We're open tomorrow at 9:15 AM 020 8568 4499 020 8568 4499
Get in touchAs a travel writer I’m often asked where is my favourite place. The answer depends entirely what I’m looking for. For a holiday, though, my answer is Greece. It has that perfect combination of historic sights/culture and relaxing sun and swimming, great food and reasonable prices. So, I’m always on the lookout for places with all this – and once again the Cyclades have come up trumps.
All the best islands – imo – are a ferry ride from an airport. This time, I was pointed to Syros – just 40 mins across the water from Mykonos. It’s beloved of Athenians but little known in the UK. It deserves more attention, though I hope from those who appreciate it for what it is and do not want to turn it into Mykonos – they have their place and needn’t bother with the ferry!
Syros has lovely unspoilt sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, secluded bays, seaview tavernas and a remote mountainous north perfect for walking (not in midsummer!). So much, so ideal Greek island. Syros, though, is also a bit different. Rising above the port is Ano Syros, a maze of tiny streets climbing up to a peak where perches a fortress-like Catholic Cathedral – unusual for Greece. All this was built by Venetian and Genoese settlers arriving after the fourth crusade in the early 13th century.
Beneath the Medieval ‘Upper’ City spreads the capital, Ermoupolis – also the capital of the whole Cyclades – topped by a blue-domed Orthodox church. Named after Hermes, Greek God of trade and travel, this is a mini-city of faded Neoclassical elegance paved in polished white marble. Though an Ancient Greek port once stood here, Ermoupolis is just two centuries old, built by shipowners and merchants who came here in the 1820s from neighbouring islands, escaping fighting in the Greek War of Independence. The incomers soon made this a wealthy centre of trade and culture – with the nation’s first opera house – and, incredibly, the main port of Greece.
Its crown was in due course stolen by Piraeus, the port of Athens, but Ermoupolis pivoted to industry, working leather and making textiles, earning it the epithet, “The Manchester of Greece”. I visited a beautifully restored textile factory where they run informative tours complete with a typical workers’ lunch of local bread, olives and traditional ricotta-like Syros unsalted cheese – delicious.
The factories are gone but a shipyard remains and the Town Hall buzzes with the archipelago’s administration. This island is not only dependent on tourism. It has everything a visitor needs - and also a history and a life all its own. Nothing but a plus if you are a tourist like me.
Juliet Rix (www.julietrix.com) is an award-winning freelance writer, editor and broadcaster, author of the Bradt Guide to Malta & Gozo (5th edition, 2025) and London’s Statues of Women (Safe Haven Books, 2025). She works for the Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Wanderlust, The Independent, iPaper and BBC Radio among others. Her articles on Syros will appear in Wanderlust magazine and the iPaper in 2026.
29th October 2025
Sunvil's holidays are designed by passionate travellers just like you. Our reservations experts and product teams, many of whom have been with us for many years, are passionate about our destinations and, through their personal, first-hand knowledge can answer any questions that you may have. They are well qualified to advise and recommend, based on your own holiday criteria. We can point you to those special, little-known places, some not found even in guidebooks.
Call one of our experts to discuss your next holiday with Sunvil on
We're open tomorrow at 9:15 AM
