Is Tilos Greece's Greenest Island?
By Clare Hargreaves
This small but perfectly formed Greek island may look old and traditional, but it's attitude and outlook couldn't be more forward thinking if it tried...
This is a feature from issue 18 of Charitable Traveller Magazine.
Imagine a Greek island whose white-washed houses were powered only by wind and sun, where dolphins danced in its sapphire seas, and orchid-studded trails meandering across magical meadows and mountains were more plentiful than roads.
Welcome to Tilos. Yes, it might be the island none of us have heard of but that, perhaps, is its appeal. Part of the remote Dodecanese archipelago that hugs the Turkish coast, tiny S-shaped Tilos stands serene and solitary between hectic Rhodes and Kos. There’s no airport, it’s too far from its larger neighbours for day trips by boat, and mainland Greece is an epic 15-hour ferry journey away. So the island quietly carves its own path – one that over the past few decades has had a refreshingly green hue. “There are no nightclubs, water sports or high-rise hotels. You come here for the peace,” says Ian Hogg, a British resident who first visited Tilos 28 years ago, got hooked, and in 2006 gave up a secure job in the UK to move here permanently.
He now works as a rep for Sunvil and also helps out on the quay at the island’s port, Livadia. “People enjoy experiencing an authentic Greek island that’s free from mass tourism. When they get home, they often don’t tell anyone as they want Tilos to themselves!”
To the Future
With its Byzantine fresco-daubed monasteries (catch their saint’s day feasts when the whole island parties), pocket-sized chapels standing sentinel on thyme-scented mountains, and valleys lush with olive and oak trees, things tick along here much as they have for centuries. But look a bit deeper and you’ll discover that far from being stuck in its past, Tilos is framing its future in ways that are making it a blueprint of sustainability.
For starters, the entire island is designated a nature reserve, home to 100-plus identified species of birds, 46 of them threatened. Keep your binoculars poised to spot Bonelli’s eagle, long-legged buzzard and Mediterranean black shag; look out for rare monk seals and turtles too. This bountiful biodiversity is partly thanks to the island’s fertility (due to a network of underground springs) and tiny population (850 at the last count), but also to its eco-minded late mayor, Tasos Aliferis. The mayor, a keen ornithologist, took the hugely audacious step of banning hunting, something almost unthinkable in Greece where country-dwelling males are pretty much inseparable from their rifles. It wasn’t easy.
“The officials put obstacles in the way, requiring that the ban be continuously renewed, says Ian. “So Aliferis simply turned the whole island into a nature reserve. It was a stroke of genius!”
Another coup was to make Tilos the first island in Greece to run almost completely on renewable energy. Until then, it had relied on energy brought via underwater cables from Kos, but these often got cut and power surges and blackouts were frequent. Given Tilos’s abundant sun and wind, it made sense to instead power its homes with solar panels and a wind turbine. With the help of European money. Tilos installed an electricity production and storage plant that now meets over three-quarters of the island’s energy requirements.
All homes have solar panels to heat their water, buses and other council-owned vehicles are electric, and street lights and bus information boards are solar-powered too. Outsiders are watching with interest, says Ian. “We’ve had visitors from other Greek islands, and also from abroad, including Japan.”
Aliferis died in 2012, but his mayoral mantle has been assumed by another equally enthusiastic environmentalist, Maria Kamma. Two years ago, with EU help, she decided to tackle another issue that challenges islands worldwide: waste. Refuse that had previously gone into landfill was recycled, reused or composted. “Households have their rubbish collected three times a week and it’s then sorted,” says Ian. “Collections from restaurants are three times a day. We measured our waste recently and found that 91.7 per cent was being recycled. We believe that’s a record for an island. Eventually, we hope to achieve zero waste.”
Tilos has been transformed. Gone are the ubiquitous wheelie bins on every street corner. The landfill site has closed and is now where a private waste management company sorts the waste. The island’s schools, in the 1990s tottering as the island’s population dwindled to just 500, are thriving. Electric-powered public buses run regularly and on time. Even the cats, a feature of every Greek island are healthier, thanks to an initiative to get them neutered, which keeps numbers under control.
Ancient Routes
This can-do green ethos attracts a certain kind of tourist – mostly nature-loving walkers or birdwatchers, says Ian. The best time to visit is April, May and September when daytime temperatures are a comfortable 20-something. In spring the island is refreshingly green, illuminated with Aegean-blue hyacinths, poached egg-shaped rock roses and holy orchids. In autumn, the mountains turn russet gold and the sea is warm for swimming.
Footpaths follow trails that were once used by farmers to reach their crops, planted on the web of stone-built terraces that crisscross the island. “The network of paths is so extensive you could spend a fortnight hiking and do a different walk every day,” says Ian.
Navigating them is easy, thanks to signposting by local volunteers, first-rate maps and an excellent walking guide, by another Brit, Jim Osborne. Trails lead from Livadia along the coast in both directions; hike north to Lethra’s shingle beach (go early to bag the shade of its solitary tamarisk tree) or south to spring-fed Despoti Nero. Equally lovely is the ancient cobbled trail through the terraces up to Mikro Horio (Small Village), founded up in the mountains as protection against pirates.
Apart from its church, it’s now largely a ghost town with oak trees sprouting from its ruined houses. It’s worth returning in the evening to visit its bar, known as Night Club, inside a restored ruin, which in he summer opens from 10:30 pm through to 6 am. A free shuttle bus runs there hourly from Livadia so if you’re not up for an all-night session, you can still pop in for a quick nightcap.
Tilos’ tiny capital is Megalo Horio (big village), whose Persil-white cubed houses and narrow alleys cling to the limestone slopes. Stomp up to the stone-built Kastro (castle), where the Knights of St. John had a base until Tilos fell to the Turks in the 16th Century, or if that feels too energetic, join the locals for an ouzo at the artefact-packed Palio Meraki kafenion. The shiny new museum houses an unusual exhibit: the bones of Mastodons (dwarf elephants) that were discovered in a cave near here. The theory goes that elephants probably roamed Asia Minor, to which Tilos was once attached. But once Tilos broke away, the elephants had no predators and didn’t need to be as large as their mainland ancestors so evolved a dwarf form.
For beaches, you’re spoiled for choice. Apart from Livadia’s sienna-red volcanic sand, they’re all shingle – but you’ll probably have them all to yourself. “Skafi and Plaka beaches to the north coast are lovely, and you have to walk to reach them,” says Ian. “At Plaka, you’ll find wild peacocks.” Wild campers gravitate to Eristos, with its extensive pinky-grey sand-and-shingle beach shaded by tamarisk trees. There’s a loo and a shower to keep things clean, and a taverna if you want someone else to do the cooking.
Talking of food, I asked Ian what island specialities to try. “Many revolve around the goats that roam the island,” he says. “Tilos’ most famous dish is liver-stuffed goat baked in the oven. Also popular is giaprakia cabbage or vine leaves stuffed with spiced meat (the name derives from the Turkish yaprak meaning leaf).
“Tilos makes it’s own pasta, Koulouria, often served with tomato sauce or in a lasagna. Restaurants are family-run and offer traditional home-cooking, always based around the amazing oil from our olive trees”
Most restaurants are in Livadia. But for location (and just-caught fish), you can’t bean the fishing village of Agios Antonios on the island’s north coast, with its two tavernas. As you watch the sun setting behind neighbouring Nisyros, it’s a good place to reflect on how far this tiny island has come. How quickly others replicate Tilos’ pioneering steps towards self-sufficiency and sustainable tourism remains to be seen. But the island most of us have never heard of is certainly making waves.
Four More Green Greek Islands
Alonissos
One of the four Sporades islands, Alonissos and its pine-clad mountains feels a world away from its busier neighbours Skiathos and Skopelos. Even in summer, you can enjoy its sandy beaches and peaceful forests without the crowds. A lovely hike takes you from the port town Patiriri along a flower-decked track up to white-washed Hora, the Old Town.
The highlight though, is the marine park off Alonissos’ northern coast, the first such park in Greece and the largest in the Mediterranean. Jump aboard a classic sailing boat in Patiriri to tour the park’s numerous islands, including Piperi, home to the highly endangered Mediterranean monk seal, and raptors (such as Eleonora’s falcons) that live on its steep hills.
Astypalea
Butterfly-shaped Astypalea is the westernmost island of the Dodecanese, but historically and culturally feels more like one of the Cyclades (which you’ll see on a clear day). Climb from Skala port and its windmills up to the Old Town, Hora, and you’ll find whitewashed houses with colourful wooden balconies recalling the Cycladic building styles of Tinos and Mykonos. Despite its rich past, Astypalea is looking firmly to the future by transforming its transport to run on renewable energy (solar and wind). Buses are being converted to electric, and residents receive hefty discounts to encourage them to buy electric cars and scooters. Sustainable tourism such as walking is promoted, allowing visitors to discover the island’s many trails, secret beaches and mountainside meadows.
Skyros
Famous for its music, potters and painters, Skyros has an arty, slightly alternative, feel. You’ll find its artists’ wares for sale in the shops lining the pretty cobbled streets of Skyros Town. If you can, time your trip to join Skyros’s pagan pre-Lenten carnival, when young men don goat masks, or its mid-July week-long Rembetika Music Festival when the island resounds to the melancholic sounds of the blues music that was brought to Greece by refugees from Asia Minor in the 1920s. Skyros is the largest of the Sporades so there’s plenty of space for nature lovers to enjoy its secret bays, rolling farmland and forests, all untouched by mass tourism. It even has its own (endangered) breed of horse.
Ikaria
Rocky Ikaria is often dubbed the island where people forget to die, on account of its inhabitants’ longevity. As a result, it’s designated one of only five ‘blue zones’ in the world. Could the islanders’ secret be their healthy diet, including locally caught lobster and island-made wine? Their pristine island environment with its beaches, forested gorges and rocky moonscapes, all great for hiking? Or their geographical isolation in the northeast Aegean, which historically has led to Ikaria being a refuge for pirates and exiles? Who knows, but off-beat Ikaria is a delight. Still difficult to get to, and untouched by mass tourism, this long and skinny island amply rewards those who make the effort to reach its dramatic shores.
Feeling inspired?
Click the links below to learn more about Greece and her islands. Or reach out to our team of expert travel agents and plan your Greek escape today! Remember – every time you book a holiday with you can donate 5% of the price to the charity of your choice for free!
This is a feature from Issue 18 of Charitable Traveller.
by net effect