Chios

Chios is one of the larger islands of the north-eastern Aegean, lying close to the Turkish coast between Lesvos and Samos. It is a working, self-confident island rather than a resort, with a long history of trade, seafaring and shipowning wealth, and a landscape that ranges from citrus groves to bare mountains. Its defining product is mastic, the aromatic resin tapped from mastic trees that, for reasons of soil and climate, thrives commercially only in the island's south. The trade made Chios rich for centuries and left behind a cluster of remarkable villages.

These are the Mastichochoria, the mastic villages, built as fortified settlements against pirates. The most famous is Pyrgi, whose houses are covered in grey-and-white geometric patterns called xysta, scratched into the plaster so that the whole village looks like a piece of embroidery. Nearby Mesta is the best preserved, a labyrinth of vaulted lanes and stone archways designed to confuse raiders, with the church at its heart and blank outer walls forming a defensive ring. Wandering their car-free streets is the essence of a visit.

The capital, Chios Town (Chora), spreads around a busy harbour beneath a Genoese castle, its bazaar and waterfront tavernas giving it the feel of a small city. Inland lie other treasures: the eleventh-century monastery of Nea Moni, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its Byzantine mosaics, and the ghostly abandoned village of Anavatos, clinging to a cliff. To the south of Chora, the Kampos district hides high-walled estates of Genoese merchant mansions set among orange and lemon groves.

Beaches are varied and often quiet, from the black volcanic pebbles of Mavra Volia near Emporios to the sands of the north-west around Volissos. The island is big enough to reward a hire car and several days of exploring.

Go to Chios for genuine village life, for the story of mastic, and for a substantial island that has not remodelled itself for tourism. Late spring and early autumn are ideal, with warm seas, open tavernas and comfortable days for touring the interior.