit Greece for the first time, but don’t yet have a clue where they would like to go.

25 most beautiful towns to visit in Greece was released January 22 by U.K.-based photographer/videographer Hal, whose Lifestyle Hal travel channel on YouTube has nearly 32,000 subscribers.

We think the film is worth checking out by would-be Greece travel newbies since it provides a good introduction to some of the country’s leading island and mainland tourist destinations.

The video clocks in at just over 27 minutes, profiling each place in its own distinct and succinct segment of approximately one minute apiece. Beautiful aerial and ground-level video footage is accompanied by a voice-over narration in which Hal describes key features and attractions which distinguish each destination.

We feel the video’s title is a bit of a misnomer, though, since the film focusses primarily on islands, rather than towns, with a pair of major archaeological sites — Delphi and Delos — included in the list, along with the magnificent monastery-topped rock formations at Meteora, and Sarakiniko beach on Milos island.  

The film doesn’t reveal any off-the-beaten-path hidden gems or secret hideaways — all of the places that Hal highlights are long-established, well-known tourist draws reachable on regular ferry or flight schedules or, in the case of a handful of spots on mainland Greece, along major roadway routes.  But all are beautiful and well worth visiting as we can personally attest, having been to 16 of the spots on Hal’s top 25 so far.

And even though we’re familiar with all of the destinations, we still enjoyed watching Hal’s video of gorgeous sights and scenery, and hearing his personal perspective on each place’s attractions and attributes.

 

Travel mag suggests best Greek islands to visit in 2022

December 26, 2021 / / 1 Comment
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Conde Nast Traveller best Greek Islands article

 

Island mini-guides:  If you’re hoping to pay a first-time visit to the Greek isles in 2022, or make a return trip to see one or more islands you’re not already familiar with, travel journalist Rachel Howard might help you find the places most suitable to your personal tastes and holiday priorities.

Howard writes extensively about Greece travel destinations, and her work appears regularly in leading international magazines and newspapers.

Her latest article for Conde Nast Traveller magazine,  The best Greek islands to visit in 2022, is a mini-guide that profiles nearly two dozen islands, ranging from such perenially-popular tourist magnets as Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and Rhodes, to less-commercial and much quieter places in between, like Folegandros, Symi and Ithaca.

 

 

Howard’s guide suggests 23 islands she feels might be “the best” for specific traveller lifestyles and preferences, such as Serifos for “naturists and purists,”  Ithaca for “lovers and loners” seeking a “mythical retreat,” Zakynthos for “seaside holidays with toddlers or teens,” Paxos for “the perfect blend of seclusion and sophistication,” and Hydra for “a long weekend with the art crowd.” Of course, her list also includes islands that will be appealing for noteworthy natural features and distinctive local characteristics, like Amorgos for “deep blue seas and wide open spaces,” Tinos for “traditional villages and knockout tavernas,” Symi for “castaway coves and a picture-perfect port,” and Naxos for “endless sandy beaches.”

Looking for a honeymoon destination? An island renowned for exquisite cuisine? A decadent party haven or an authentic hideaway with a bohemian buzz? Howard has recommendations for islands perfect for those features, and more.

Her easy-to-read piece mentions highlight attractions on each island, top things to see and do, and places to stay.

The article is illustrated with a photo of a scene on each island (except Skiathos, for which the editors mistakenly selected a photograph of Elia beach on Mykonos), and is peppered with links to additional photo galleries, travel guides and previously-published magazine reports about some of the destinations.

 

Beautiful places to see in Greece after the Covid-19 lockdowns and travel bans are lifted

April 12, 2020 / / 1 Comment
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Filmmaker Anthony Venitis compiled drone footage from 30 places in Greece to create his “Proud to be Greek” salute to his country’s vast beauty

 

If you have had to postpone a trip to Greece because of the Covid-19 pandemic, filmmaker Anthony Venitis has a message — and a special 2-minute video — to share with you.

“Greece, as most countries, is under #lockdown but the time will soon come when our country will come back stronger and more colorful. The time will soon come when we will get to enjoy her beauties once more, together and united,” Venitis says in descriptive notes for an aerial video he has posted to his YouTube channel.

His film features drone video of 30 breathtaking Greek “beauties,” including historic monuments, mountains, beaches, harbours, tavernas, villages, olive groves, coastlines, lighthouses, sunrises and more.

The attractions and destinations with starring roles in the film include: the Acropolis of Athens and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion; lighthouses at Gytheio, Andros, Mykonos and Kea; a shipwreck at Gytheio; scenes from the islands of Santorini, Milos, Lefkada, Andros, Kefalonia, Mykonos, Kalymnos, Aegina and Hydra; scenes from the Pelion and Peloponnese regions; plus Kalavryta, Sparta and Monemvasia. The video concludes with images of a Greek flag on a hilltop at Sparta. (A list of the places shown, along with the exact times they appear in the video, can be found in the descriptive notes on the YouTube page.) 

Are you planning to see any of these beauties for yourself when you can eventually take your trip to Greece?

Lonely Planet’s April issue looks at ‘legendary’ Crete and 15 other Greek Islands

April 5, 2020 / / 0 Comments
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Cover of the April 2020 edition of Lonely Planet travel magazine

The cover of Lonely Planet‘s April issue promises to help readers find a perfect Greek Island holiday destination

 

Island profiles: Wondering where to take a holiday in Greece if Covid-19 quarantines and lockdowns get lifted in time to permit a trip sometime during the summer or fall? If you think an island might be the best place to de-stress once the pandemic has passed, Lonely Planet magazine has some excellent suggestions for you to ponder.

The travel publication’s April 2020 edition spotlights a selection of 15 household-name and lesser-known isles in its cover feature, Find your perfect Greek Island: Secret experiences the locals love, from Anafi to Zakynthos. 

“Here we outline the most original slow-travel experiences across the Aegean and Ionian Seas, from local festivals to hidden beaches — and beyond,” writer Oliver Smith explains in his introduction to the 12-page guide.

The piece profiles Folegandros, Hydra, Symi, Tinos, Chios, Zakynthos, Paros and Antiparos, Sifnos, Milos, Skiathos, Anafi, Ikaria, Kea and Limnos, providing a brief island description, suggesting accommodations to consider, and noting how to reach each island. Beautiful, full-colour photos illustrate an enticing place or sight in each destination.

The magazine also includes Gods’ Own Country, a 12-page feature story about Greece’s biggest island, Crete. 

“Beyond the harbours and white-sand beaches of Crete lies a land rich in history and myth, home to deities and monsters from the Minotaur to the thunder-god Zeus himself. We embark on a quest to discover this island’s legendary legacy,” Christa Larwood writes in the article introduction.

Both articles are interesting reads, and the stunning photos that accompany them will certainly provide a welcome distraction from the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

If you can’t find the April magazine at a retail outlet or a library, you can order a copy or purchase a digital download for your tablet or smartphone directly from the publisher. 

Screenshot of Greek Island guide in the April 2020 edition of Lonely Planet travel magazine

Illustrated with enticing photography, the magazine’s Treasured Islands feature suggests 15 places to consider for a “slow travel” experience

 

Screenshot of feature article about Crete in the April 2020 edition of Lonely Planet travel magazine

The feature article Gods’ Own Country takes readers on a journey across Crete, from the scenic seaports of Chania and Rethymno to the Samaria Gorge, the Palace of Knossos, and the Lasithi Plateau.

My favourite videos of Greece from 2019

December 28, 2019 / / 2 Comments
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My Sifnos by Nikos Panou is my favourite video of 2019; it makes me smile and feel good every time I watch it. Panou deftly captures the essence of an amazing Greek holiday experience — the pure joy, wonder and exhilaration of exploring a beautiful destination (in this case, Sifnos island) and discovering the delights of its people, food, culture and atmosphere.

 

You know that December is drawing to a close when you see just about every media outlet — TV and radio shows, newspapers, magazines and websites — presenting lists and rankings of “the best” and the “top moments/ memories/ things/ whatever” of the year.  Seeing “best of 2019” features everywhere I looked inspired me to compile one myself this week while I was organizing the many hundreds of bookmarks I had accumulated on my web browser this year.

Rather than move links for my favourite videos into folders where I probably would forget all about them, I’m posting them here for my readers to enjoy (and to give me an easier way to find them for repeat viewing or future reference).

 

In Greece Story –The Best Places in Greece? Pawel Worsztynowicz captures striking aerial scenes from 28 beautiful places in Greece, including Athens, Sounion, Crete, Corfu, Meteora, Halkidiki, the Peloponnese, Skiathos, Skopelos, Symi, Santorini, Thirasia, Ios, Kos, Eubea, Rhodes and Zakynthos.  (Notes accompanying the video on YouTube provide a chronological list of locations shown.) Pawel compiled the film following nearly a year of travels across Greece, so you can just imagine the stories he can tell about the places he visited.

 

Out of the countless clips I have seen in the past 12 months, I have selected just over two dozen to highlight in this post. I liked these best of all either because they show sights and scenes familiar to me from our own past vacations, or because they depict destinations on my travel bucket list. All were released or published sometime during 2019, and none run longer than 10 minutes.

I have organized the clips into alphabetic order starting with the videos of Amorgos island, below, and continuing on page 2. Included are films of: 

♦ Andros

♦ Athens

♦ Corfu

♦ Crete

♦ Donoussa

♦ Hydra

♦ Ikaria

♦ Ios

♦ Karpathos

♦ Kavala

♦ Lesvos

♦ Meteora

♦ Milos

♦ Monemvasia

♦ Mykonos

♦ Patmos

♦ Samos

♦ Santorini

♦ Skopelos

♦ Syros

♦ Vatheia in the Peloponnese

I love The Island‘s dramatic cinematography, which superbly captures the mountain, coast and village scenery on Amorgos. This film by Igor Popović also contains excellent views of the incredible Chozoviotissa Monastery, built against the face of a cliff high above the sea.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Amazing Amorgos, Greece, a delightful and entertaining aerial film in which Joerg Daiber captures the island’s magnificent sights and scenery using time lapse and tilt shift photography techniques. 

 

This film by I Viaggi Di Michele is narrated in Italian; however, you don’t need to speak or understand the language to enjoy the beautiful Andros scenery. Sights and locations shown in the 11.5-minute video include Chora, the Tis Grias castle, Tis Grias to Pidima and Achla beaches,  the Tourlitis lighthouse, Korthi Bay, Batsi village, the Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi and the Panachrantos Monastery, and the Pithara waterfalls. 

 

If there are any videos from 2019 that you enjoyed, but don’t see featured in this post, feel free to post their links in the comments section so other readers and I can check them out.

 

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A video tour of Hydra

March 26, 2019 / / 2 Comments
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With help from a mini drone, filmmaker PanoVerino guides you on a quick tour of Hydra island

 

Quick introduction: If you haven’t been to Hydra yet, a recently-released video by PanoVerino will quickly bring you up to speed on the scenic highlights and attractions of the popular Saronic island.

The clip by the Athens-based filmmaker clocks in at just under two minutes, but covers a lot of ground — and air — with its exciting whirlwind pace, showing exactly what you can expect to see in and around Hydra Town, the island’s port and main settlement.

We spent a brief but very pleasurable 24 hours on Hydra during our 2016 Greek holiday, and recognized many of the sights and scenes the video spotlights. In fact, it made us instantly remember walking many of the same cobblestone paths, climbing the same flights of stairs, and seeing the same boats, buildings, donkeys, cafes, harbourside, hillsides and coastal scenery.  I find the film enjoyable not just for its exhilarating views and perspectives, but also for its briskness and brevity —  it doesn’t dwell on certain scenes for prolonged, drawn-out periods that will make you feel like you have to fast-forward before you fall asleep, as I find happens frequently when I watch drone videos. 

If you have been to Hydra yourself, the film will probably take you on a similar trip down memory lane. For those of you who haven’t yet been there, this quick look-around with PanoVerino may encourage you to consider Hydra for a future island-hopping holiday.

Greece, Greek islands, Saronic islands, Argosaronic islands, island, Hydra, Hydra island, Hydra Greece, Ydra, Ydra island, Hydra Town, town, village, harbour, hillside

Want to see more of Hydra? Have a look through the albums in our Hydra photo collection on Flickr.

Video views of Poros Island

January 15, 2019 / / 0 Comments
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This 6-minute film from the Videos from Greece channel on YouTube made me feel like I was back on Poros, since it features many familiar sights and scenes that we experienced during our own time on the island

 

Saronic gem: My previous post, Saronic island sojourn, contained a collection of photos that we shot during a very enjoyable week-long stay on Poros in the spring of 2018.

If you haven’t been to Poros before, I hope the photos may have stirred you to consider visiting the lovely Saronic Gulf island on one of your future trips to Greece.

But if you weren’t  completely convinced that Poros might be a good place for you to spend some of your holiday time, perhaps you’ll feel more inspired by the three videos I have included in this post.

The top film in particular might do the trick, since it accurately shows exactly how things appear when you stroll and look around Poros Town.  (The other two videos feature exhilarating aerial photography of the island so, unless you have wings, Poros won’t quite look the same when you’re there. But they’re fun to watch all the same.)

If you wish to take things a step further and start researching accommodations, attractions, activities and transportation options, bookmark the Poros.com tourism guide as well as the Poros Portal site. Both contain extensive information about the island, along with lots of photos and travel planning links.  Also worth a peek is the Visit Poros Island Greece page on Facebook. 

 

Take a short sightseeing flight over pretty Poros Town in this 1-minute film from the Drone Solutions Hellas channel on YouTube

 

Enjoy sights and sounds from all over the island in this 2-minute video from the Visit Poros Island Greece page on Facebook

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