Instead of Santorini: Milos, the Greek Island of Many Colours Without the Cycladic Crowds

Santorini receives two million tourists a year on an island of fifteen thousand inhabitants. The alleyways of Oia are impassable at sunset, hotel prices surpass those of Paris and the experience shrinks to waiting in line for the perfect photograph. Milos, in the western Cyclades, offers a radical alternative: a volcanic island with over seventy beaches, intact villages and a history stretching from the earliest Neolithic settlements to the discovery of the Venus de Milo.

The first thing that strikes you about Milos is the colour. The beaches are not all white: at Sarakiniko the volcanic rock has created a lunar landscape of wind-eroded white limestone; at Paleochori the sand is red and black; at Firiplaka the cliffs are yellow and orange. Every bay is different, and many are accessible only by boat or on foot, which keeps them deserted even in August.

Plaka, the island's main town, is a Cycladic village just as you imagine: white houses with blue doors, bougainvillea spilling over the walls, alleyways where you walk in silence. But unlike Oia, the bars here are full of Greeks, the restaurants serve generous portions at honest prices and the sunset is watched from the medieval kastro without fighting for a spot.

Klima is Milos's most photographed village: a row of syrmata — the traditional boat garages hewn from the rock — painted in vivid colours that mirror themselves in the water. It is a still-active fishing village, not an Instagram set.

The early Christian catacombs of Milos are the only ones in Greece and among the oldest in the Mediterranean: corridors carved into the rock where you can still make out the burial niches. A place of silence and history that contrasts with the island's sun-drenched cheer.

Milos is reached by ferry from Athens (3–4 hours by hydrofoil) or by domestic flights. The island has a limited bus network, so renting a car or scooter is recommended. Accommodation ranges from campsites to villas with pools, but the finest options are the small guesthouses in the villages. Eating is a pleasure: pitaroudia (tomato fritters), baked saganaki, grilled octopus and the local cheese — all accompanied by Cycladic wine.