Karystos

Karystos occupies the far south of Evia, a planned seaside town laid out in the nineteenth century along a wide bay that looks across the strait to the mainland. Behind it rises the brooding bulk of Mount Ochi, at about 1,398 metres one of the island's great peaks and the source of much of what makes the area distinctive.

The town itself is easy and unpretentious, built on a neat grid around a lively waterfront of cafes and fish tavernas. Guarding the shore is the Bourtzi, a squat Venetian tower of the fourteenth century, while a short way inland the medieval Castello Rosso (Red Castle) looks down from the foothills. Karystos has long been known for its stone: the greenish, vein-streaked cipollino marble quarried on the slopes above was shipped across the Roman world, and abandoned columns still lie where they were cut.

Mount Ochi is the great draw for walkers. Its upper slopes hold the enigmatic drakospita, or dragon houses, massive prehistoric structures built from huge stone slabs whose exact purpose is still debated, the finest standing near the summit. The mountain is a designated Natura reserve, laced with marked trails, waterfalls in the Dimosari gorge and cool chestnut forest, and it is wild enough to feel remote despite the beaches below.

And the beaches are the other half of the appeal. Long stretches of sand and shingle run east and west of the town, with clear water and, thanks to the exposed southern position, reliable wind that makes the coast popular with windsurfers.

Karystos is reached by car ferry from Rafina, near Athens, to nearby Marmari, followed by a short drive, which keeps it well off the mass-tourism map despite being so close to the capital. Come for the combination that defines it: swimming and seafood at sea level, and one of Greece's more mysterious mountains rising straight behind.