Lipsí

Lipsí is a little charmer midway between Leros and Patmos, and it’s not surprising that Odysseus put off his homecoming for seven years to linger here, beguiled by the charms of Calypso.

If opinions differ on whether Lipsí really is Homer’s isle of Ogygia (there are only about two dozen candidates around the Mediterranean), no one can deny that it has a certain unworldly magic. For centuries most of the land was owned by the monastery on Pátmos, and the blue domes of the Cycladic-style churches from that period bubble over a horizon of soft, green hills.

Lipsí is one of an archipelago of tiny islets, and its lovely beaches are a magnet for day excursions from its neighnours, yet once the trippers have gone it quickly regains its tranquillity.

Above all, it’s a great place to do nothing. Although now firmly ‘discovered’, the 800 inhabitants, including many who have gone to Tasmania and returned in their retirement, are friendly and go about their lives, fishing and farming.