Folégandros

Arid and mountainous, long an island of exile – Socialist Prime Minister George Papandréou (grandfather of the more recent prime minster of the same name) was once an unwilling guest – Folégandros is now an increasingly trendy place to get away from it all by choice. With sheer cliffs and a breathtaking capital, Chóra, built to defy pirates—CNN recently listed it as one the most beautiful villages in Europe—it is one of the most alluring of the Cyclades.

With only 600 inhabitants (down from 4,000 in the 1940s) Folégandros is one of the smallest Greek islands with a permanent population. In myth, Folégandros was a son of King Minos of Crete, and his legacy can be seen in the labyrinthine paths across the island, laid out to confound invaders. Linguists, however, say the name Folégandros comes from the Phoenician Phelekguduri, ‘rock-built’; one ancient nickname was Aratos, ‘the iron-bound’.