Sikinos

Sikinos lies in the southern Cyclades, wedged between lively Ios and photogenic Folegandros, yet it draws only a fraction of their visitors. With a population of around 250, it remains one of the least developed islands in the group, a place of terraced hillsides, drystone walls and quiet coves where agriculture still shapes daily life. Boats dock at the small harbour of Alopronia on the south coast; above it, reached by a short bus ride, sits the island's capital.

The Chora is really two neighbouring settlements, the fortified Kastro and the adjoining Chorio, their whitewashed houses knitted together along a ridge with views out to the sea and the surrounding islands. The Kastro is built around a central square that once served as a defensive courtyard against pirates, and a folklore museum housed in an old olive press records the island's rural past. Above the village, the ruined Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi watches over the rooftops.

Sikinos's most remarkable monument stands a walk to the west at Episkopi. Long thought to be a temple of Apollo, it is now understood to be a grand Roman-era mausoleum later converted into a Byzantine church, an unusual survival whose careful restoration earned a European heritage award in 2022. The site sits amid open country crossed by well-marked trails that link the Chora, the chapel of Agia Marina and the peak of Profitis Ilias, making Sikinos genuinely rewarding for walkers.

Wine is the island's quiet pride. Vines have been cultivated here since antiquity, and a modern winery has revived the tradition, offering tastings of local varieties grown on the terraces. Beaches are small and low-key, Agios Georgios, Malta and the sands around the port among them, several reached only on foot or by boat. There is no real nightlife and little in the way of organised activity, and travellers come precisely for that: slow days, honest tavernas, and a landscape that feels lived-in rather than staged. Sikinos suits those content to swim, walk and let the island set the pace.