GREEK ISLANDS
The fun one: Syros While Mykonos is the obvious choice for well-heeled revellers, you’re just as likely to find in-the-know Greeks living it up on Syros, where prices are half what you’d pay on the famous party isle. Syros’s capital, Ermoupolis, sweeps up a pair of hills that look like twin peaks of squirty cream – and with 13,000 night-owl inhabitants, it never shuts down. Markos Vamvakaris, the ‘Father of Rembetika’ (the Greek blues) was born here, and you can still hear the stuff, live, at Lilis Taverna on Ano Syros hill. Evenings in Syros usually start with a juice in elegant Miaouli Square, though, near Greece’s oldest opera house – modelled on La Scala and now scene of a summer festival. Most cafes are within walking distance, strung along Ermoupolis’s vibrant waterfront.
KWT
45