Holiday with the Greek Gods

This summer we planned a ‘windsurf family holiday’. There was no better option that heading to Karpathos, the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea.

The island is stunningly beautiful, with wild, rugged landscape, mountainous in the north and gentle hills and sandy beaches in the southern part. The best part is that it has extensive beaches which are often empty, so you can relax.

The southern part is a paradise for windsurfers. An interesting fact is that the ancient byzantine city of Thaetho was once here but unfortunately only demolished edifices remain there. Karpathos is not only a paradise for windsurfers but also for surfing, diving, hiking, long walks and bicycle rides. The mountainous tracks are ideal for hiking.

We spent most days windsurfing at the Gun’s bay and Chicken bay, at the lower southern side of the island. We visited the middle southern part of the island as well, marked with low stony mountains, valleys dedicated to agriculture, and long sandy beaches. There we strolled around the capital of Karpathos, the town of Pigadia.

Another day we rented a jeep and went up north the island via the southeast road, stopping at several spectacular beaches, until we reached the ancient village of Olympus. Karpathos keeps its traditions, especially in Olympos where women still wear their beautiful colourful traditional costumes every day, and bake bread in their outdoor ovens.

From Olympus we drove through the westerner side of the island, visiting a few more paradisiac beaches. This side of the island has rough waters and attracts many surfers.

Contrary to most Greek Islands, Karphatos is not crowded with tourists. We concluded that maybe the Greek Gods reserved that island for themselves, making sure that it remains empty. We will definitely come back here every year.