The most easterly of the Cyclades, Amorgos is rugged and mountainous, often battered by wine and wave. It is hospitable and unspoilt – visitors come for excellent walking and relaxed, uncommercialized atmosphere, or to see the location of Luc Besson’s film The Big Blue. The south coast is sheer, steep and unpopulated but for one monastery built into the cliffs. The north coast is sheltered by the mountains and has two harbours and a scattering of hill villages. Photo by: korax67

In antiquity Amorgos boasted three cities, Egiali, Minos and Arkessini. For the Romans it was a place of lenient exile. Pillaging by pirates in the 7th century forced the islanders into the hills. After Venetian occupation, Barbarossa the Turk seized it in 1537 and the island remained Turkish till 1822. Photo by: relong

The principal port, Katapola straggles by a large bay backed by a coastal plain in the south-west. There are several small beaches in the area. Katapola means ‘Below the Town’, and a steep road leads up to Hora, a delightful white cube with a car free main street winding along a ridge topped by ruined windmills. A path climbs down to the popular south-facing beaches at Ayia Anna. Photo by: fylter.

The eastern port, Egiali, is quieter, with a long sandy beach and a scatter of accommodation built on a site of the ancient city. In the hills above the town lie the lovely traditional villages of Thoiaria and Langada. A good road now links the two ports – until recently the easiest connection was by water.

How to get there: Inter-island ferries, some come from the mainland (Rafina). Population: 1,869. When to go: May, June and September. Photo by: plaisirbleu