80 Best Sights in Greece

Visit a restored 14th-century monastery, about a 30-minute walk (each way) into the valley. Two images of the Pantocrator (Almighty), one in each dome—perhaps duplicated to give the segregated women their own view—stare down on the congregation. There is a guided tour in English which explains the 18th-century frescoes created in Epirote style. You'll visit the wine cellar where the a huge oak barrel ferments the strong rubini "Imperator" (make sure to buy a bottle) and take a peek into the monks' cells.

Perched high on a granite outcrop in the mountainous interior is an eerie testament to the violent history of the island. Anavatos (the name means "unassailable") was built in medieval times and flourished as a community until the massacres of 1822. The Ottomans attacked and fierce street-by-street fighting ensued until the Greeks were overwhelmed. Rather than be enslaved by the invading forces, the women and children of the village threw themselves over the steep cliffs to their death. Further devastated in the earthquake of 1881, the village lies abandoned but the views remain breathtaking in this ghostly, poignant monument.

This Byzantine and Frankish structure incorporates remnants of classical walls and was later expanded by the Turks and Venetians. Even in its diminished state, it takes your breath away. You also still can see sections of the original Mycenean walls that date back to the acropolis on which the castle was later built. You can drive almost to the entrance (we don't recommend walking from town—it's about 3 km [1½ miles] of winding roads), and the grounds provide an unsurpassed view of the Argive plain.

A kilometer-long seaside promenade skirts the Nafplion Peninsula. It is paved with flagstones and opens every so often onto pretty terraces planted with rosebushes and olive and cedar trees. Halfway along lies the tiny church of the Virgin Mary, or Agia Panagitsa, which once hid one of Greece's "secret schools," where pupils were reputedly taught Greek history and culture during the Ottoman occupation. You'll also find steps to Arvanitia Beach, which is a lovely place for a dip but be careful if you go swimming because the rocks are covered with sea urchins, which can inflict a painful wound. Directly above the beach, starting at the car park, a forested path wraps its way for 4 km (2½ miles) around the coast to the sands of Karathona, passing umpteen stretches of wild rocky shore along the way; it makes a wonderfully shaded and scenic stroll.

Construction of Assos Castle began in 1593. At the time the island's fortified center, Agios Georgios, was deemed too central by its Venetian rulers, so this was built to provide backup against pirate raids to the north. Sadly, very little survives today of the original structure except 2 km (1 mile) of outer walls, remnants of the old barracks, and two of its original gates. Earthquakes have destroyed much of it. The clamber up to the ruins is best done in the morning. It's a steep climb with a choice of two routes: a shorter stony path that wraps the northern coast of the peninsula, and a winding paved trail that faces back toward the village. The former has the better views but is less shaded, so is best done on the way up if setting off early. Set aside at least two hours for the whole endeavor. If you want to explore farther, follow the path to the peninsula's northernmost tip, passing an old prison farm that was built in the 1920s and was still in use until 1953. A small village existed within the castle walls up until the 1960s, cultivating olive trees and living off the land. The last resident was said to have left in 1968.

Known as "the oldest house in Athens," this Byzantine mansion was once the home of the prestigious Benizelos Paleologou family, and Athens's patron saint Agia Filothei (1522–89). Filothei dynamically sought to protect and secretly educate women and the poor, while engaging in diplomatic affairs in her effort to oust the occupying Ottomans, who eventually killed her. Dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, the space with its lovely marble-arched courtyard, a fountain, and remains of a Roman wall is now a folk museum of sorts, presenting visitors with how people of that caliber lived. There is also a screening room to watch a short documentary about the family and the Byzantine era.

This summit includes Lofos Mousson (Hill of the Muses), whose peak offers the city's best view of the Parthenon. Also there is the Monument of Filopappus, depicting a Syrian prince who was such a generous benefactor that the people accepted him as a distinguished Athenian. The marble monument is a tomb decorated by a frieze showing Filopappus driving his chariot. In 294 BC a fort strategic to Athens's defense was built here, overlooking the road to the sea. On the hill of the Pnyx (meaning "crowded"), the all-male general assembly (Ecclesia) met during the time of Pericles. Originally, citizens of the Ecclesia faced the Acropolis while listening to speeches, but they tended to lose their concentration as they gazed upon the monuments, so the positions of the speaker and the audience were reversed. The speaker's platform is still visible on the semicircular terrace. Farther north is the Hill of the Nymphs, with a 19th-century observatory designed by Theophilos Hansen. He was so satisfied with his work, he had servare intaminatum ("to remain intact") inscribed over the entrance.

This mountainside monastery, altitude 3,117 feet, was founded in the 4th century and is said to be the oldest in Greece, though it has been burned down many times, most recently in 1934. The community once had 450 monks and owned vast tracts of land in the Peloponnese, Constantinople (now Istanbul), and the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, making it one of the richest in Greece. Mega Spileo sits at the base of a huge (360-foot-high) curving cliff face and incorporates a large cavern (the monastery's name means "large cave"). You can tour the monastery to see a charred black-wax-and-mastic icon of the Virgin, supposedly painted by St. Luke, found in the cave after a vision of the shepherdess Euphrosyne led some monks there in AD 362. Also on display are ornate vellum manuscripts of early gospels and the preserved heads of the founding monks.

Modest dress is required; wraps are available at the entrance.

If you're taking the Kalavrita Express, 45 minutes into its trip you can alight at the stream-laced mountain village of Zakhlorou. This stop is signed "Mega Spileo," though the monastery is in fact a one-hour (one-way) hike from here, up a steep path through evergreen oak, cypress, and fir. This trek along a rough donkey track gives you superb views of the Vouraikos valley and distant villages on the opposite side. The occasional sound of bells, from flocks of goats grazing on the steep slopes above, is carried on the wind. It's also possible to take a cab from the village, though they are not always available; if you're driving, the monastery is just off the road between Diakofto and Kalavrita and is well marked.

Sacked by Crusaders, inhabited by Cistercian monks, and desecrated by Turks, this UNESCO World Heritage site remains one of the most splendid Byzantine monuments in Greece. Dating mostly from the 11th century (the golden age of Byzantine art), the church contains a series of miraculously preserved mosaics without parallel: powerful portraits of figures from the Old and New Testaments, images of Christ and the Virgin Mary in the Presentation of the Virgin, and, in the golden dome, a stern Pantokrator ("ruler of all") surrounded by the 16 Old Testament prophets who predicted his coming. The mosaics, made from chips of four different types of marble, are set against gold. An ongoing long-term restoration project makes it hard to see some of the mosaics, but this doesn't take away much of the awe inspired by the craftmanship of the Byzantine masters.

The medieval fortress of Monolithos—so named for the jutting, 750-foot monolith on which it is constructed—was built by the Knights of St. John in 1480 and rises above a fairy-tale landscape of deep-green forests and sharp cliffs plunging into the sea. Inside the stronghold (accessible only by a steep path and series of stone steps) there is a chapel, and the ramparts provide magnificent views of Rhodes's emerald inland and the island of Halki. The small pebble beach of Fourni beneath the castle is a delightful place for a swim.

As the setting for the only national park on a Greek island (founded in 1962), Mt. Ainos doesn't disappoint. Huge swathes of endemic Abies Cephalonica firs wrap the upper reaches of the mountain where tiny wild ponies can be spied on its southeastern slopes. Five trails wind through the forests and around the mountaintop, with a pair of easy 1½-hour hikes circling out from the Environmental Center of Ainos, where information can also be found. A pair of more tricky 4½-hour hikes can be found to Megas Soros, the highest summit, via the circular Kissos trail and from the village of Digaleto, outside the park. If you're coming to walk, do so early in the morning or pick one of the cooler seasons, such as late spring or autumn. May is the perfect month to spy another of the mountain's natural beauties, the native viola Kefallonica flowers that carpet the forest floor in a sea of purple. If you prefer views to hiking, a road stops close to the summit, where you can park and walk 10 minutes to the top.

When the sun gets too hot to handle, step into this lush oasis, which was completed in 1860 as a commission of Queen Amalia. Here children run free (there are two large playgrounds ideal for kids to spend a while playing as sweaty parents take a breather from the sights) among nature that includes plants, flowers, and trees that were brought from around the world when the gardens were created. It's favorite place for early-morning jogs, outdoor yoga, and for kids to see the gardens' (caged) goats, rabbits, and exotic birds as well as ducks and swans swimming around the giant pond. At the east end is the majestic Neoclassical Zappeion Hall, built in 1888 as an Olympic building often used for official events, fashion shows, and conferences. At Fokianos Sports Academy at the bottom of the gardens is a café-restaurant serving fresh pizza, sandwiches, and refreshments next to basketball and soccer courts, trampolines, and an outdoor workout area. Across the road is the renowned Panathenaic Stadium, called "Kalimarmaro" by Greeks because it is completely made of marble. This is where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 and where the annual Athens Marathon concludes with a ceremony every November. You can look at the stadium only from the outside, but there is an elevated dirt running track behind it (free entrance through a big gate on Archimidous Street, which runs directly behind the stadium). 

Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos ("the Dueler") ordered the Nea Moni monastery built where three monks found an icon of the Virgin Mary in a myrtle bush. The octagonal katholikon (medieval church) is the only surviving example of 11th-century court art—none survives even in Constantinople. The monastery has been renovated a number of times: the dome was completely rebuilt following an earthquake in 1881, and a great deal of effort has gone into the restoration and preservation of the mosaics over the years. The distinctive three-part vaulted sanctuary has a double narthex, with no buttresses supporting the dome. This design, a single square space covered by a dome, is rarely seen in Greece. Blazing with color, the church's interior gleams with marble slabs and mosaics of Christ's life, austere yet sumptuous, with azure blue, ruby red, velvet green, and skillful applications of gold. The saints' expressiveness comes from their vigorous poses and severe gazes, with heavy shadows under the eyes. On the iconostasis hangs the icon—a small Virgin and Child facing left. Also inside the grounds are an ancient refectory, a vaulted cistern, a chapel filled with victims' bones from the massacre at Chios, and a large clock still keeping Byzantine time, with the sunrise reckoned as 12 o'clock.

This entrancing little church with a commanding view of the city was supposedly built about AD 500 in honor of Galerius's daughter, who was secretly baptized while her father was away fighting. It was later converted into a mosque, and at some time its west wall—the traditional place of entrance (in order to look east when facing the altar)—was bricked up, so you enter Osios David from the south. No matter; this entirely suits the church's rather battered magic. You can still see the radiantly beautiful mosaic in the dome of the apse, which shows a rare beardless Jesus, as he seems to have been described in the vision of Ezekiel: Jesus is seen with a halo and is surrounded by the four symbols of the Evangelists—clockwise, from top left, are the angel, the eagle, the lion, and the calf. To the right is the prophet Ezekiel and, to the left, Habakuk. To save it from destruction, the mosaic was hidden under a layer of calfskin during the iconoclastic ravages of the 8th and 9th centuries. Plastered over while a mosque, it seems to have been forgotten until 1921, when an Orthodox monk in Egypt had a vision telling him to go to the church. On the day he arrived, March 25 (the day marking Greek independence from the Ottomans), an earthquake shattered the plaster, revealing the mosaic to the monk—who promptly died.

The Tinians built the splendid Church of the Annunciate Virgin on this site in 1823 to commemorate finding a buried icon of the Annunciation in the foundations of an old Byzantine church that once stood here. Imposing and beautiful, framed in gleaming yellow and white, it stands atop the town's main hill ("hora"), which is linked to the harbor via Megalochari, a steeply inclined avenue lined with votive shops. Half Venetian, half Cypriot in style, the facade (illuminated at night) has a distinctive two-story arcade and bookend staircases. Lined with the most costly stones from Tinos, Paros, and Delos, the church's marble courtyards (note the green-veined Tinian stone) are paved with pebble mosaics and surrounded by offices, chapels, a health station, and seven museums. Inside the upper three-aisle church dozens of beeswax candles and precious tin- and silver-work votives—don't miss the golden orange tree near the door donated by a blind man who was granted sight—dazzle the eye. You must often wait in line to see the little icon, encrusted with jewels, that is said to have curative powers. To beseech the icon's aid, a sick person sends a young female relative or a mother brings her sick infant. As the pilgrim descends from the boat, she falls to her knees, with traffic indifferently whizzing about her, and crawls painfully up the faded red carpet lane on the main street—1 km (½ mile)—to the church. In the church's courtyards, she and her family camp for several days, praying to the magical icon for a cure, which sometimes comes. This procedure is very similar to the ancient one observed in Tinos's temple of Poseidon. The lower church, called the Evresis, celebrates the finding of the icon; in one room a baptismal font is filled with silver and gold votives. The chapel to the left commemorates the torpedoing by the Italians, on Dormition Day, 1940, of the Greek ship Elli; in the early stages of the war, the roused Greeks amazingly overpowered the Italians.

The best public beach in the north of Attica, just beyond Marathon, is this long, sandy, pine-backed stretch called Schinias. It's crowded with Athenians on the weekend, has a few simple tavernas along the sand and quite a lot of beach bars, and is frequently struck by strong winds that windsurfers love in summer. A dirt-and-sand track skirts the pine groves behind the beach, providing access to some relatively remote stretches. Campers like to settle in the Schinias forest during the summer, taking care not to disturb its precious natural habitat, which is environmentally protected. Amenities: food and drink; free parking; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

Internationally renowned modern art collector Dakis Joannou acquired this former Hydra slaughterhouse, a leisurely 10-minute walk from the town (toward Mandraki), in 2009 to host artistic events and projects organized by his budding DESTE Foundation. Surprisingly, this is not what one might expect a chic and modern art gallery to look like: housed in an unassuming small building on a cliff by the sea, it can be missed if you don't actively look for it. But perhaps that is exactly the point that Joannou wanted to make with the Slaughterhouse, which has already acquired a leading role in Hydra's cultural life. Starting with the 2009 multimedia project "Blood of Two" by Matthew Barney and Elizabeth Peyton (which paid homage to the space's morbid past), every summer the space is now assigned to a different artist who is invited to stage a site-specific exhibition. Since then Doug Aitken, Urs Fischer, Paul Chan, Pawel Althamer, and Kara Walker, among others, have had works and installations exhibited there. Jeff Koons is the latest high-profile artist to show case his work with his solo exhibition, Apollo, set to end in 2022.

This historic cobblestone lane, known in Greek as Ippoton, runs east from the Palace of the Grand Master to the harbor, and was once part of a longer path that wound its way to the acropolis. During its medieval heyday it became a residential quarter. It is bordered on both sides by the seven Inns of the Tongues, auberges where visiting Knights of the Order of St. John were domiciled according to their spoken language. These were heavily renovated during the 1930s, under Italian occupation, and today mostly hold consulates and government institutions. They are nevertheless wonderfully atmospheric to wander. The most elaborate example is the Inn of France, whose ornately carved facade bears heraldic patterns, fleurs-de-lis, and an inscription that dates the building to 1492 and its commission by Emery d'Ambroise.

About 2 km (1 mile) to the west of Rhodes's town center, atop Mt. Smith, are the freely accessible ruins of the Acropolis of Rhodes, a fine example of the stately sanctuaries that the ancient Greeks built atop many of their cities. The complex includes a theater that the Italians restored in the early 20th century, a stadium, three restored columns of the Temple of Apollo Pythios, the scrappy remains of the Temple of Athena Polias, a Nymphaia, and an Odeon. For a dramatic view, make your way to the westernmost edge of the summit, which drops via a sharp and almost inaccessible cliff to the shore below, now lined with large hotels.

After Marathonas, Aeginitissa is a small, sandy bay with crystalline green waters surrounded by huge eucalyptus trees. The shallow water makes it accessible to novice swimmers. There's a bar, a beach volleyball court, and umbrellas and lounge chairs are available for rent. Amenities: food and drink; showers; water sports. Best for: sunset; swimming.

The best sandy beach on the island, Agia Marina is popular with the parenting set, as the shallow water is ideal for playing children. A more rocky beach lies to the north of the marina that is good for diving and snorkeling. There are plenty of tavernas and cafés along the bay, while Hotel Apollo is not too far away. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; toilets; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

The freely accessible 18th-century church of Agia Paraskevi has a flamboyantly decorated altar screen that's worth a peek. Note that July 26 is its saint's day, entailing a big celebration in which the church's silver icon is carried around the town in a morning procession, followed by feasting and dancing.

Lands at the northeast corner of the Akrotiri Peninsula, which extends into the sea from the east side of Chania, are the holdings of several monasteries, including Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) or Tzagarolon, as it is also known. The olive groves that surround and finance the monastery yield excellent oils, and the shop is stocked with some of the island's finest. Agia Triada is a peaceful place, where you can visit the flower-filled cloisters and the ornately decorated chapel, which dates from the monastery's founding in 1611. Today, just a handful of monks remain.

The fresco-embellished 12th-century church Ayioi Apostoli is a very small replica of the katholikon, or major church, at the Nea Moni Monastery. Cretan artist Antonios Domestichos created the 17th-century frescoes that completely cover the interior, and they have a distinct folk-art leaning.

The town's stone promontory is the site of the little 19th-century church, Agios Mamas—take your photos from a distance as the church is privately owned and often locked. Bring a swimsuit, as the beach here is great for a dip.

This 13th-century church is named for Venice's patron saint, but, with its modern portico and narrow interior, it bears little resemblance to its grand namesake in Venice. Concerts and recitals are often staged in the afternoons.

This huge, lofty cathedral, dating from 1895, can hold up to 8,000 worshippers, but is most lively on November 11, when Heraklion celebrates the feast of Minas, a 4th-century Roman-soldier-turned-Christian. Legend has it that on Easter Sunday 1826 a ghostly Minas reappeared on horseback and dispersed a Turkish mob ready to slay the city's Orthodox faithful.

Notably, few of Heraklion's inhabitants are named after Minas, which is unusual for a city's patron saint. The reason is that many years ago babies born out of wedlock were left on the steps of the church, and were named Minas by the clergy, who took these children in and cared for them. Thus, the name Minas came to be associated with illegitimacy.

A chapel to the left of the entrance contains St. Tito's skull, set in a silver-and-gilt reliquary. Titus is credited with converting the islanders to Christianity in the 1st century AD on the instructions of St. Paul. Agios Titos was founded in the 10th century, rebuilt as a mosque under Turkish rule in the 19th century, and rededicated as a church in the 1920s, when the minaret was removed.

The broad, sandy beach at Anavyssos is very popular with windsurfers (especially the stretch called Alykes), and it is usually pretty busy. There's a children's playground and beach volleyball courts, as well as sun beds and umbrellas for hire. Amenities: food and drink; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: swimming; windsurfing.

This vestige of ancient Mytilini is within a pine grove and freely accessible. One of the largest theaters in ancient Greece, it is from the Hellenistic period and seated an estimated audience of 10,000. Plutarch, in Pompeius, tells us that the Roman general admired it so much that he copied it for his theater in Rome. Though the marbles are gone, the shape, carved into the mountain, remains beautifully intact.