Kastellorizo

Kastellorizo (also called Megisti) is the easternmost point of Greece — a single colourful harbour town that hugs a tiny bay so close to the coast of Turkey that you can see the town of Kaş across the water. It is achingly small and gloriously quiet: pastel houses climb a small amphitheatre above the quayside, caiques bob in the deepest turquoise water you can find anywhere in the Mediterranean, and the big city crowds of the big tourist islands feel like a different planet. Its sleepy harbour hides a giant claim to fame: it is the very island where the 1991 film "Mediterraneo" was shot, and the movie went on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Around you — sunbathers on the quay, sea turtles... you swim off the rocks, and the occasional yacht arriving from Rhodes — you get the sense you have found the last truly low-key hidden corner of Greece, one that rewards an unhurried visit more than any checklist of stops.

In ancient times the island was called Megisti ("the greatest"), a name you still see in official use. Its modern name comes from the castle: in the late Middle Ages the Portuguese knights of St John raised a fortress (Castello Rosso — the "Red Castle") on the rock above the bay. You can still walk up to its ruins. Just below it, carved into the cliff, you will find a Lycian rock-cut tomb that dates back to the 4th century BC — a relic of the neighbouring Anatolian coast next door, and rare to see so well preserved in Greece.

The 20th century was a long and dramatic tug of war for this island. It had been a base for the French in the First World War, then passed under Italian rule (1921–1941) and the British in the Second World War, when the island was bombed and deserted and most of its people left for Cyprus and the Middle East. When Germany surrendered, Kastellorizo was reclaimed by Greece officially on 7 March 1948. One beloved figure from this story is the "Lady of Ro" (Despoina Dinofia), who refused to leave the islet of Ro nearby and everyone else's fear... she spent her life raising the Greek flag there every morning and lowering it each dusk — a small, stirring symbol of the island's stubborn pride.

The island is mostly steep rocks and clear water rather than long sandy beaches; you swim from smooth pebbles and wooden bars. The very best part is the famous Blue Cave, a hidden grotto you can reach by boat where sunlight turns the water an impossible electric blue. The Saint George around the bay and a few tiny coves are also lovely for a solo dip.

You eat like an islander by the water's edge: freshly grilled octopus, fish and vivid calamari from taverns right on the quay, along with chickpea-and-herb salads and a little of the island's thyme honey. Because Turkey's town of Kaş is only about 30 minutes away by boat, cafés and shops on both shores make for an easy, fun day-trip across the water.

The main way in is by ferry from Rhodes, where Dodekanisos Seaways runs a high-speed catamaran to the island harbour in about two hours and twenty minutes, with additional seasonal sailings from Blue Star Ferries and SAOS Ferries. From the mainland, Blue Star Ferries sail from Piraeus via Astypalaia to Kastellorizo, an overnight crossing of roughly nineteen to twenty-two hours depending on sailing. The island has its own small airport, Kastellorizo (KZS), linked only to Rhodes, with Olympic Air flying the forty-minute hop about four times a week on a seasonal schedule. A short seasonal ferry also runs from Kaş in Turkey, for foot passengers only, run by Meis Express.