Introduction to Cyclades

When most people think of the "Isles of Greece," they're thinking of the Cyclades. This rugged, often barren, chain of islands in the Aegean sea has villages with dazzling white houses that from a distance look like so many sugar cubes. The Cyclades got their name from the ancient Greek word meaning "to circle," or "surround," because the islands encircle Delos, the birthplace of the god Apollo. Today, especially in the summer, it's the visitors who circle these islands, taking advantage of the swift boats and hydrofoils that link them. The visitors come to see the white villages, the blue-domed chapels, and the fiery sunsets over the cobalt blue sea. They also come to relax in chic boutique hotels, eat in varied and inventive restaurants -- and to enjoy an ouzo -- or a chocolate martini -- in some of the best bars and cafes in Greece

When you visit the Cyclades, chances are that one island will turn out to be your favorite. Here are some of our favorites, for you to shortlist when you set out to explore the islands that lie in what Homer called the "wine dark sea." Our journey begins in the north Aegean and makes its way south, before circling back north.

Unlike many of the Cyclades, where you can easily hear more English, French, and German spoken in summer than Greek, almost everyone who comes to Tinos is Greek. The island is often nicknamed the "Lourdes of Greece" because its famous church of the Panagia Evangelistria is Greece's most important pilgrimage destination. Don't even think of coming here on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (Aug 15) without a reservation unless you enjoy sleeping alfresco -- with lots of company. Tinos is also famous for its villages ornamented with the marble doors and fanlights carved here. Tinos also has miniature villages, of intricate dovecotes, that cluster on the hills and in the valleys.

The Beautiful People discovered Mykonos back in the 1950s and 1960s, drawn by its perfect Cycladic architecture. Today, travelers still come to see the famous windmills and sugar-cube houses, but they also come for the boutique hotels, the all-night cafe life, and serious shopping. In short, Mykonos -- along with Santorini -- is still one of the Cyclades that just about everyone wants to see. If you come here in August, you'll think that just about everyone has arrived with you and finding a hotel, or even a place at one of the chic nouvelle Greek cuisine restaurants, will not be easy.

That's one reason some travelers prefer Paros, which has something of a reputation as the poor man's Mykonos, with excellent windsurfing and a profusion of restaurants and nightspots less pricey and crowded than those on its famous neighbor Mykonos. Paros also has one preposterously picturesque seaside village -- Naoussa -- and one perfect inland village -- Lefkes.

The largest and most fertile of the Cyclades, Naxos somehow has yet to attract hordes of summer visitors. You know what that means: Go there soon! The hills -- sometimes green well into June -- are dotted both with dovecotes and a profusion of endearing Byzantine chapels. The main town is crowned by a splendid kastro (castle) and a number of stately houses that the Venetians built between the 12th and 16th centuries; some of the houses are still lived in by the descendants of those very Venetians. Furthermore, although Naxos is a rich enough island that it does not have to woo tourists, there are some good small hotels and restaurants here.

Santorini (Thira) is famous from a thousand travel posers showing its black lava pebble-and-sand beaches and sheer blood-red cliffs. Only a crescent-shaped sliver remains of the once-sizeable island that was blown apart in antiquity by the volcano that still steams and hisses today. The first serious tourist invasion here began in the 1970s, as word got out about Santorini's deep harbor, framed by its sheer cliffs and its odd villages, cut out of the lava. The first travelers here were willing to put up with the most modest of accommodations in local homes. (On my first visit here I was installed in a bed from which the owner's grandmother had just been ejected!). Today, Santorini gives Mykonos a serious run for the money as Boutique Hotel Central, with some of the best food in all Greece. Santorini also has one of the most impressive ancient sites in all Greece: ancient Akrotiri, where you can walk down streets some 3,500 years old. It is so well-preserved that it is often compared to Pompeii.

Folegandros is the perfect counterbalance to Santorini. As yet, this little island is not overwhelmed with visitors, but the helipad suggests that this generation's Beautiful People have discovered this still-tranquil spot. Folegandros's capital -- many say it's the most beautiful in all the Cyclades -- is largely built into the walls of a medieval kastro (castle). Just outside the kastro is another reason to come here: the elegant cliff-side Anemomilos Apartments Hotel.

Sifnos, long popular with Athenians, increasingly draws summer visitors to its handsome whitewashed villages, which many consider to have the finest architecture in all the Cyclades. In the spring this is one of the greenest and most fertile of the islands. In summer, it's a place for the young at heart: In the capital Apollonia, it's easier to count the buildings that have not (yet) been converted into discos than those that have been.

Siros, on the other hand, is as "undiscovered" as a large Cycladic island can be. Its distinguished capital, Ermoupolis, has a startling number of handsome neoclassical 19th-century buildings, including the Cyclades's only opera house, modeled on Milan's La Scala. Ano Siros, the district on the heights above the port, has sugar-cube Cycladic houses and both Catholic and Orthodox monasteries. Like Tinos and Naxos, Siros welcomes, but does not depend, on foreign tourists.

If you wanted to describe the Cyclades in their entirety, you could do worse than string together well-deserved superlatives: Wonderful! Magical! Spectacular! The sea and sky really are bluer here than elsewhere, the islands on the horizon always tantalizing. In short, the Cyclades are very "more-ish" -- once you've visited one, you'll want to see another, and then another, and then, yes, yet another.

Tip: You can access a useful website for each of the Cyclades by entering "www.greeka.com/cyclades" and the name of the island. For example, www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini.