Samos
Green, Mountainous Island Of Pythagoras; UNESCO World Heritage Site: Pythagoreion And Heraion Of Samos (1992), With The Tunnel Of Eupalinos; Muscat Wine · Pythagoreio, North Aegean
Samos is a large, green and mountainous island in the eastern Aegean, under two kilometres from the Turkish coast at its narrowest point, and one of the most rewarding in Greece for ancient history set in real landscape. It was the home of Pythagoras and, under the tyrant Polycrates in the sixth century BC, one of the richest cities in the Greek world. Three works of that age form a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the harbour at Pythagoreio, the vast sanctuary of Hera (the Heraion), where a single column still stands, and the Tunnel of Eupalinos, an aqueduct over a kilometre long dug through a hill from both ends. Beyond the ruins come the giant kouros in the Vathy museum, sweet Muscat wine from terraced vineyards, pine and plane forests, the stone villages of the north, the Potami waterfalls and wild beaches under Mount Kerkis, and ferries to Kusadasi for Ephesus. Honest caveats: it is big and hilly, so you need a car; the south-coast resorts are ordinary; and the tunnel is narrow and not for the claustrophobic.
Samos, North Aegean; Pythagoreio harbour and the Heraion on the south coast; Vathy (Samos Town) port in the north-east; ferries to Kusadasi, Pythagoreio, North Aegean, Greece
Samos is open all year, with its main season from May to October; many resort hotels close in winter, but Vathy and Pythagoreio keep everyday life. The Heraion and the Pythagoreio and Vathy museums keep state site hours - long in summer (roughly 08:00 to 19:00 or 20:00), shorter in winter, closed on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25-26 December, and some close one weekday. The Tunnel of Eupalinos is entered in small timed groups with limited places; its hours are shorter than the other sites and it has closed on some weekdays - confirm and arrive early. Buy tickets at the gate or on the official Hellenic Heritage e-ticket system. The airport is beside Pythagoreio; ferries use Vathy, Karlovasi and Pythagoreio, and boats to Kusadasi need a passport and advance booking in summer.