DESTINATIONS SYROS | GREECE & CYPRUS up d travelweekly.co.uk


ipping my toes into the sun-warmed waters of the Aegean Sea, sailing boats bobbing gently against the jetty, sugar-cube houses


snaking up the hillside to a tiny white-washed church, and a handful of sun-tanned tourists sipping beers in a beach bar, it seemed like any other summer in the glorious Greek islands. The bars were busy serving drinks and playing music, the sunloungers spaced out along the water’s edge were full, and a middle-aged man struggled to get onto a lilo with anything approaching dignity. But look a little closer at the scene in Kini Beach, Syros, last week, and it was clear there were few, if any, British tourists here. While many of us have been flocking to Mykonos,


Corfu and Crete – even more so with the shores of Spain, Portugal and now France off limits – the small Cyclades island of Syros barely registers on the radar of most British travellers, despite being a holiday hotspot for locals and Greek island enthusiasts. Yet that’s exactly why it was chosen for one of


Intrepid Travel’s new Intrepid Retreats, the series of closer-to-home tours that take into account new Covid-safe protocols with shorter durations and fewer hotel changes. It was the first escorted tour to depart since


operations were suspended in March, and the maiden


departure brought six of us – all from England – to Athens for a tour of the Acropolis, followed by four nights in Syros and a half-day trip to Mykonos.


SCENIC SYROS Unlike many other Greek islands, what’s special about Syros is that tourism isn’t its sole earner. The beaches are every bit as enticing as you’d expect, from the bays of Kini and Vari to the open stretch of sand at Galissas. But there’s also the thriving capital city of Ermoupoli, built on the back of the island’s ship-building heritage and 19th-century industry, home to a sprawling main square and grand town hall that showcases the island’s one-time wealth. Then there’s the real jewel in the crown, Ano


Syros, a 13th-century Venetian settlement built high up in the hills to defend from marauding pirates. It’s almost too beautiful to be believed, all cobbled streets and winding stone staircases, whitewashed houses draped in bright-pink bougainvillea, all with sweeping views across Ermoupoli. “This island has life,” says our enthusiastic Intrepid


Travel guide, Vasiliki Stergiopoulou. “It’s not like the islands that have life only in the summer. You can go to the beach, enjoy siesta time, but it also has the vibe of the city, a variety of bars and amazing food. “They call it the queen of the islands because ²


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