Milos Island, Greece
Milos Island is known for its diverse and picturesque beaches - that's why we chose it! Rent a car and drive around to all the different spots, one o two beaches per day will work. My favorite was Sarakiniko, called "Moon Beach" because of its unusual white rock formations. Spend the day sunning on the rocks, taking pictures, swimming, exploring nearby caves, or coaxing the wild cats who live here to come out and say hi (or "Yassou!"). Climbing on the rocks and taking pictures will go down as one of the best days of your life! And you'll have 100s of photographic memories.
We also loved Tsigrado, which is difficult to get to (you have to climb down a rope), but has a very cool cove and calm, clear water. Kleftiko, which has the most intensely aqua water I've ever seen, is only accessible by boat. You can spend an entire week exploring a new beach everyday!
There are also super cute villages, like the quaint Firopotamos and Klima, where you'll find those colorful row houses so close to the water. Great for Instagramming, if less-so for swimming. Plus all those small whitewashed towns tucked away on a hillside or tumbling down towards the ocean. Get a small car that can easily navigate the tight hairpin turns and narrow town roads.
From our hotel, we walked 10 minutes to Pollonia every evening for dinner and selected from one of the many seafood restaurants. Our favorite was the most expensive one, but they are all worth a try. You'll find lines of octopus hanging out to dry; we tried it one night and it was a bit tough for my liking, but apparently it was the season. Who knows. The fish was fresh and the wine aplenty!
We stayed at Melian Boutique Hotel & Spa. It didn't have its own beach, but the room was lovely and had a pretty blue ocean view. And the location was a perfect starting point for all of our island exploration. I referenced greeka.com to decide which beach or town to see each day.
