The rockiest island in the Cyclades, the landscape is made of iron ore and granite. Harsh and unforgiving the landscape may be but the island is generous of spirit with a coastline full of beautiful beaches, an impeccable Chora and traditional villages with whitewashed buildings and paved alleyways.

Serifos had an important role to play in myth when the hero Perseus arrived on the island with his mother Danae after being banished by her father Acrisius. The local king Polydectes fell in love with Danae and tried to force her to marry him, but he eventually promised Perseus he would leave her alone if Perseus would bring him the head of Medusa. Killing the poisonous snakes that poured out of the hair of the Gorgon, Perseus dodged the petrifying gaze of Medusa and beheaded her, while Pegasus the winged horse sprang from her body.

Returning to Serifos, Perseus brought the severed head to the palace of Polydectes, where everyone looked at Medusa and the whole court was turned to stone and Danae was saved. Forgetting to cover the head of Medusa as he leaves the palace, Perseus inadvertently turns everything on the island into stone; once green and fertile, Serifos is now an arid land full of rocks.

Rugged and serene, Serifos is only two and a half hours by fast ferry from Athens and so it can get busier in high season and at weekends, but busy is relative; this is not Mykonos or Santorini and one of the beauties of the island is bumping into the same people and making new friends. Simple and authentic, Serifos has a depth beyond its surface and it is essentially unchanged in spirit and nature.

Your Guide to Serifos