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NORTHEAST AEGEAN ISLANDS
Compiled by Markos Stephanou and Stelios Jackson for the Hellenic Bookservice, 91, Fortess Road, London. If you have any queries or suggestions or wish to add your link, please contact Stelios All the books featured on this page can be ordered securely on-line by clicking on the title or picture where one exists. Our inventory of books, replete with currency converter can be found by clicking on the little orange thingy below:
The North East Aegean islands are: Ayios Efstratios Chios Fourni Ikaria Inousses Lesvos (Lesbos) Limnos Psara Samos Samothrace Thassos
Check out the Weather on Lesvos or Limnos thanks to yahoo.co.uk
Holiday company: Laskarina go to Samos. www.laskarina.co.uk Alternative Accomodation:Andrew was recently in contact with Mike Constantinou at Greece Accomodation Direct (well last year in fact) who was more than helpful in finding accomodation for him on the isle of Spetsei. Have a look at his site: Mike's site An advantage of this is being able to plan your own island hopping agenda knowing that accomodation waits for you when you get there. The Islands
The Rough
guide to the Dodecanese and the East Aegean Islands by Marc Dubin (2nd ed. May '99).
Marc Dubin's tireless enthusiasm and expertise drawn from a couple of decades of travel
writing (mostly on Greece), make this the best all round guide to the Dodecanese and has
the advantage of covering the North East Aegean islands too. Another great guide is the
Lonely Planet guide, below. SJ
Flora and Fauna books can be found by clicking on the triffid
Even lonelier than Psara, with an almost equally depressing history, Ai-Strati has been used as an exile island for political prisoners this century, and had its attractive main town wrecked by an earthquake in 1967. The damage could mostly have been repaired, but owing to junta-related corruption, wasn't. The ugly prefab town in the valley bottom is the result. Oak tress enliven the hillsides, and you can walk to several beaches, but other than admire the dozen or so buildings which escaped demolition after the quake, there's nothing to do. M.S. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios
A big, limestone island with a distinctly macho, Greek-American energy, vast distances to travel overland, and relatively little package tourism; on the plus side, some superb medieval monuments and architecture, plus suprisingly good beaches on the south and west coasts. The rather brash main town offers a lively, authentic bazaar, a castle district, some excellent tavernas and a museum or two, plus most of the car-hire facilities (essential). Karfas near the airport is really the only package dormitory. Must-sees include the Genoese-built, 14th-century mastic villages in the south, designed to defend the producers of gum mastic; the vast mansions of the citrus-planted Kambos; Byzantine churches on nearby hills, especially 11th-century Nea Moni with its superb mosaics; and the western showcase villages of Anavatos and Avgonyma, the latter completely restored since the late 1980s. There is accommodation of very high character and standard in most of the more historic outlying villages, particularly at Volissos in the northeast, where two worthy schemes have renovated large numbers of houses downhill from the crumbling Byzantine castle. And the best beaches on the island are a kilometre or two distant. On the other hand, the far northeast around Marmaro (Kardhamyla) has little to offer tourists and can be skipped as a rule. Forest-fires and road-building have done for most of the tree and paths respectively, so don't come expecting to walk. M.S.
Books
Chios - Oinousses- Psara (The Fragrant island). Colourful 127 page book includes 142 colour photos, 8 maps and drawings. Mostly on Chios. "Click the pic" to order through or secure on line service
General books to the NEA Islands
Map Map of Chios. Another in the excellent "Road" series. This has a scale of1-60,000 "Click the pic" to order through or secure on line service
Site:
Museums:
Links:
ChiosOnline is an excellent site to the island of Chios, full of useful tips and info, which can be accessed by clicking the image above. 
Another very useful site to Chios is that of United-Hellas, with
information on the hotels as well as practical information on Chios
A little dependency of Ikaria, halfway between that island and Samos, and a marvellous do-nothing retreat. A major British package company came, saw and was displeased in 1998, went away without adding Fourni to their lists; hurrah! The rest of us know that this friendly if somewhat barren islet has excellent beaches and seafood, the latter courtesy of the large commercial fleet based here. Most of the action is in the main town, with its flagstoned high street shaded by mulberry trees, but there are villages in the far north and south, as well as the beach-hamlet of Kambi. From Kambi, you can walk further to lonelier, less sandy coves; hired bikes are a bit of a waste as the roads are unspeakable, and taxi boats don't always materialize. M.S. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios
The next big island west of Samos, out in a particularly stormy patch of the Aegean, en route to Mykonos and Naxos; essentially a long, narrow wall athwart the north wind. Surf's up, especially at Armenistis on the northwest coast, a laid-back, slightly alternative resort where you had better be of Hawaiian boogie-board standard if you don't wish to drown. Evdhilos is the north-coast ferry port, while Ayios Kirykos, on the southeast coast, is the other harbour (ferries divide their trade) and capital. It gets spa tourism only, for the sake of hot springs either side of it. Ikarians are proverbially eccentric (one-third vote communist, a similar proportion rise after noon and go to bed at 4am) and can seem indifferent to outsiders, and tourism outside of Armenistis is non-existent. Lively spring and summer festivals in the far west around the Rahes villages, hippies camping in the river inland from Nas cove, peculiar wine at Rahes, and some unfortunate fire damage in 1993 and 1998 in the west com plete the picture. M.S. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios Jackson MUSEUMS: Agios Kerykos Archaeological Collection
General books to the NEA Islands
The other side-show for Chios, easiest reached from the main town, this deceptively-homely looking spot, with fine vernacular mansions, is actually, per square-inch, one of the wealthiest bits of real estate in Greece. When books describe HIos as the shipowners' island, they mean here mostly. Accordingly, tourism is not much developed (there's only one hotel, and a couple of tavernas), just a maritime museum and a few serviceable beaches to either side of the single town. Go on a day trip. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios
Books
Chios - Oinousses- Psara (The Fragrent island). Colourful 127 page book includes 142 colour photos, 8 maps and drawings. Just half a page on Inousses "Click the pic" to order through or secure on line serviceGeneral books to the NEA Islands
Big and covered in millions of olive trees, Lesvos is one of the most traditional islands in Greece - an overused adjective, but one really applicable here, where folk regularly trot around on horses, not just donkeys, and eagerly await the results of the November olive pressing. Not always by choice either - EU development studies consistently rate this one of the poorest corners of Europe, and tourism still only constitutes five per cent of the local economy. As on Samos, most visitors come on packages but, away from the three or four main resorts, few concessions are made to outsiders. Get a car - either in Mytilini port town and capital, or at your resort - and start exploring; bikes won't do. Mytilini Town is bustly and urban, with only its museums compelling - including the superb duo in Varia, 4km south: the Theriade gallery of modern art, and the Theophilos museum, devoted to the "primitive" vernacular painter whom Theriade befriended. The four hot springs (best is Loutra Yeras) and best beaches can only be reached by car, as public transport is skeletal. Besides olives, the landscape can offer extensive pine and chestnut forests (well cared for and little burnt), volcanic buttes and, in the west, virtual desert with Greece's only "petrified forest". Houses are built of sturdy volcanic rock and tile-roofed, with the occasional ruined mosque a memory of the once-substantial Muslim minority, most often admired at postcard-worthy Molyvos in the north, where bands of houses shelter under a vast castle. Together with neighbouring Petra and its rock-top church, it has two-thirds of the island's tourist facilities. Other important resorts include Plomari/Ayios Isidhoros (mostly Scandinavians tanking up on the local ouzo, Greece's best), Skala Kallonis (big with bird watchers), Skala Eressos (big with lesbians with a small ell, come to honour Sappho, supposedly born here), while Vatera (huge beach, not much else) and Sigri (literally at the end of the world) also have a significant tourist presence.M.S.
Check out the Weather on Lesvos thanks to yahoo.co.uk
Site:
Lesvos, The island of Sappho. Colourful 17 page guide to the island of Lesvos with 178 colour photos, 7 maps and drawings. It will be cheaper on the island if you can wait. "Click the pic" to order through or secure on line service
Books: Aeolian Lesbos by Liza Evert et al. A lovely, pictorial book with stunning photographs of various views of the architecture and countryside of Lesbos.
Walks in North Lesvos 28 pages. Walks from Anaxos and Petra by Lance Chilton.
The Poems of Sappho translated by Mary Bernard . The most popular translation of the famous Lesbian poetess who, of course, hailed from here.
General books to the NEA Islands
Museum: Theophilos Museum Superb collection of the Greek artist Theophilos.
Link This a site dedicated to Lesvos:
www.sunvil.co.uk come here, flying direct!
Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios Museum: Site:
General books to the NEA Islands
One of Chios' two satellite islands, west of Volissos; this is a fairly bleak, if quiet place. It never really recovered from an incident in 1824 during the Independence War when the Turks avenged the activities of its fleet by attacking it; the defenders blew the place and themselves up by torching a munitions store. There are a growing number of tourist facilities, but the single town is a bit higgledy-piggledy, aside from a succession of beaches immediately northeast, there's little to see or do, but day trips are not really practical so you'll have to stay a night or two. M.S. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail: Stelios
Chios - Oinousses- Psara (The Fragrent island). Colourful 127 page book includes 142 colour photos, 8 maps and drawings. Just a page and a half on Psara. "Click the pic" to order through or secure on line service
General books to the NEA Islands
Big, remote, green and rural, Samos is just beginning to figure in the British imagination after years of domination by Scandanavian, Dutch and German package tourism. It was once one of the Aegean powerhouses of antiquity but history since Byzantine times is humbler; monuments are few on the ground, and past glories are mostly on view at the superb archaeological museum in Vathy town, full of relics from the shrine of Hera on the south coast. Despite destructive blazes and bulldozing since the late 1980s, still a good island for walks in the forest, and if you're really ambitious, ascents of two of the highest peaks in the Aegean, Ambelos and Kerkis (1153m and 1437m respectively). Beaches are in all shapes and sizes, though many take some getting to - numerous car and bike hire outlets oblige. Taverna food is improving, and this is a fine island for self-catering, especially slightly off season when the greengrocers and fishmongers are in full swing. After Paros and Rhodes, Samos also has perhaps the best ferry and hydrofoil connections in the Aegean, so a good springboard for a flight-only followed by island-hopping, but be warned that several package companies monopolize most of the seats, so they can be tricky to get. Holiday company: Laskarina go to Samos. www.laskarina.co.uk Books:
Landscapes of Samos: Walks, car tours, picnics: 136 page guide plus fold out map to the isle of Samos. Another in the excellent "Sunflower Landscapes" series.
Samos by Davaras. 96 page book with small map and a number of colour photos. General books to the NEA Islands
MAP
Map of Samos. Another in the excellent "Road" series. This has a scale of 1-50,000
Museum: Pythagoreion Archaeological Collection Site:
Off by itself in the Sea of Thrace, with only unreliable hydrofoil or excursion boat links to Thassos or Samothraki, Samothraki has historically been visited mainly for the sake of its superb Sanctuary of the Great Gods, tucked into a ravine on the northeast flank of Mt Fengari, tallest mountain in the Aegean outside of Crete. No packages, no handy airport, just two usable beaches (at Pahia Ammos and Kipos in the south) and stormy weather in the straits ensure that you REALLY WANT to get here. Another garrison island like Limnos, but less obtrusively so; Greek, Italian and German Green types love the island for the sake of its dramatic mountain-scapes and plunging waterfalls on the north slopes. The port of Karmariotissa is shabby and expensive - hire transport immediately and get yourself to Paleopoli, the hamlet by the ruins, or Loutra, a spa resort under vast plane trees, both with accommodation. Hora, the inland capital, is attractive but only has good tavernas, no lodging. From Loutra you can climb the mountain in a full day, but inexperienced hikers have run into difficulties, so the police may attempt to prevent you - tell your hotelier you're going, not them. The hot springs, ugly junta bath-house aside, are pleasant, especially two outdoor lukewarm pools.M.S. Books: Nothing specific springs to mind; if you know of a publication which you believe should be included please e-mail Stelios: Stelios Jackson There are some extremely expensive books on the Nekropolis. As these cost over £300.00 I'll furnish you with more details upon request. Museums:
Books:
Walks in North East Thassos by Lance Chilton. Plant list for Thassos by Lance Chilton.
General books to the NEA Islands
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