Best for: Culture and low season cachet
While I usually flit between many Greek islands when making an attempt to pin down a favourite, I at all times appear to land again in Syros. Ask me why, and I’m not sure. I feel it’s one thing to do with how authentically actual it’s, in addition to its clashing-but-cohabiting mixture of cultures. Everything right here simply works. It’s the capital of the Cyclades, and its fundamental city, Ermoupoli, is the executive middle of the island group. This may all sound a bit boring, and maybe not likely related to your subsequent Greek getaway, nevertheless it’s due to this that the island makes such an impression.
Syros cares much less about tourism than different islands, as an alternative providing a real glimpse into Greek island life away from the stereotypes. It’s obtained scale, too. The buildings right here—a mixture of Cycladic, Venetian, and Neoclassical structure—are larger than most, standing tall and proud alongside Ermoupoli’s shoreline: there’s the imposing blue-domed however orange-fronted church of Agios Nikolaos; the spectacular City Hall of Hermoupolis, constructed below the supervision of Ernst Ziller and with a 50-foot-high entrance staircase to rival that of any European capital; and the Nineteenth-century Apollon Theater, designed as a reproduction of Milan’s La Scala. Towering behind all of them is Ano Syros, nearly 900 steps above Ermoupoli; reward your self with dinner at Hygge, with views again to the primary city. If you don’t fancy the hike, a taxi can drop you off on the door.
Then there’s the cultural scene, and Syros has loads occurring year-round. It’s residence to artwork, music, cinema, and dance festivals that go on lengthy into the autumn months, just like the Syros Jazz Festival that takes place in September, and the International Music Festival from October twenty first via the twenty fourth. The seashores right here don’t stay up to these on its Cycladic neighbors, however Galissas, Delfini, and Agathopes are price visiting for just a few hours in the solar—and locals love Vaporia’s concrete slab, overhanging the ocean and overlooking a few of Greece’s best Neoclassical mansions, for a fast dip. —Ok.S.
Where to keep in Syros: