Samos

A beach of powdery silver sand, shaded by tamarisk trees, slopes gently into the clear sea; a taverna set between a pebble cove and lush thickets of bamboo, serves freshly-caught fish; a ruined temple has passed over two millennia in the peace of olive groves; woods of plane trees, walnut and sweet chestnut are cool even at the height of summer, and rugged mountain trails lead to tumbling waterfalls. This is Samos, one of a cluster of islands in the north-east Aegean.

There is a faint Turkish influence in its architecture; the subtlety of its food, the music heard drifting from a house in a cobbled street on a warm evening and the dramatic view of the mountains of Anatolia just across the water. But Samos’ charm is also in its extraordinary escape from mainstream tourism. This is a place where the Greek community go about their ordinary business: producing honey, olives, olive oil, citrus fruit, figs and almonds and flowers, while extensive vineyards produce some of the most famous wine in Greece.