Serifos

Serifos is dry, rocky and sparsely populated, and its Chora is the sight: white houses stacked up a steep cone above the port of Livadi, crowned by a ruined Venetian castle, with lanes so narrow and steep that the upper town is reached only on foot. In myth this is where Perseus grew up and where he turned the king to stone with the Gorgon's head, which explains the island's stony reputation. From the late nineteenth century Serifos was mined for iron ore, and the industrial remains, loading bays at Megalo Livadi, rusting rails, tunnels and the ruins of company buildings, stand along the western coast as an unusual layer over a Cycladic landscape. Beaches are numerous and mostly empty, from sandy Livadakia and Psili Ammos to remote coves reached on foot.

What you actually see

• The Chora - a white town spilling down a cone with a castle above.
• The mining remains - loading piers, rails and ruins at Megalo Livadi.
• The empty beaches - sandy and pebble bays scattered around the coast.
• The old paths - stone routes across the bare interior to chapels and coves.

When to go

May, June and September for warm sea and comfortable walking; the island is bare and offers no shade in midsummer. August brings Athenian visitors but Serifos stays quieter than its neighbours.

Honest expectations

The Chora involves serious stair climbing, and cars stop well below the top. The island is dry and treeless, which some find stark. Facilities are concentrated in Livadi; elsewhere there is very little.

Nearby

Sifnos lies south; Kythnos north, with Piraeus a few hours away by fast boat.