Greek islands have become the most fashionable holiday destination for many Indians. You can understand why…sun kissed beaches, whitewashed villages and the turquoise blue sea. Everyone talks about Mikonos and Santorini but few mention the idyllic island of Spetses where Greeks go to spend their vacation.

Beach on Spetses

1. Stop for lunch at Monastiraki before embarking on your onward journey to the island of Spetses. You know you are in the right place when you look to the right and see the Acropolis high up on a hill. There is a small church ahead and to the right of that is Metropoleos, a street devoted to restaurants serving souvlaki, kebabs and Greek salad. All the restaurants are casual, checked tablecloth kind of places. Everyone orders the same thing – souvlaki (traditionally lamb but today chicken, pork or beef) and a Greek salad and drink some quite unspectacular ‘barrel’ rosé wine (which comes in plastic bottles). Souvlaki is meat on a skewer marinated with oregano, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika and charcoal-grilled served on thick pitta bread with salad and fries or veggies and rice. The lamb kebabs, actually seekh kababs made with roughly minced lamb is another hot favourite…delicious and melt-in-the-mouth. And yes, the Greek salad is fresh and lovely, with a huge slab of feta on top of the perfectly fresh crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, shriveled, intensely salty black olives (thrumba) and small chunky cucumbers, all doused in a robust extra virgin olive oil.

Greek salad with fresh crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, salty black olives (thrumba) and small chunky cucumbers, all doused in a robust extra virgin olive oil with a huge slab of feta on top

2. At the port of Piraeus, from where most boats depart for the Greek islands, treat yourself to business class on the upper deck for a few euros more than a normal ticket. There are less people, a clean loo, snacks and a bar.

3. What to drink? Try ouzo, the local brew. This is an anis (sonf) drink which you dilute it with ice and water until it is milky white in colour rather like dissolved alka seltzer. It’s an acquired taste like Pastis in France and quite ideal in the heat. If ouzo isn’t your thing, their demi-sec bubbly, Cair made in Rhodes, is perfect for this climate. Greek wines, though plentiful, are a bit of a mystery. Try a lovely local dessert wine called La Terra, from Limnos. Wild cherry syrup, vissinada, which you dilute with water is a refreshing non alcoholic substitute.

4.  Spetses, is actually a 3 hour boat ride because the boat goes via Poros and Hydra, both stunning islands. Landing on Spetses late at night, you expect the place to be dead but instead you find a vibrant café life, people still eating and drinking and some shops open until midnight! Spetses welcomes a few French and British tourists but it is the preferred destination of Greeks from Athens who either have summer homes here or stay in rented apartments and B&Bs. There are some stunning hotels on Spetses; Grand hotel, an imposing art deco structure overlooking the sea is the best and the oldest.  Hotel Spetses is at one side of the promenade and Nisia, an apartment hotel, in the middle. You have a central square, Dapia, around which are most of the shops, cafes and restaurants, an old town with winding, pebbled streets and a charming old Port area. Most homes and hotels are on the coast and near a beach. The centre of the island is almost uninhabited and wild with bushes and trees.  Beaches are plentiful, some pebbled and some sandy, never crowded since there are so many of them and the water is always clear, blue and alluring. An efficient bus and boat service takes you around the island.  You can also hire quad bikes, cycles and motor bikes. Horse drawn carriages and private taxis ply people from one side of the island to the other. Cars are not allowed around the island until the 15th Sep when the visitor numbers decrease.

Grand hotel

5. Pick up toasted pistachios from the Aegina…these are small, crisp and slightly salted and better than most pistachios I have tasted.

6. You have a sweet tooth? Then head to the patisserie, Politis on Dapia, which is the best place for French style cakes and pastries and local sweets like baklava, kataifi and ekmek kataifi (more often associated with Lebanon and the Middle East). Gorge on the local marzipan sweet called amigdalota, made of pounded ground almonds.

Politis Patisserie

7. Hungry for something on the go? Pick up filo and puff pastries with cheese/spinach fillings called tiropitta. You also get croissants and bougatsa, custard filled pastries, freshly baked every morning…

Baklava

8. Cheese is another Greek secret. Apart from feta which is hard and salty, you also have Anfothiros, ewe’s milk but semi soft, not so salty and normally used for tiropitta. Manouri, ewe’s milk again, is soft, unsalted cheese which is used for dips or to thicken soups.

9. Take a walk to the old port. This area is the new marina of sorts, full of boats, some quite fancy. Nihthimeron (night & day in ancient Greek) serves excellent mezze, horta, a bitter leaf vegetable, beetroot served with garlicky skordaliya dip, saganaki, fried cheese, deep fried baby red mullet (barbouni) and tiny sardines (gavros). Wash this down with local rosé wine, mixed with soda, served from red tin measuring cups. The owner is a ‘Zorba the Greek’ lookalike with a handle bar moustache and black wavy hair. Dinner for four was less than the price of a pizza in India!

Nihthimeron

The approach to food in Greece is matter of fact and down to earth…to a first time tourist, it’s not huge on variety but it is big on taste without any frills or presentation, relying solely on fresh ingredients.  But the magic of the Greek islands is so intoxicating that food, even for die hard foodies, becomes secondary