Kimolos

Kimolos is a small volcanic island in the western Cyclades, separated from Milos by a one-nautical-mile strait. With no airport and limited ferry connections, it remains one of the Cyclades’ last uncommercialised destinations. The island takes its name from kimolia — chalk — harvested here for centuries, and this mineral legacy gives Prassa Beach its distinctive brilliant-white shoreline and turquoise water, often compared to the Caribbean. The main settlement, Chorio, clusters around a 15th-century Venetian Kastro and maze-like whitewashed lanes. Inland, the Skiadi geological monument — a natural mushroom-shaped rock sculpted by millennia of wind erosion — rises from the scrubland as one of Greece’s strangest natural formations. At Goupa, colourful sirmata boathouses are carved directly into the volcanic cliff face. Off Ellinika Beach, the ruins of an ancient settlement lie visible just below the waterline — some of Greece’s most accessible underwater archaeology. One nautical mile south, Polyegos — the largest uninhabited island in the Mediterranean — offers pristine beaches and monk seal habitat, reachable by local boat excursion.