Tilos

Tilos is an island that feels twenty years ahead of the trend and fifty years behind the crowds. The ferry from Rhodes docks at Livadia, the main village, a long curve of white houses, tamarisk trees, and tavernas along a beautiful bay. Above the harbour, on its great rock, stands the castle of the Knights, reached by a climb in the golden light of the first evening, past terraces and wild flowers, with views over the island and the sea. Tilos made its name as one of the first islands in the Mediterranean to run on a wind-and-solar microgrid and the pioneer of a zero-waste way of life — the bins are colour-coded, the beaches are clean, and the islanders are quietly proud of it. But the island's deepest secret is older: in the Charkadio cave, fossil bones of dwarf elephants, only a metre tall, show that a tiny population survived here until about 4,000 years ago, an island within an island. Swimming is done at Eristos, the long sandy beach of the west coast; the ruined village of Mikro Chorio is walked; and an evening in a Livadia taverna with a plate of fish and the lights of the harbour goes some way to explain why people who come to Tilos tend to come back.

Tilos has been inhabited for at least 4,000 years, and its most astonishing story comes from the Charkadio cave, where the fossilised bones of dwarf elephants — a species that shrank to about a metre in height after being isolated on the island — have been found, along with stone tools showing that prehistoric humans lived alongside them. The last of the dwarf elephants survived here until around 4,000 years ago, long after they had vanished everywhere else. In antiquity the island was known as the city of Telos, a member of the Dodecanese federation, and in the Middle Ages it passed through Byzantine and then Knights' hands — the castle above Megalo Chorio was built by the Knights of Saint John in the 14th century. Under Ottoman rule Tilos was a quiet, self-sufficient island of farmers and seafarers. In the 20th century it declined steeply: by 1970 the population had fallen to about 70 people, and the island was nearly abandoned. A slow revival followed, and from 2016 Tilos made history as the first island in the Mediterranean to be powered almost entirely by renewable energy, through a pioneering wind-and-solar system, followed by an ambitious zero-waste programme that made it a model of sustainable island living. Today Tilos is a small, proud, green island — its ancient past and its modern experiment meeting in a way that makes it unique in Greece.

The name is recorded by Stephanus of Byzantium in the sixth century AD. His Ethnica is not a book of stories but a dictionary of Greek place-names, and for this one it says: "It is named from its founder Tilos". (Ethnica, s.v. Τῆλος).

That is the whole of what an ancient source has to say about how the place got its name. It is a shorter answer than the guidebooks give, and it is the only one with a source behind it.

Tilos is small, but its beaches are among the best in the Dodecanese. Eristos, on the west coast, is the showpiece: a long, wide beach of pale sand with rolling dunes, clear shallow water, and almost never crowded. Livadia, in front of the main village, is a long curve of sand and pebbles with tamarisk shade and tavernas at the edge of the water — perfect for families. Agios Antonios, on the north coast, is a beautiful bay with a white church on the sand. Plaka, near the airport, and the coves of the south coast — Lethra, Stavrou, and the little bays below the monastery — are quiet and wild. The water is clear and calm, and the island's green ethos means you will find the beaches clean and cared for. Bring a mask; the rocky headlands hide rich underwater gardens.

Tilos food is the honest cooking of a small, fertile island. The tavernas of Livadia and Megalo Chorio serve the daily catch — grilled fish, octopus, and calamari — with the island's own olive oil and wine. The island produces excellent honey, local cheese, and vegetables from its terraced gardens, and the goats of Tilos provide the meat for the slow-cooked stews and roasts of the traditional table. The famous dish of the island is a goat stew cooked with wine and herbs, and the local wine is made from grapes grown on the island's terraces. For a real taste of Tilos, find a taverna by the water at Livadia, order the fish of the day and a carafe of the local wine, and let the green island's slow rhythm set the pace.

May, June, and September are the sweetest months on Tilos: warm, quiet, and green, with the sea perfect for swimming and the beaches nearly empty. July and August are hotter and livelier, but Tilos is off the beaten track and never feels crowded. Spring is the island at its most beautiful, when the wild flowers — Tilos is one of the greenest and most floriferous of the Greek islands — cover the slopes, and the famous migrating birds stop on the island. Autumn lingers warm into October. Whenever you come, come slowly: Tilos rewards the unhurried, and its green heart is best appreciated at walking pace.

Tilos is reached by ferry from Rhodes, a crossing of about two and a half hours, from Kos, and by the seasonal ferries from Piraeus. There is a small airstrip on the island too, but scheduled flights are intermittent and seasonal, so the current timetable is worth checking before relying on one.

A scooter or car is the best way to explore, though Livadia and Megalo Chorio are walkable. Do not miss the castle above Megalo Chorio — climb it in the late afternoon for the light — and the Charkadio cave for the dwarf-elephant story. Swim at Eristos, walk the ruined lanes of Mikro Chorio, and visit the museum in Megalo Chorio to see the fossils. Tilos is proud of its green ways — respect the recycling, keep the beaches clean, and you will be welcomed as a friend of the island.