Bucket list reimagined: Mindful return to the Greek islands

ASTYPALEA, Greece (AP) — In a small bay flanked by thyme-covered hills and a medieval castle-topped village, I floated in perfect solitude on the shimmering Aegean Sea.

Last summer was my fifth year traveling to different Greek islands like far-flung Astypalea. During the pandemic, the islands’ crystalline waters, white-and-blue villages, sweeping vistas and locals’ genuine welcome were just the escape I needed.

The absence last summer of the usual mass tourism at the most popular locations, like Santorini, where before coronavirus I had to elbow my way to take a sunset picture by the celebrated windmills even on a mid-January evening, also offered a chance to rethink such bucket-list travel.

As travel restrictions have eased since the peak of the pandemic, the Greek islands’ wide-open blue beckons this spring and summer — with the opportunity to focus less on Instagrammable snapshots and more on chatting with a taverna owner over a cold glass of tsipouro, the potent Greek spirit, while waiting for take-out octopus.

Two archipelagos in the southern Aegean Sea, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, alone have dozens of islands, each offering a unique experience. From least traveled to most jet-setting, these are my favorite four:

ASTYPALEA, pirates’ treasure

As the ferry reached the middle point of this butterfly-shaped island, I felt a momentary pang -- had I really just traveled 10 hours from Athens, the country’s monument-filled capital and air/ferry travel hub, for barren mountains and a solitary dolphin playing in the waves?

Doubt turned into enchantment at first sight of the chora, or main town — a blue church dome topping a medieval castle topping a white village lined by windmills and cascading down a rocky outcrop to the sea.

Over two long weekends, I never tired...