Travelore News: Surge In Earthquake Activity Prompts State Of Emergency On Greek Island Of Santorini

Greece’s government declared a state of emergency on Santorini today after hundreds of undersea earthquakes shook the resort island for nearly a week.

The ministry of civil protection’s announcement will provide authorities faster access to state resources. It follows a magnitude 5.2 tremor –- the most powerful recorded since activity started on Jan. 31 –- that struck late Wednesday.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis confirmed that multiple emergency services were already mobilized to support the island.

“Fire departments, police, coast guard, armed forces, and emergency medical services have immediately reinforced Santorini and surrounding islands with additional personnel and specialized equipment,” he told reporters.

Despite causing minimal damage, the earthquake activity has prompted an exodus of thousands of residents and seasonal workers, mostly evacuating to the Greek mainland by ferry.

Experts say the seismic activity is unrelated to volcanic activity in the Aegean Sea, but are still unable to say whether the swarm could lead up to a more powerful earthquake.

“We are not yet in a position to say that we are seeing any evidence that would lead to the sequence slowly coming to a conclusion,” Vassilis K. Karastathis, a seismologist and director of research at National Observatory of Athens, told reporters. “We are still in the middle of the road, we haven’t seen any easing, any sign that it’s heading towards a regression.”

The earthquake epicenters are concentrated in a growing cluster between the islands of Santorini, Anafi, Amorgos, and Ios. Experts view the underwater location as a mitigating factor, noting that it significantly reduces the potential for widespread damage compared to land-based seismic events.

On Santorini, municipal crews cordoned off some areas on the island’s renowned cliff top towns that were considered vulnerable to potential rock slides. Crews of engineers also inspected school buildings that have remained closed all week.

The island’s Orthodox church has urged residents to assist each other during a time of “great anxiety.”

“Island life, intensely communal, has taught us to be close to one another – in the happy, the sad and the difficult times,” the Metropolitan Bishop Amphilochios of Thira, Amorgos and Isles, said in an online message.

“This is how we will face the present condition while it lasts,” he added. “And by God’s grace we will strengthen ourselves on the path of progress and creation for the good of our islands and their blessed inhabitants, our brothers and sisters.”

By DEREK GATOPOULOS

Greece Shuts Acropolis, 2 Firefighters Killed In Italy As Southern Europe Swelters In A Heat Wave

A heat wave across southern Europe forced authorities in Greece to close the Acropolis Wednesday for several hours and two firefighters died while putting out a fire in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, Italian authorities said.

Italy added Palermo, Sicily, to the list of 13 cities in the country with a severe heat warning. Elderly people in the city of Verona were urged to stay indoors, while sprinklers were set up to cool passersby.

Greece’s Culture Ministry ordered the closure of the Acropolis — the country’s biggest cultural attraction — from midday for five hours.

Tourists hoping to visit the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis queued early in the morning to beat the worst of the heat, while the Red Cross handed chilled bottled water and information fliers to those waiting in line.

“We got it done and got out quick, and now we’re going to some air conditions and some more libation and enjoy the day,” said Toby Dunlap, who was visiting from Pennsylvania and had just toured the Acropolis. “But it’s hot up there, it really is. If you don’t come prepared, you’re going to sweat.”

Meteorologists said the hot air from Africa was forecast to continue through Sunday, with heat wave temperatures expected to peak at 43 degrees C (109 F).

In Albania, the heat led the government to reschedule working hours for civil servants, making it easier for some to work from home. Neighboring North Macedonia struggled with dozens of wildfires that had broken out in the previous 24 hours. One major blaze stretched across nearly 30 kilometers (21 miles). Firefighting aircraft from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania and Turkey responded to the country’s call for assistance.

In western Turkey, firefighters — aided by more than a dozen water-dropping aircraft — managed to bring a wildfire near the town of Bergama under control several hours after it ignited. The cause of the blaze, which was fanned by strong winds, was not immediately known.

The municipality of Turkey’s largest city Istanbul issued a heat warning on Tuesday, saying temperatures would rise between 3-6 degrees C (5.4-10.8 degrees F) above seasonal norms until July 28.

Several Spanish cities, including Granada and Toledo, are bracing for temperatures as high as 44 degrees C (111 F) forecast for later in the week in the country’s hottest spots in the south.

BY ELENA BECATOROS AND COLLEEN BARRY, AP

Greece Plans Hourly Caps On Visitors To Ancient Acropolis And Will Let In Up To 20,000 Daily

Visits to the Acropolis of Athens, Greece’s most popular archaeological site, will be capped starting next month at a maximum 20,000 daily and subject to varying hourly entry limits, the Greek government said Wednesday.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the controls are needed to prevent bottlenecks and overcrowding at the UNESCO World Heritage site. As many as 23,000 people a day have been squeezing into the monument complex, mostly large groups visiting before noon.

“That’s a huge number,” Mendoni said in an interview with the Real FM radio network. “Obviously tourism is desirable for the country, for all of us. But we must work out how excessive tourism won’t harm the monument.”

The new entry limits will be implemented on a trial basis from Sept. 4, and will come permanently into effect from April 1 2024, the minister said. There will be no limit on how long visits may last, although Mendoni said people who come with organized tours or from cruise ships, who account for about 50% of the daily visitor count, spend an average 45 minutes at the site.

Different numbers of visitors will be allowed in hourly during the site’s 8 a.m.-8 p.m. opening hours. Half of the Acropolis’ foot traffic currently arrives between 8 a.m. and noon, Mendoni said. Under the new system, 3,000 people will be granted access from 8-9 a.m., 2,000 during the next hour and the numbers will vary during the rest of the day.

“The measure will address the need to protect the monument, which is the main thing for us, as well as (improving) visitors’ experience of the site,” she added.

Similar caps will be imposed for other popular archaeological sites, Mendoni said. The decision for the Acropolis followed consultations with tour and cruise operators, and was delayed due to Greece’s June 25 general election, she added.

More than 3 million people visited the site last year, according to Greece’s statistical authority.

Greek authorities closed access to the Acropolis and other ancient sites during midday hours last month at the height of a heat wave that also caused huge wildfires across the country. They also installed awnings as sun protection for people lining up to see the Acropolis’ 5th century B.C. temples. Mendoni said those steps would be repeated, if necessary.

Source: AP

Greece: Airlines Cancel Flights For General Strike November 9th

Greece’s main airlines announced domestic and international flight cancellations and schedule changes for Wednesday due to labor unions for air traffic controllers and civil aviation workers participating in a nationwide general strike that day.

The 24-hour strike called by the country’s private and public sector unions is expected to shut down most services across the country and disrupt public transportation in major cities. The unions are demanding an increase to the minimum wage, which currently stands at just over 700 euros (dollars) per month for salaried workers, and lower taxes.

“Our country’s workers, both in the public and in the private sectors, are battling against the high prices that are strangling households and citizens,” ADEDY, a confederation of trade unions for civil servants, said in a statement. It said the greater cost of power, fuel and basic goods was cutting into workers’ salaries.

Aegean Airlines and its subsidiary, Olympic Air, announced 50 domestic flight cancellations and amended the schedules for another 42 flights, most of them international.

Air traffic controllers plan to take part in Wednesday’s strike by engaging in a six-hour work stoppage, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time. Members of the civil aviation unions are expected to participate in the full 24-hour strike.

In Athens, subways will operate only for about six hours, and taxis were set to stay off the streets from 6 a.m. Wednesday until Thursday morning. Unions planned to hold protest marches in the city on Wednesday morning.

Buses were to run for 12 hours starting at 9 a.m., with all early morning and late evening runs canceled. Ferries to and from the Greek islands were to remain tied up in ports from midnight Tuesday until midnight Wednesday.

Greece Joins Mediterranean Race To Win Back Tourists

NAXOS, Greece (AP) — In her kitchen, Kyriaki Kapri has enough food to feed an army. Piles of squid for frying, lemons to be quartered, thumb-thick potato wedges to make oregano-sprinkled French fries, and seafood for the dishes famous on the Greek island of Naxos.

She’s done everything she can think of to prepare for tourists at her Naxos beachside restaurant Gorgona — Greek for Mermaid — but customers are still a rare sight.

Greece launched its tourism season Friday amid a competitive scramble across the Mediterranean to lure vacationers emerging from lockdowns.

“We’re all vaccinated, the tables are outside and spread out, with hand sanitizers on each one. We’re ready. Now we wait,” Kapri said, standing beside large display cabinets with fresh fish on beds of crushed ice. During a six-month lockdown, Gorgona closed for the first time in its 50-year history, a pattern seen across Greece including the nearby island of Mykonos and Santorini.

The European Union has yet to roll out its cellphone-friendly travel pass system. But southern member-states, driven deeper into debt by the pandemic and highly dependent on tourism revenues, are not waiting.

Croatia has already reopened, as has Cyprus, joined Friday by Greece where residents were allowed to leave home without an electronic permit for the first time in six months.

Last year, the number of visitors to Greece plummeted by 78.2% to 7.4 million — from a record 34 million in 2019 — according to official data, with a corresponding drop in tourism revenues.

Greece is hoping to claw back half the 2019 visitor level. It’s vowed to finish vaccinating its entire island population over the next six weeks and will even waive test requirements for tourists who have received vaccines made in Russia and China that are not approved for use domestically.

Other Mediterranean countries are also looking for an edge.

Malta is promising visitors vouchers to go diving and cash rebates to high-end hotel customers.

In Turkey, visitors from abroad have been exempt from stay-at-home orders applying to Turks, thus enjoying an empty Istanbul, and little-populated beach resorts. Starting Monday, travelers from China, Britain, Australia, and 13 other countries will be allowed in without even having to present a negative COVID-19 test.

Portugal is the only southern European country to so far make Britain’s so-called Green List of quarantine-free destinations. Travelers in the UK pounced on the news, according to Emma Coulthurst from holiday price comparison site TravelSupermarket.

“Week-on-week, if you compare all package holiday price comparison searches via TravelSupermarket, the site has seen an 865% increase in searches for package holidays to Portugal,” Coulthurst said.

Tourism industry officials in Portugal reported a surge in bookings and inquiries from Britain, and the government confirmed Friday that existing entry restrictions would be lifted before the updated U.K. travel list takes effect Monday, ending days of uncertainty.

In neighboring Spain, Trade and Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said her government was in “constant” consultations with Britain to try to have its travel status upgraded. Some 18 million U.K. holidaymakers traveled to Spain in 2019.

Italy is dropping a five-day quarantine requirement for travelers from the EU, Britain and Israel starting Sunday, but many in the hospitality industry are still bracing for another tough year.

“I think (tourism) is going to increase but very slowly. For this year we have to accept whatever comes,” said Elisabetta Menardi, manager of the Ca’ Foscolo apartment hotel in Venice.

Just a short walk from the famed Rialto bridge, the hotel is usually fully booked year-round but is currently running at 20% occupancy.

“Normally in January we already get a lot of reservations for the summer. That has stopped. So we don’t know what’s coming now,” Menardi said. “People make reservations, then they cancel. It’s kind of a dance.” ___ Derek Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece. Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul, Turkey, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Karl Ritter in Rome and Joe Wilson in Barcelona, Spain contributed.

No Cafes, No Tourists: Virus Empties Streets Of Old Athens

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — It’s been a while since visitors to Greece sought out souvenirs in Athens’ oldest neighborhood.

The winding streets of Plaka, laid out long before the city imported a grid system, are lined with closed stores behind aluminum shutters. The coronavirus pandemic has kept tourists away from the historic city center that forms a semi-circle around the Acropolis, and the area remained unusually devoid of pedestrians and motorists before Christmas.

In their absence, ancient monuments are a little easier to make out from a distance, fewer horns are sounding in traffic and homeless cats parked in front of cafes are a little less aloof.

Greece so far has imposed two nationwide lockdowns since the start of the pandemic. The first, in the spring, kept the country’s infection rates low. Authorities ordered the second in response to a rapid post-summer rise in reported cases and as of Christmas Eve has seen 4,4,57 confirmed virus-related deaths.

The restrictions have closed bars, restaurants, coffee shops and many other businesses considered non-essential but which make up a large slice of Greece’s tourism-dependent economy.

The number of visitors traveling to the country plummeted 76.1% during the first 10 months of 2020 compared to a year earlier. Spending sank 77%, according to central bank data released this week.

Greece is expected to see a 10.5% contraction of its gross domestic product this year compared to the forecasted EU average of 7.4%, while its debt-to-GDP ratio is set to surge to a staggering 208.9%.

New Lift, Pathways To Open Acropolis To Disabled Visitors

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s prime minister has inaugurated new facilities at the Acropolis in Athens designed to make the historic site fully accessible to disabled visitors.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis chose Thursday, designated International Day of People with Disabilities, to visit the ancient citadel. The World Heritage site is closed to the public due to pandemic restrictions, but it’s expected to reopen when a national lockdown lifts on Dec.14. A new lift for people using wheelchairs has been built on the north face of the hill, while a badly eroded network of existing concrete walkways has been replaced with smooth artificial stone paths leading among the ruined 5th Century B.C. temples on the summit.

Mitsotakis said the project, which was funded by the private Onassis Foundation, will “make the Acropolis accessible to everyone ... without the difficulties associated with the classic route up to the Hill of Acropolis.” Some in Greece had criticized the new 500-meter (yard) network of 4-meter wide (13-foot) pathways, saying they made excessive use of concrete. The Culture Ministry countered that the previous network, which dates from the 1960s and had been worn down by the shoes of millions of visitors, made heavier use of concrete and was in such bad shape it endangered visitors. “I was saddened to realize that over the past months there has been cheap opposition rhetoric, even about this project,” Mitsotakis said. “This is a project for the whole world and, under normal circumstances, it should unite us all.” First inhabited about 6,000 years ago, the Acropolis hill was fortified from Mycenaean times and in the 5th century B.C. was heavily rebuilt with marble temples, including the Parthenon and the Erechtheion, and the monumental Propylaea gates. Until the early 19th century it served as a fortress.

Ancient Greek God’s Bust Found During Athens Sewage Work

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A bust of the ancient god Hermes, in good condition, was discovered in central Athens during sewage work, authorities said Sunday. The Greek Culture Ministry said that the head, one of many that served as street markers in ancient Athens, was found Friday and it appears to be from around 300 B.C. — that is, either from the late fourth century B.C., or the early third century. It depicts Hermes at “a mature age,” the ministry said, in contrast to his usual depictions as youthful.

The head is in the style of famed Greek sculpture Alcamenes, who flourished in the second half of fifth century B.C., the ministry said. After serving as a street marker, the head, at some point, had been built into the wall of a drainage duct, the ministry said.

Travelore News: Direct Flights To Greek Tourist Destinations To Begin July 1

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s long-awaited tourist season will begin on June 15 with the opening of seasonal hotels and the arrival of the first foreign visitors, while international flights will begin heading directly for holiday destinations gradually as of July 1, the government said Wednesday.

Speaking in a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said visitors would be subject to sample coronavirus testing and “our general health protocols will be adhered to, without them, however, overshadowing our bright sun or the natural beauties of Greece.”

Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said a list of countries from which visitors will be able to arrive in Greece will be announced before the end of May. The selection will be based on “epidemiological criteria” as determined by Greece’s committee of experts dealing with the pandemic.

Balkan and Baltic countries, Germany and regional countries such as Israel and Cyprus are expected to be in the first wave of those whose citizens will be allowed to enter Greece, he said.

Visitors from those countries will be able to fly into Greece initially only through Athens’ international airport as of June 15, Theoharis said. Direct international flights to the rest of the country’s airports will resume July 1.

Some countries, however, might be excluded, depending on the situation with their coronavirus outbreaks, the minister said. Those countries would be closely watched, with a view to re-establishing direct flights when the situation allows.

Those arriving will not be subject to mandatory quarantine or blanket testing of all arrivals, but Greek authorities will have the right to carry out sample testing, he said.

Theoharis outlined an operational plan being set in place to tackle any potential outbreaks at tourist destinations, including a designated doctor for each hotel, special quarantine areas and testing facilities on islands.

Mitsotakis noted that Greece has “managed to restrict the spread of the virus. ... We made our country an example to follow in the handling of the health crisis.”

The government imposed a lockdown very early in Greece’s outbreak, and this has been credited with keeping the number of deaths and critically ill people low. On Wednesday, health authorities announced one new death and 10 new confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of dead to 166 and the total confirmed cases to 2,850 in the country of nearly 11 million people.

But the lockdown has dealt a severe blow to Greece’s economy, which has barely emerged from a brutal decade-long financial crisis that saw a quarter of gross domestic product wiped out. Tourism is a vital part of the economy, contributing around 20% of GDP, and authorities have been anxious to ensure the entire summer season isn’t lost.

About 33 million visitors traveled to Greece last year, spending 19 billion euros, according to Theoharis.

“Let us face reality with courage: April and May was the nadir of tourism,” Mitsotakis said. “So whatever we achieve this year will be a profit.”

Mitsotakis announced a reduction in consumer taxes on transport from 24% to 13% for five months, which will lead to cheaper boat, plane and bus tickets during the tourist season, as well as a cut on tax on coffee, soft drinks and open-air movie theater tickets.

The government’s priority, he stressed, was on maintaining jobs “and helping the sector’s professionals prepare for their big comeback in 2021.”

By ELENA BECATOROS

____

Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report.

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Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Noted Rabbi Plans Bar/Bat Mitzvahs On The Island Of Rhodes, Greece, In Historic Synagogue Dating Back To 1577

“The most meaningful, magical, and joyous day you can imagine!”

 If you look at words written in Hebrew for the first time you might exclaim, “It’s Greek to me.”

Now, an Italian-American Rabbi, who over the last 15 years has officiated at hundreds of bar and bat mitzvahs in the U. S., Italy and Greece, is inviting families who are planning these milestone events during 2019 to consider holding the ceremony in one of Europe’s oldest and most historic synagogues – on the Isle of Rhodes, Greece.  The Rhodes Bar/Bat Mitzvah week is set for August 19-28, 2019. Some dates have already been reserved, but still open are August 20, 21, 25, 26 and 27. Reservation deadline is Feb 15 to allow time for tutoring and planning.  A bar (son) or bat (daughter) mitzvah is the religious initiation ceremony of a 13 year-old Jewish boy or girl.

A Chance to Make Your Own History

Rabbi Barbara says, “History is tangible on Rhodes. Most likely there were bar mitzvahs on Rhodes shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 70 CE, and the subsequent scattering of the Jews throughout the Mediterranean region. Today, some 2,000 years later, boys and girls have the unique opportunity to follow in those historic footsteps and mark this important birthday in accordance with tradition on a scenic island.” Among well-known students who studied on Rhodes were Julius Caesar and Cicero.

As for logistics and advance planning, Rabbi Barbara handles the religious, ceremonial and historical aspects.  Arranges a welcome meeting and a practice session with the student, and leads the service.  Rabbi Barbara encourages the bar/bat mitzvah teen to select the name of a Greek child who, as a Holocaust victim, did not become bar or bat mitzvah. Most of Rhodes’ Jews were deported and killed by the Nazis during WW II.

Parents are responsible for securing the services of a local (hometown) tutor for their child. The Rabbi coordinates tutor guidelines and Skypes some lessons. She ensures that Hebrew readings are adapted to the students’ needs  and abilities, so that regardless of learning style or disability, every child succeeds. She says, “Interfaith and non-traditional families are welcome to participate. This is a wonderful way to introduce Jewish tradition, bringing Judaism to life in a loving and meaningful way.”

Memories to Last A Lifetime

Ceremonies are held in the Kahal Kadosh Shalom synagogue, the oldest in Greece, built in 1577. It has been renovated in the style reminiscent of Old Spain, the ancestral home of Rhodes’ Greek Jews. Each youth receives a commemorative certificate, Kahal Shalom Synagogue lifetime family membership, and a ceremonial Kiddush cup created by a Rhodes ceramic artist. Each family pays an honorarium that helps to support the synagogue and the local Jewish community. The ceremony can be shared with siblings, family members or friends in a group of up to four. 

One grandfather reminisced about his granddaughter’s ceremony: “Our children study the Holocaust, but to have the service in the very same synagogue from which these young Greek Jews were deported personalizes our history and makes the bar mitzvah more meaningful. My grandson not only dedicated his bar mitzvah to a boy who died in the Holocaust, he also learned about the boy’s family and what happened to them.”  Thanks to the photos, ritual objects and family treasures on display in the adjacent museum, families come away with a deep connection to this unique community and a strong sense of personal Jewish identity.   

In addition to speaking and teaching in Florida, Rabbi Barbara hosts ‘The Radio Rabbi’ program. She spends part of each year as the first and only woman rabbi in Italy where she heads congregation Ner Tamid del Sud, The Eternal Light of the South, the first active synagogue in Calabria in 500 years -- since Inquisition times. Her grandfather and father were actively involved in its renovation and rebirth.  She also officiates at destination weddings in Italy and throughout Europe.

She says, “As your teen becomes a bar or bat mitzvah in this magnificent synagogue, your entire family will feel deep sense of pride in Jewish traditions and enjoy an historical and spiritual experience that is certain to enhance Jewish identity that will last a lifetime.” This note from a bat mitzvah mom that came soon after their family’s Rhodes bat mitzvah, sums up the experience:

"Emma’s bat mitzvah was the most meaningful, magical, and joyous day of our lives – and it was all because of your warm, kind, intelligent, loving, strength and guidance. It not only celebrated our miraculous daughter but the diversity and love of our family. It allowed cousins and friends from across the world to have precious time together and even repaired old, painful wounds. I don’t know how you bridged languages, cultures and religions to make everyone involved – from my Catholic husband and children – to my observant brother and sister-in-law –to feel the love, power and significance of the tradition, the history and the moment in Emma’s life.”

For more about bar and bat mitzvahs on Rhodes under the auspices of Rabbi Aiello in August 2019, email rabbi@rabbibarbara.com  or visit www.RabbiBarbara.com . To learn more, visit https://rabbibarbara.com/greece-bar-bat-mitzvah/

Travel arrangements may be coordinated with award-winning travel pro Ellen Paderson of Smiles and Miles Travel. Contact Ellen at www.barmitzvahvacations .com .  The Rhodes trip can be combined with a Greek island vacation or any other destination.

                                                    - By Stanley Hurwitz  /   508-269-0570  /    stanhurwitz@gmail.com

The Best Beach Towns You’ve Never Heard Of

Not every bucket-list beach has been Instagrammed and developed to death. These are the still-unspoiled stretches of sand to get to before everyone else does

National Park, Global Treasure

Cabo San Juan, Tayrona National Park, Colombia

Tayrona National Park, Colombia. PHOTO: KIRSTEN LUCE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

First-time visitors here are easy to spot: They’re the ones overloading their iPhones with photos and asking each other why they’ve never been to Tayrona before. The answer is simple:

ILLUSTRATION: GATA MARSZALEK

Getting here is not easy. It’s a three-hour drive from Cartagena—under ideal road conditions that have never existed (in reality it is more like five). Road signs for the park are almost nonexistent; roads in the park are subject to flooding. But you forget all of that when step onto the beach at Cabo San Juan, with its twin horseshoe bays filled with warm emerald water and primeval rock piles.

The only comfortable accommodations in the park’s acres are the Ecohabs, a cluster of jungle huts overlooking the water. It’s a rustic take on luxury, where the sea breeze subs in for air conditioning, and the in-house restaurant is...a restaurant (stick to simply grilled fish with coconut rice). To think of this as austerity is to get it all wrong. You’re surrounded by 30,000 acres of lush jungle and miles of unspoiled beach—everything else is just noise. —Stan Parish

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Cartagena’s Rafael Núñez International Airport
• GETTING AROUND: Most of the park’s trails are horse trails, and horseback is the best way to get from beach to far-flung beach.
• WHAT TO BRING: There are no stores in the park so B.Y.O. everything, from rum to reading material.

Europe’s Best-Kept Seaside Secret

Comporta, Portugal

Pego Beach, Comporta. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WISE

Little-known fact: Miles of uncrowded golden sand edged by cerulean-blue ocean can still be found a short drive from a major European airport.

PHOTO: AGATA MARSZALEK

Savvy travelers tend to describe Comporta in terms of other places: Tulum 20 years ago, Ibiza in the ’70s, Montauk before the Hamptons crowd moved all the way east. The comparisons follow a formula: Pick a once-undiscovered beach town and the magical era before the masses got the memo.

Comporta still has a few years before Lisbon’s recent tourist boom trickles south, but in-the-know Europeans have been coming for decades, drawn by the low-fi lifestyle and rustic, sun-scorched beauty. You’d be well advised to do as they do: Book a villa, shop the roadside farm stands, fishmongers and wine merchants, and stay in after sunset. And of course, spend your days in the sand. —Emily Eisen

PHOTOS: CHRISTOPHER WISE(2)

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Lisbon Portela International Airport
• WHERE TO STAY: For those who want a full-service hotel experience, the Sublime Comporta lives up to its name.
• WHERE TO EAT: Restaurante Dona Bia is the platonic ideal of a Portuguese beach restaurant.

The Unknown, All-Star Trio

Koufonisia, Greece

Koufonisia, Greece. PHOTO: MARCO ARGUELLO

The ferry ride from Piraeus (outside Athens) takes four hours each way—just long enough, it turns out, to prevent day-trippers from descending on Koufonisia in hordes. This under-the-radar archipelago is composed of two inhabited islands and a third reserved for archaeological digs.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Pano Koufonisia, the main island, boasts enough tucked-away beaches and small tidal enclaves that a private strip of sand is always within walking distance. The Hotel Aelos, set on the hill outside of town, has the whitewashed, sugar-cube look you expect from your Greek-island lodgings; book one of the first-floor rooms with a bougainvillea-wreathed terrace overlooking the pool. The beachfront bar Kalofego has the liveliest day-drinking scene, but before the sun sets, cool off at the Devil’s Eye Piscina, an Instagram-baiting swimming hole carved into the rocky coastline. Once you jump in, the only exit is through a watery passage that leads out to sea. The experience is well worth the journey. The same could be said for Koufonisia itself. —Mark Ellwood

PHOTOS: BETH KIRBY; MARCO ARGUELLO

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Athens, if you don’t mind a long boat trip; Naxos if you do.
• WHERE TO EAT: The contemporary Greek food at Gastronautis is as fresh and vibrant as the young local couple in charge.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: A boat trip to Pori Beach on the island’s eastern tip isn’t to be skipped.

The Forgotten Jet-Set Beaches of Africa

Benguerra and Bazaruto, Mozambique

Local staff welcome guests at the Anantara Resort, Bazaruto, Mozambique. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WISE

In the ’60s, the tropical islands off Mozambique’s coast drew a bohemian international crowd to their pristine white beaches. Then came a long civil war. The conflict ended 25 years ago, but the southeastern African nation is just now reclaiming its bygone heyday.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Two islands—Benguerra and Bazaruto—are leading the charge. The high-end safari operator AndBeyond, recently transformed a dilapidated fishing lodge on Benguerra into 14 individual oceanfront casitas, with private plunge pools and outdoor showers. The beach bar, made from a reclaimed fishing boat, should be your first stop after a day of snorkeling at Two Mile Reef a few hundred yards offshore. Keep an eye out for dugong, a docile—but easily started—sea cow that delirious sailors of yore took for mermaids. Bazaruto, the larger island, has wider beaches and more rugged terrain: Clamber up the 300-foot sand dunes for the best views of the archipelago. Stake out one of the thatched-roof cottages in the gardens of the Anantara Resort & Spa , where you can snack on just-picked mango and feast on fresh Mozambican prawns that the rest of the world has to defrost before eating. —Mark Ellwood

PHOTOS: JODY MACDONALD; ANANTARA BAZARUTO ISLAND RESORT

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Vilankulo Airport, a short flight from Johannesburg, and shorter boat trip from the islands.
• VENTURE OUT: Take a catamaran to Paradise Island for world-class snorkeling and a barbecue for lunch.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: At Anantara, opt for the Dinner by Design experience—a private table on the beach and menu tailored to your tastes.

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Tulum’s Pacific Coast Sister City

Todos Santos, Mexico

Todos Santos, Mexico. PHOTO: NICK SIMONITE

This small cliff-side village in Baja was once a secret kickback spot for Margaritaville types who rolled down in RVs from San Diego. Todos Santos retains its undiscovered feel, but the accommodations have markedly improved thanks, in part, to all-star Austin, Texas-based hotelier Liz Lambert, who opened the Hotel San Cristóbal earlier this year. Book one of the 32 colorful rooms for the full Todos Santos experience: shuffling between the barely occupied beach and the daybed on your balcony and, later, between the pool deck and the mescal bar.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Unlike Cabo and Tulum, Todos Santos isn’t teeming with must-try restaurants and bucket-list experiences—kicking back is still the town’s main draw. Which isn’t to say there’s nothing to do: Take surf lessons in mellow waves off Los Ceritos beach, or drive an hour north to La Paz, one of the last places on Earth where you can swim alongside (extremely gentle) 30-foot-long whale sharks. These excursions build up an appetite for the wood-grilled baby lamb and pork belly at Jazamango, an outdoor restaurant by the peninsula’s most famous chef, Javier Plascencia. Since opening his new joint, he has been spending a lot of time in Todos Santos. It takes exactly one visit to understand why. —Kurt Soller

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Los Cabos International Airport
• WHAT TO EAT: There are no bad—or even mediocre—roadside taco stands in Baja.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: The Blanket Factory—a Todos Santos institution—is a must-visit for handmade, affordable textile souvenirs.

The Counterpoint

Seek Snow Instead of Sand

Lake Baikal PHOTO: DANIEL KORDAN

Lake Baikal is the giant eye-slit of water at Russia’s center—the deepest lake in the world, almost 30 times the length of Manhattan. In July, it can pass for the Mediterranean, when pine trees drop sweet-smelling needles onto pebbled beaches. But in winter, when temperatures drop to well below 0, it’s a thrilling, crystalline antidote to a week in the tropics.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Hard-core expeditioners arrive via fat-bikes, skis and kite-sails, but there are easier routes: a direct, six-hour flight from Moscow to the city of Irkutsk, or a four-night, Trans-Siberian train from the capital. The lures are romantic—billowing snowstorms, trees laced with ice, and the extreme beauty of a virgin landscape. By March, the lake’s surface ice thickens to a meter or more, making it possible to traverse Baikal on snowmobile safaris, husky dog expeditions, and hovercraft trips. The Gustavia to this Siberian St. Barths is the waterside town of Listvyanka, a one-hour drive from Irkutsk. In this western-shore fishing town, you can graze on fresh-smoked omul (a native and mackerel-like fish) in restaurants lining the corniche. There’s no luxury hotel here, not yet. But the spa experience is hard to beat: At the end of each freezing day, you get beaten by birch branches in a traditional Russian sauna, or banya, before dipping into freezing waters of the fresh—and freshening—take on the winter holiday.

day, you get beaten by birch branches in a traditional Russian sauna, or banya, before dipping into freezing waters of the fresh—and freshening—take on the winter holiday. —Sophy Roberts