With its beautiful main town, small hotels, picturesque houses and secluded coves, Folégandros offers the ideal Greek hideaway. However, as is so often the way, this fantastic island in the southern Cyclades is not the easiest to reach. Remote and rocky, it has no airport, no package tours and no chain hotels.

ANEMOMILOS APARTMENTS
Khóra (00 30 286 41309; www.greekhotel.com). The Anemomilos Apartments consists of 16 open plan studios, each with a bedroom, living room, a big kitchen and sea views. There is a swimming pool, bar and restaurant. £

THE CASTRO
(00 30 286 41230). A 500-year-old house with pebble mosaic floors and rooms that look down the sheer cliffs into the sea. £

Khóra comes alive at night. Start the evening with an aperitif and a simple dinner in an outdoor restaurants such as Ouzeri Folégandros, then head to one of the many bars. Folégandros has a fantastic bar scene, famous for its live music. There is often dancing till dawn and always a bar to go to in the harbour for an early breakfast.

Folégandros is situated in the Southern Cyclades, between Sikinos and Milos. It is only 13 km long and 4 km wide but has numerous small beaches which can be reached by car, by local bus, by foot or by little fishing boats departing daily from the port.

There are pebble beaches at Karavostassi and Livadi. The island's finest beach is sandy Angali. Other good beaches are Agios Nikolaos and Livadaki, both north-west of Angali, and Agios Georgios, which is north-west of Ano Meria. A path from Ano Meria's Church of Agios Andreas leads to Agios Georgios beach.

The main road leading from Karavostasi port to Khóra and Ano Meria is shorter than 10 km. Khóra ends on a cliff, where there is a marvellous view over the Aegean Sea. The island also offers an underwater paradise for scuba divers.

AIRPORT
As Folégandros has no airport, the only way to reach the island is by boat. First fly to Santorini. The boats from here are less crowded and less expensive than the tourist boats.

The spring and autumn are the best times to visit as the heat is not too overbearing and there are fewer tourists then. The summers are very hot and the strong meltémi wind blows over the Cyclades in August.

Contact the Sottovento Tourism Office on 00 30 286 41430.