Tilos by Steve Jermanok

Close friends teased my wife and I when we told them we were going to the Greek islands in mid-summer for our honeymoon.

"When did you book your reservations? Last year?"

"We have no reservations," I responded.

"I hope you're bringing a tent and sleeping bag, because you'll be sleeping on the beach," they laughed.

What they didn't know is that we were heading for the island of Tilos, an island where the locals, still unaccustomed to tourists, greet you as if you’d lived there all your life. A place where one picks fresh figs off the tree and finds deserted Medieval castles that request no admission fee. It's also one of the few locations in the Greek islands where the white stretch of sand along the Mediterranean isn't crammed with hundreds of bronzing bodies.

Tilos lies approximately 65 kilometers due east of Rhodes and 40 kilometers due south of Kos in the Dodecanese Islands. With a population of only 300 people, the island has a surprising number of readily available accommodations and restaurants, one of which makes some of the best food in the country. Most of the tourist facilities line the sleepy port of Livadia, a town where the lone baker knows you on a first-name basis shortly after you arrive and a restaurateur gives you a free bottle of his favorite wine when you depart. Tilos' only road runs along the coast in Livadia and then turns inland through the mountainous terrain to the village of Megalo Chorio, where the majority of the island's population lives.

The island is ideal for walking. Hundreds of paths wind through the rugged interior to deserted churches or remote beaches. One such hike leads to the most impressive of Tilos' seven Medieval castles, perched high on Megalo Chorio. Built by the Knights of St. John, the fortified stone walls still provide the best lookout on the entire island. Olive trees spread out in every direction, and on a clear day, one can see the neighboring volcanic island of Nissyros. Walk through the castle's classical arch and enter into a small chapel where you can view some well-preserved 16th century frescoes of Christ and his disciples. There is also a dungeon but only the courageous will want to climb down into this deep hole, even with a flashlight. The thirty-minute walk up to the castle starts at the painted white water storage plant in the back of the town.

Three kilometers south of Megalo Chorio lies the island's most popular beach, Eristos. On a hot summer day in the middle of high season, the population of this white sand-swept beach might swell to about ten people maximum. An open-air truck (donated by a local farmer) functions as the island's makeshift bus. It transports visitors from Livadia to Megalo Chorio and Eristos Beach at ten and twelve in the morning returning at five and six in the evening.

Mopeds and motorcycles are the only way to get to the more secluded Plaka Beach and the monastery of Aghio Panteleimon Plaka Beach is a cove five kilometers northwest of Megalo Chorio. It is an ideal place for snorkeling, since the aqua blue waters of the Mediterranean are as calm as bath water here. Another three kilometers along the same unpaved road brings you to the large deserted 18th century monastery. Relax in the courtyard under the large fig tree and drink from the natural spring nearby as the monks must have done in the past.

Between the villages of Livadia and Megalo Chorio lies the town of Mikro Chorio, home to 1000 people in the 1950s. Today, it is a ghost town, with stray goats as its only inhabitants. It's sad story is similar to that of many of Greece's other small islands: economic woes forced hundreds of islanders to emigrate to Athens, America or Australia in order to survive. The few who remained moved to the other two villages, leaving behind their homes and community for the curious tourist to wander through. All has been left to decay except for a stark white church situated in the center of the village, perfectly maintained throughout the years jointly by the remaining islanders. This church stands as a sacred symbol of a culture dedicated to preserving their heritage, the main reason why the relatively few tourists who venture here return year after year.