The pretty Greek island ‘frozen in time' with long-living locals and natural hot springs
Named after the Greek myth of Icarus where a boy fell into the see after flying too close to the sun and burning his wings, Ikaria is actually closer to Turkey than it is to mainland Greece.
6
The stunning island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea was recently named as one of the best Greek islands to explore in 2025, by Lonely Planet.
Known for being one of the world's five 'Blue Zones', Ikarian residents supposedly live longer than anywhere else in the world, often reaching the age of 90 or even 100-years-old.
The low rates of disease among Ikarians is down to their relaxed lifestyle, focused on local and seasonal foods such as fruits, vegetables and grains.
The island is home to a rugged and wild landscape with great hiking spots such as Halari Gorge and for centuries, locals were believed to have hid in rock houses scattered across the hills to avoid pirate attacks.
In addition to the breathtaking landscape, the island isn't short of stunning beaches to explore either.
Close to the village of Armenistis, the nudist-friendly Nas Beach appears "frozen in time" according to Island-Ikaria.com and it was the site of one of the island's earliest settlements.
The beach used to be home to a temple to the Goddess Artemis, a patroness of sailors, but today only the foundations remain.
After relaxing on the pebble beach and enjoying the cascading waterfall head to one of the tavernas perched on the cliff edge.
One spot, Tavern Nas, boasts breathtaking views of the ocean and serves traditional Greek dishes such as katsikomakaronada (goat spaghetti) and fresh salads with olives and feta.
Holiday Park in UK village that looks like Greece
If you fancy a pint, it will only set you back €4 (£3.46).
For a more family-friendly spot, Livadi Beach near to Armenistis features golden sand and calm, shallow waters.
Alternatively, on the south coast of the island travellers will find Seychelles Beach with marble pebbles and crystal clear waters - making the hike to the spot worth it.
Hence the name, the beach feels and looks like ones found in the Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean.
The beach can be reached via a path that descends to a riverbed and it takes about 20 minutes to walk from the nearby parking.
Just under two miles away is the village of Manganitis, home to around 150 locals.
The village has a few different tavernas and cafes to stop at, including Taverna Apostolis, a family-ran spot with fresh, locally caught fish and Ikarian goats cheese.
For historical sites, on the eastern end of the island is the Tower of Drakano - a 13.5 metre tall watchtower dating back to the fourth century.
The tower is made of giant marble blocks and was formerly part of the ancient city of Drakano, one of four cities that used to stand on Ikaria.
6
Visitors can head to the historical site for free and the easiest way to get there is by walking from the nearby village of Faros along the Path of the Athera hiking trail.
Another short walk from the tower, you will find Agios Georgios Beach, a more secluded sandy beach with less wind than at Nas Beach and Seychelles Beach.
In the island's capital on the southeastern coast, Agios Kirykos, tourists will find the main port with ferries to the mainland and other islands.
Around this area hot mineral springs are common as well.
Asclepious spring, for example, is near the central square and is believed to have healing properties for several illnesses including respiratory diseases and arthritis.
The water is around 40C and can be visited via Asclepius Spa.
6
If you are looking for other hot springs spots on the island though, you won't be short for choice.
In the town of Therma, there is The Apollon Spa and The Cave Spa.
At The Apollon Spa, there are 26 treatment rooms, a hot tub and a sauna - in addition to the spring - with prices from €4.50 (£3.90).
Then at The Cave Spa, visitors can enjoy a natural sauna located inside a cave and two indoor hot tubs, with prices between €3 (£2.60) and €4.50 (£3.90).
It is also in Agios Kirykos where the Archeological Museum can be found as well as the Folklore Museum with over 1,500 artefacts that reflect the history of Ikaria.
6
Throughout the year, the island hosts a number of events including 'Panagiria', which are traditional feast days that celebrate different Saints' days and religious holidays.
The celebrations involve traditional food, music, drinking Ikarian wine and performing the Ikariotikos dance.
On the note of wine from the island, you can also explore the Afianes Family Winery located in Ikaria's hills which is free to visit.
If you do head to the winery, look out for the 'pythostasi' - where wine is stored underground in jars and there is a large stone grape press.
The island has its own airport, with flights direct from Athens (40 minutes) and Heraklion (50 minutes).
If you hop on a flight from Athens, you can expect it to set you back €41 (£35.50) to €115 (£99.58) each way.
Or you can hop on a Blue Star or SeaJets ferry, it takes between six and eight hours to reach Ikaria from Athens, with prices from £90 for a return trip.
Once on the island, the best way to get around is by using a hire car.
As for places to stay on the island, there is plenty of choice such as Erofili Beach Hotel from £57 per night, which perches above the sea and has traditional Greek charm.
Or for something more luxury, head to Cavos Bay from £68 per night, just a three-minute walk from the beach and home to sea-facing terraces.
6
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Sun, sea and scandal on a singles holiday on Rhodes
I am in Pefkos, a sun-soaked town on the east coast of Rhodes, where Steven is investigating a case of the missing knickers, Mark is on his third glass of unpronounceable Greek white wine, and Barbara's flirting, doe-eyed, over the moussaka. No, not another Richard Osman novel — I'm on holiday with Friendship Travel, a UK-based company specialising in solo trips. Most Friendship Travel holidaymakers are aged between 35 and 65 — and our group is definitely at the top end of that range. Base camp for the week is Pefkos Village Resort, a low-key hotel just back from the sea. We meet for drinks before dinner in the hotel's restaurant where the group discuss their days (and lives) around a banquet-worthy table of fresh fish, grilled mushrooms, hummus and Greek salad. It's a truth universally acknowledged that even the most seasoned solo can feel the twinge of solitude when dining alone — so it's no surprise the vibe tonight feels joyously upbeat. Most of the group members are divorced or widowed and retired and so have the time, freedom and inclination to travel. As for their ages, that makes the stories better and the jokes racier. Plus, almost everyone is called Barbara, so it's impossible to forget anyone's name. • 22 of the best villas in Rhodes We convene at breakfast each morning, where the holiday rep, Sue, talks through the day's optional outings, including a day in the nearby Lindos for shopping, lunch and beach, and a boat trip to Symi where fish cruising in turquoise waters beneath the restaurant's tables are fed with bread rolls. Those opting out lounge by the pool back in Pefkos with books and cocktails, awaiting the day's gossip at dinner. While solo group travel is often assumed to have a louche undercurrent, this trip is a quiet masterclass in love: its surprising returns, sudden absences, and many, protean forms. There's a buzz about 'the two from last year', a couple who fell for each other, and were therefore banned from joining this year due to their new coupledom. Love, it seems, is complicated. Then there is Bob, 82, twice married, twice divorced. He saunters on a cane and speaks with the calm, dry wit of someone who's seen a lot and is no longer surprised by much. One of his closest relationships is with a stepdaughter who regularly rings him to tell him what's worth watching on TV. Love, it also seems, often arrives through the back door, wearing an unexpected name. • Hotel or villa? There's only one winner on a grown-up Greek trip One morning I head out on my own to Pefkos Blue, a swisher hotel just up the hill, where I dine at Kerasma, the best restaurant in Pefkos. Here Yannis, 32, whose family have owned the restaurant for decades, runs olive oil tastings that shouldn't be missed. 'I really didn't want to be another Greek guy selling olive oil,' he says, half-joking. 'But then I did a tasting and — wow!' There's so much of this family's love in their pistachio hummus, a lemon cake wrapped in flaky filo, and the melting shoulder of lamb. There's also a lot of love in the group. Mark, the dapper geezer, still talks about his late wife Linda as though she's just walked out of the room. She was a fiddler, he delights in telling us with a grin. They met young, ran a fiddle shop together in her home town of Glasgow and she came alive every time he spoke. Some love is never forgotten. For Margaret, a 'first widow', the grief is still fresh. Having cared for her husband until the end, she felt lost when he died. Her children suggested she go away last year for the first time alone and while on that Friendship Travel holiday she met Judith, the Thelma to her Louise. They got on so well that they've both come to Pefkos. By the end of the week, there's been sun, swims, gossip about some newlyweds who caused the closure of the local church after overenthusiastic antics in the pews, and as many friendships forged as tan lines. However, at dinner on the last night, Steven still can't solve the case of Barbara's missing knickers. Someone suggests Steven probably has them himself and the group laugh like jesters. To me it shows there's a lot of love here — but there's also proof no one ever stops thinking about sex. Lucy Holden was a guest of Friendship Travel ( which has seven nights at Pefkos Village Resort from £1,491.50, B&B, including four dinners and flights and transfers from Edinburgh to Rhodes
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Mapped: Holiday hotspots most at risk from wildfires revealed as blazes sweep Europe
The holiday hotspots most at risk from wildfires have been revealed as blazes continue to sweep Europe amid scorching temperatures. As many Britons jet off for the bank holiday weekend, experts have also issued a health warning over the potentially deadly fires. Meanwhile, in the UK, wildfires have continued to break out, as the country endured one of its hottest and driest summers on record, and four heatwaves so far. But those looking to head abroad have been warned that Greece is the country most at risk from wildfires this summer, followed by Turkey, then Cyprus. Health and security company International SOS revealed Spain, Portugal and Albania come next on the list, with Montenegro, Germany, Italy then France following. Adam Lakhani, security director at the firm, told The Independent: 'There has been below-average wildfire activity in the lead up to the summer months, likely due to high levels of rainfall across historically at-risk regions, including Southern Europe – France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. 'However, in recent days and weeks, wildfires have begun to hit the regions, also extending as far as Eastern Europe. Currently, much of Southern Europe is facing fires and warnings of extreme heat. 'Wildfires can directly impact health by causing injuries and even death from burns or smoke inhalation.' Dr Kate O'Reilly, regional medical director, explained: 'The smoke from wildfires is a mixture of hazardous air pollutants, including particulate matter, that can affect those in near proximity to the fire, as well as distant populations. Exposure to wildfire smoke can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation, affect the immune system and increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. 'The long-term impacts of wildfire exposure include worsening lung and cardiovascular disease. Mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, in both adults and children can increase after witnessing a wildfire.' She added that access to healthcare can also be impacted during and in the aftermath of wildfires. She warned: 'The current situation across Europe is of great concern.' New research by International SOS found the country worst affected by wildfires in 2024 was Portugal, where roughly 425 square miles (1,100 square km) of land was burnt, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, making up approximately 25 per cent of the total area burnt in Europe that year. The report, titled 2025 Europe Wildfire season: preparation, response, said, in Europe, Greece has regularly been one of the worst-affected countries by wildfires, with authorities increasing the number of firefighters from 15,500 in 2022 to more than 18,000 ahead of this year's wildfire season, while the Greek Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection increased its fleet of firefighting vehicles from 270 to 3,700. Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years. Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to Copernicus. Scientists say that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness in parts of Europe, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. The EU monitoring agency says that 2024 was the hottest year on record both globally and in Europe, which experienced its second-highest number of 'heat stress' days. The blazes in Spain have killed four people this year and burned more than 382,000 hectares or about 1,475 square miles, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). That surface area is more than twice the size of metropolitan London, more than six times the 2006-2024 average for land burned during the same period, according to EFFIS. Air quality deteriorated across large parts of Spain over the past week as a result of the wildfires, data from the EU's Copernicus climate monitoring agency showed. Smoke from the Iberian Peninsula fires reached France, the UK, and Scandinavia, it said. In Portugal, wildfires have burned about 235,000 hectares or 907 square miles, according to EFFIS – nearly five times more than the 2006-2024 average for this period. Two people there have died. Meanwhile, the UK experienced the fourth heatwave of the summer last week, with some areas seeing the mercury climb above 33C in the hottest places. A major incident was declared by firefighters tackling a large moor fire in the North York Moors National Park last week, just days after a huge blaze broke out at the iconic Arthur's Seat landmark in Edinburgh. Fire and rescue services in England and Wales had already responded to 856 wildfire incidents in the UK as of last week, with firefighters warning the country is on track to break the wildfire record this year. Warning that fire services are 'being pushed to their limits', National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) chair Phil Garrigan said: 'We are already seeing more wildfires at this point in the year than in 2022 – which itself was a record year – and that is deeply concerning.'
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Greece's travel sector sees 6 billion euro surplus in first half of 2025
Aug 21 (Reuters) - The Greek travel services sector saw a surplus of 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in the first half of 2025, a 9.1% increase from the previous year, the data from the Bank of Greece showed on Thursday. In January to June, travel receipts rose 11% from the same period last year to 7.6 billion euros, driven by a 24% increase in travel payments and a 10.1% rise in average expenditure per overnight stay. Tourism accounts for more than a quarter of economic output, making the expenditure by visitors closely followed data. In that period, receipts from residents of the 27-country European Union grew by 8.5% to 4.1 billion euros, and receipts from other countries grew 13.7% to 3.2 billion euros, with receipts from euro zone members Germany, France and Italy being the leading contributors to the growth. Receipts from non-EU member Britain also grew by 7.3% to 1.2 billion euros and receipts from the United States were up 29.4% to 704.3 million euros. In the first half of 2025, the number of inbound travellers to Greece rose 0.6% to 11.7 million, remaining at the roughly the same number as in 2024. While the travel traffic through airports grew 4.9%, the traffic across road border-crossing points decreased by 13.1%, the Bank of Greece said. ($1 = 0.8588 euros)
