Lemnos

The island resembles a huge butterfly, its many bays giving a coastline of some 260 kms. It is the eighth largest Greek island, which means plenty of scope for exploration. Beaches are superb, even within Myrina, being uncrowded, sandy and safe, and there are many to choose from. The interior is rural and gently hilly. Lemnos is a very traditional Greek island, where priorities remain agriculture and fishing rather than tourism. That said, excursions do run (notably boat trips, a round-island coach trip and a day-trip to the little-known island of Samothraki); bicycles, cars and small boats can be rented; and there is a range of watersports.

Myrina, the capital, is the best place to stay. Bisected by a dominant Venetian Castro, it really is most attractive. The harbour is archetypal with an array of cafés and restaurants, and plenty of small shops in the narrow lanes behind. Elegantly crumbling neo-classical buildings and good sandy beaches lie to either side.

At Poliochni the remnants of four cities have been found – the most ancient predates Troy and is a site of world significance, being possibly the oldest known town settlement in Europe. More recently, Lemnos has witnessed the familiar Mediterranean roll-call, Romans, Venetians, Genoese and Turks all having left their mark.

Legend has it that Aphrodite, having been upset by the local women, gave them all such halitosis that their husbands imported new wives from Thrace! The Lemniot ladies promptly drugged them all and threw their bodies over the cliffs. As one local guide book put it, ‘After this event a society of Amazons was created, till the Argonauts reached the island… The island was successfully repopulated.’

They do say these old tales often have a factual basis. Could that old man sitting in the coffee shop be a direct descendant of Jason himself?