Spring in the Cyclades

For anyone that pictures Greece only as crowded, sunny beaches, or dry, brown landscapes, you haven’t been to the Cyclade Islands in April. Rain and wind sway colorful flowers, and you are surrounded by a green and lush landscape. At least this year - last winter was much drier...

We landed on Sifnos on April 6^th and stayed in a wonderful Airbnb in Kamares, the port city. Yannis, our host, met us after we debarked the ferry and led us to our home for the next 6 days. He and Nefeli have a sweet rental with great views, good light, and all the amenities of home.

Welcome to Sifnos!

We chose Sifnos because it is one of the less-visited islands and has 100 km of trails criss-crossing the island. Each day I would head out on a hike while Darrell worked at the desk overlooking the harbor.

Darrell's View

Besides great trails and wonderful views, Sifnos is famous for its ceramics and especially its stylized chimneys, now used mainly as lamp holders and decorations.

The decorative ceramic chimneys of Sifnos

I started out with short walks because I was still recovering from a week of being sick, and the second day it rained all day, but the third day I managed to reach the highest point on the island, Profitis Ilias at 682 m.

Profitis Ilias

The next day I was invited on a hike with Villi, a shop owner across the street from where we were staying, and some of her friends. Villi drove Elaina and I to Apollonia, the capital of Sifnos, where we met another 9 hikers and headed off on the trail to Kastro, a beautiful town curled like a snail shell on a hill by the sea.

Kastro

We crossed the creek and went up and over the next ridge to the small port town of Faros. All the hikers were carrying bags and picking up trash as we went. No wonder Sifnos is such a clean island!

Walking to Faros

In Faros, we had Greek coffee and I took a video of 11 Greeks talking at the same time! What a lovely and lively group. Then we piled into two crowded taxis and headed back to Apollonia.

On our last day on Sifnos, Darrell and I rented a car and drove almost all the roads on the island. We visited a monastery that we could see high up on the hill above Kamares. We enjoyed lunch at a small harbor café at the north end, eating small crispy fish and a steamed native plant with lemon. We were the only guests, and were given dessert at no charge - a common Greek courtesy. We wandered the tiny streets of Kastro and finished our trip by driving up to a Mycenean archeological site. We returned the car, cleaned the apartment, and I said my goodbyes to Villi.

Villi, her cat, and I in the door of her shop

Our 8 pm ferry to Folegandros was an hour late and we ended up arriving at the new port at 1:30 in the morning. The world’s nicest Airbnb hostess, Margarita, was there to meet us in her trusty Honda CRV to carry us to her home in Ano Maria about 10 km away. This is truly going above and beyond for your guests!

Folegandros is even quieter than Sifnos, with only 650 residents. Margarita feels lucky to have lived here her entire life and even more fortunate to share the beauty of Folegandros with others. I explored many of the islands trails over our three days here. Hiking into quiet coves was always a treat. And the spring flowers were in full bloom with daisies (Margaritas in Greek) lining every path.

A quiet beach on Folegandros

Margaritas / Daisies are everywhere!

 The small capital of Chora is perched on a cliff and has narrow winding streets with homes and markets interspersed with churches and courtyards. I head to the bakery to give a greeting to Giannis from his wife Bella whom I had met in Villi’s shop in Kamares. Yes, the world is small, and mostly very, very nice.

Chora, Folegandros

Margarita drove us back to the port to catch our ferry to Santorini. We are eager to see this new island, but are so grateful we were able to experience the peace and beauty of Sifnos and Folegandros.

The quiet roads of Folegandros