Tatler UK - 10.2019

From the cultural hinterlands of the

Peloponnese to the artsy playground

of Hydra, our travel insiders reveal

the Hellenic highlights not to miss

Nicolas Niarchos

Wr ite r

My great-grandfather came from the Peloponnese, the

hand-shaped peninsula south of Athens, severed from the

mainland by the Corinth Canal. It is said that he decided

to leave his hometown for the United States after going to

a market in Sparta and seeing a man in a three-piece suit.

When he remarked that the suit, which was made of black

serge, was the most beautiful he had ever seen, he was told

that the man had made his fortune in America. So many

people left Greece in the late nineteenth and twentieth

centuries that there are semi-ghost towns of grey stone homes

sprinkled throughout the region. These days, his village,

Vamvakou, perched along the green ridges of the Parnonas

mountains, is undergoing a revival: young people have

returned to open restaurants and guest houses. In Kastanitsa,

a nearby village, you can try the wild boar and chestnut

makaronia. And in kafeneia (local cafes) throughout the

region, just ask the mustachioed locals and they’ll produce

tins of fresh bee pollen and jugs of sage honey for you. Just

down from the Parnonas range is the vale of Sparta; looming

at its entrance is the conical hill city of Mystras. The town was

one of the last outposts of Byzantium after Constantinople fell

to the Turks, and its ruins, many with beautiful fourteenth-

and fifteenth-century frescoes, are among the finest in the

country. A little further north, and much more ancient, is the

glorious fourth-century BC theatre of Epidaurus, where plays

are still performed on summer nights. vamvakourevival.org

Theodora

Warre Chandris

Jewellery designer

I first visited Spetses six years ago with my Greek husband

(Anthony Chandris) and instantly fell under the spell of its

amazing beaches, cobbled streets, horse-drawn carriages and

bougainvillea-covered cottages – all of which are naturally

inspiring to any designer. Spetses is wonderfully simple and laid

back; it’s also glamorous, drawing a chic crowd of regulars with its

small-island way of life. By day you can rent a bicycle and

discover secret bays like Zogeria – the prettiest beach right up on

the north of the island with beautiful crystalline water and a small

church on the corner of the bay. By night, enjoy the social scene

around the port, especially at the waterfront taverna Orloff.

I always recommend The Poseidonion Hotel, which is the island’s

grand dame and home to a fabulous spa. They can also arrange

a dinner at their small organic farm, where you can enjoy a

delicious candlelit vegetarian dinner romantically set in the

island’s ancient olive groves. poseidonion.com

Greece is the word

Nicolas in Vamvakou in

the Parnonas mountains

Theodora:‘Spetses

is inspiring for

any designer’

PHOTOGRAPHS: BART SCHOUTEN/UNSPLASH; CHRISTOPHER WOODS; JOHNNY SHAND KYDD

09-19TRAVEL-GreecePeople.indd 152 14/08/2019 16:01