Holidays to Serifos

For a Cycladic island with such fine beaches, one of the loveliest Choras you will find, a delicious local cuisine at reasonable prices, and all just over a couple of hours from Athens by high speed ferry, it is a mystery why Serifos does not attract more foreign visitors.

Those that do come stay mainly in the little port of Livadi or its satellite Livadakia in the next bay (they are only a ten minute walk apart so can be counted as one). Livadi has all the attributes you would expect from the main port - shops, a bank, a good choice of tavernas (many with tables on the sand) and a number of beach bars and cafes. Buses run to Chora and (in season) some beaches, but to see more of the island you'll need to hire a car.Chora perches precariously on a rocky outcrop high above Livadi. It is an archetypal old capital with whitewashed houses and chapels in its narrow lanes, a main square with a handful of tavernas and cafes, bright splashes of bougainvillea and lots of steps! But the climb up to the top is worth it when the stunning view over Livadi and the Aegean to Sifnos reveals itself. Take the bus up and walk back down via the old mule path (c 30 mins).

There are some 60 beaches on Serifos, nearly all of them of sandy and many with natural shade. The main beach of Livadi stretches for 850m and would be the envy of many another village. But they get much better than this. Livadakia over the headland is gorgeous - a perfect crescent of golden sand lined by tamarisk trees. Keep going along the south coast for 5 kms and you come to stunning Vaya, a protected beach backed by dunes, and then to equally lovely Ganema. Go north-east from Livadi and you will come to Psili Ammos, once picked by The Sunday Times as Europe's Beach of the Year - you can walk to it in 45 minutes.

Serifos links with Kythnos to the north and Sifnos, Milos and Folegandros to the south, so a twin-centre or island hopping trip can be easily arranged.