#skovos

#skovos

Easter Monday in Lefkimmi was alive with families spilling from cafes, a marching band dazzling in the sun, and priests chanting beneath their hats. Men let off shotguns, filling the air with excitement.

Athens is a place you feel, not see. The beauty and soul of the city is laced into the way of life - the small moments and exchanges that happen daily - rather than in immaculately preserved monuments, museums and high streets like those of other European capitals.

With this season, we wanted to capture the feeling of being in the Mediterranean-the light, the energy, the colors of the coast. Travel, for me, has always been about the memories you create along the way, the moments that stay with you long after the trip ends. When designing this collection, we focused on translating that experience into the product itself, creating pieces that connect the spirit of the destination with the journeys our customers take.

The National Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades, established in 1992, is Greece's largest working marine protected area. The protective measures appear to be working, judged by the size, abundance and diversity of marine life—glassy waters teeming with colourful fish and precious shells make swimming here an absolute dream.

For a true sense of freedom and escape, nothing quite compares with an island getaway. Whether it's island hopping in Greece, exploring a Scandinavian archipelago by kayak or simply getting on a ferry to the Isle of Wight, we'd love to hear about your favourite European islands. The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a 200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property the company has more than 3,000 worldwide.

The expansion of Dexamenes Seaside Hotel extends K-Studio's transformation of a former wine factory into a coastal retreat in Greece. When the hotel first opened in 2019 in the western Peloponnese (see designboom's coverage here), its identity was shaped by the adaptive reuse of concrete fermentation tanks set directly along the Ionian shore. The cylindrical structures, once vessels for wine production, were converted into Beachfront Wine Tank Suites.

The ruthless, haughty Cersei Lannister was forced to walk naked down a majestic staircase in the finale of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. That scene, which was filmed in 2014, established Dubrovnik a city of just 41,500 inhabitants that is known as the gem of the Adriatic Sea into an eternal vacation destination. Today, traversing its Jesuit Stairs and surrounding streets in mid-August can be a desperate endeavor. Crowds fill every nook, and prices are exorbitant.

The building is composed of stacked and slightly offset volumes, generating a sense of tectonic layering across the elevation. This volumetric strategy introduces rhythm and variation while maintaining a coherent architectural order. Repetition is used as an organizing principle, allowing individual residential units to remain legible within the overall massing while contributing to a unified whole. all images courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects Repetition supports cohesion across the red hills building mass

A new summerhouse by Biris-Tsiraki Architects rises above a rocky cape on Antiparos, facing the open Aegean and the island of Despotiko across the water. Set into a steep slope and exposed to northern winds, the house addresses sea, sky, and terrain with a measured architectural language shaped by orientation and movement. From the approach, the building reads as a composition aligned to horizon and topography.

During my recent 17-day trip there, I realized Ischia has everything its more popular neighbor offers - great shopping, a castle, beaches, a botanical garden - but with fewer tourists. Here's why it belongs on your Italy itinerary.

The city is remarkably walkable - there will be no need to take public transit or taxis once you've dropped your bags at your hotel - but there are a few key things to know when visiting Skopje, including the best places to get rakija, the historical sites that'll help you understand the country better and where to find the best speakeasy-adjacent casinos.

Onboard/Offboard is a series that explores the can't-miss highlights of our favorite cruises-from the shore excursions to book to the spa treatments too relaxing to pass up. A new ship sometimes needs time to work out the kinks, but at this point-more than 100 vessels later- Viking has the routine down pat. In early November, I boarded the Viking Vesta, the line's 12th ocean vessel, in Istanbul, a few months into service.

The UK has long looked to Greece through a familiar lens: sunshine, island airports and a packed summer flight schedule. Yet Greece's tourism story has started to look more like a business story-one built on regeneration, upgraded hospitality, and service sectors designed to perform beyond the peak months. That shift is increasingly visible in the full "destination package" surrounding travel and entertainment. In Greece, the mix now spans conference capacity, waterfront redevelopment

What sets this isolated rock apart from the competition? It's a question of substance and that ghastly overused word, "authenticity." Capri will always be the pretty one - the view from the Via Krupp and the Faraglioni as seen from La Fontalina are starlet gold - and the island of Procida took recent fame as Europe's 2022 culture capital. Still,