Sifnos is easily reachable by ferry from Pireaus. Sifnos is a mountainous island with fertile valleys, beautiful beaches and several towns. It has a long history and has been inhabited since 3000 BC. For people who are looking for the 'real Greece' ...

Sifno's main attraction is Platos Gialos - a sleepy little beach village where most of the signs are only in Greek. You almost feel like you have stumbled into a private party until you see English on the menus of one of the half dozen tavernas. Sifnos is mostly visited by Greeks and the rare tourist who is looking for a place where the discos don't drown out the melody of the waves lapping up on the beach.

The lobby of the Platos Gialos Beach Hotel immediately gives you a clue that this isn't your average tourist town. How many times have you stayed at a hotel where the guests are invited to pick up the brush and paint their impressions of the beautiful village on the bay? And even if you are not a painter, the spirit rubs off. You start to see the world around you a little more closely; for just a day or two you imagine that you have left the rat race behind for the life of a bohemian artist exiled to tiny island in the middle of the Aegean Sea. .

The Panayia Chrissogi (left) is the island's oldest church built in 1650 and is built on a holy rock where miracles are said to have occured. It is a short distance from Platos Gialos (tip: for photography don't go there in the morning like we did.) The beach town of Vathi (on the right) is Sifnos' second best beach. It is also quiet and laid back and also a short distance from Platos Gialos.