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Greek Islands at a Glance Page Ten

The Cyclades

the cyclades islandsThe Cyclades or 'cyclic chain', offers advantages to visitors with more time especially if staying within the Cycladic ferry route comfort zone.

For one thing, these Greek islands are a little piece of paradise only a few hours from Athens.

The 18 major islands ensure quite a bit of variety and that's without counting the several lesser Cyclades with their pristine beaches and laid back lifestyle.

Most island groups have a HUB island or administrative center.

Some like the Cyclades have several; Syros the capitol, with its beautiful buildings and sandy beaches, Mykonos, third most popular island in the Tinos has many stone masons who are well known for their dove cotes as the Venetians used to breed them and many are over a hundred years oldMed and gate way to ancient Delos, Tinos the religious center of the Orthodox faith, Naxos, in its day, seat of a duchy, most fertile and largest. Green Paros rich in wine and marble.

Milos is well known for its mineral deposits but has lovely sandy beaches to boot! Milos with its beautiful beaches, geologic formations and obsidian deposits exported since pre-historic times.

Incidentally, The Venus de Milo, discovered on Milos was made of marble from Paros (Parian).  Beautiful Ios, where youth is wasted on the young and the young get wasted.

And last and certainly not least, romantic Santorini with its hot black sand beaches, unparalleled caldera views and prehistoric ruins reminiscent of Pompeii. For these reasons and many more the Cyclades island group is the most popular among tourists both Greek and foreign.

Click to see Greek islands map I | Greek Islands map II in a new window.

More Greek Islands at a Glance: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16