The tiny, butterfly-shaped Greek island of Astypalea has all the ingredients for a relaxing vacation: myriad beaches with clear waters, great seafood and a castle perched above a traditional white town with winding alleys and views across the Aegean Sea.
It’s also less developed than its larger neighbors like Rhodes and Kos, and with a population of just 1,400, Astypalea made for a chilled holiday destination when I visited in June.
Some of the lanes in the island’s Chora — or capital — are so small that donkeys carry construction tools to hard-to-reach building sites, but the mode of transport most noticeable on Astypalea is a fleet of electric minibuses, part of a scheme called AstyBus — an unusual sight for the Greek islands.
It’s worth starting a trip to the island by visiting the remains of the 15th century Venetian castle high above the Chora, which was built on the site of other structures including from the Roman and Byzantine eras. From there I walked down towards the eight traditional, red-roofed windmills at the centre of the town, originally constructed to mill grain in the 13th and 14th centuries. At the bottom of the hill is the island’s small but fascinating Archaeological Museum, with artefacts from the pre-historic period to the Middle Ages.
