Shannon's Tinos

Tinos is only a short ferry ride from Mykonos, but it feels like a completely different world. It's rugged, understated and full of character, with more than fifty villages spread across the hills. Marble is everywhere - from old doorways and churches to entire villages - alongside Venetian dovecotes, family chapels and stone terraces. The philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis, who lived here, called Tinos 'the handmade island', and that's still probably the best description of it. The island has a great mix of old and new: traditional tavernas and village cafes sit alongside a new generation of hotels, restaurants, bars, wineries and small producers. It's not polished the way Mykonos is, and that's exactly the point. Tinos also has a serious wine history - under Venetian rule from 1207 to 1715 it was an important wine-producing island, and today producers such as T-Oinos are bringing that back to life on a wild, dramatic landscape of granite boulders, strong meltemi winds and vines in rocky soil. Tinos was one of the great surprises of our Greek island trip - rugged, real and full of places that still feel genuinely local, with food that can be exceptional and a landscape with a rawness that sets it apart from the more polished islands nearby. My advice is simple: hire a car, stay at Odera, give yourself at least three nights and don't try to do too much. Drive through the villages, book a few great lunches, swim when you can and let the island unfold at its own pace.

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