Serifos, the Greek island you wish you'd known about sooner

A hot weather warning + where to eat, stay and beach on Serifos this summer

Kalispera one and all from a sizzling 37degrees Celcius day here in Athens.

If I don’t melt by the time I get to the end of writing this email, it will be a great achievement. There’s nothing like living in an inferno to get you thinking about ways you could do your bit to help assuage the impending climate catastrophe that awaits us.

Either that or escape it and head to Serifos like I did a few days ago. Below is where I sun-soaked, the best places to eat and the ULTIMATE, most authentic and beautiful spot to sleep on the island. These are the tips I share with friends, so please share them wisely in return! We don’t want this dream island to become a hot-spot. I’ll get to these in a second but briefly on with my eco agenda…

I’ve taken the decision to cut my family’s meat intake right down. Since having a baby and at the advice of the paediatrician we eat meat around three times a week but in the spirit of Yiayiades everywhere, I’m limiting meat-eating days to Sunday from now on.

I may be late on the bandwagon but I recently found out that 57% of greenhouse gas emission in the food industry are linked to breeding and rearing cows, pigs and other livestock, as well as producing feed. A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions in the food industry are a result of beef production alone.

So. Time to cut back on the stifado and the ragu. In the process of writing my cookbooks, I have never needed to try hard to fill the pages with delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes. That’s because traditionally, our Yiayiades here in Greece eat meat only on Sundays. They also observe ‘Sarakosti’ and commit to ‘Nystia’, adopting a vegan diet for their fast before certain Orthodox holidays. My own Yiayia won’t touch eggs or dairy on a Wednesday or a Friday throughout the year. Of course, she doesn’t do this because of the damage that industrial farming has on the environment, or because she feels particularly strongly about animal rights but I still admire her commitment to the veggies and want to follow her example and hope some of you might too.

Now onto Serifos. The weather in Athens really has been gruesome this past week. It is impossible to live your life outdoors between the hours of 1pm-5pm. I walked to Syntagma a week ago and nearly fainted because of how oppressive the sun felt above me. So in true Athenian style, I hot-footed it to an island for the weekend.

Serifos Island Guide

Located in the Cyclades and a 2 hour fast-ferry ride away from the port of Piraeus, Serifos felt like a smart choice for a ‘breather’ for a quick few days. Having visited, I realise I could have definitely lounged and lolled on its beaches for a little longer. I met one German man who’d been there for three weeks on his own without a car. “It’s simply paradise,” he told me as he swilled his ice cold Fix and dipped into his bowl of oregano fries on the beach.

I don’t disagree, especially coming from Athens where the incessant beeping of traffic, heavy heat and pollution do kill the “Live your myth in Greece” vibe.

Serifos is the quietest island I’ve ever visited. Its permanent population sits at around 1000 so the energy is sleepy. Expect Serifos to be the best sleeping holiday you’ve ever had because there isn’t much in the way of night life and the best thing to do there is languidly sun-soak on its spectacularly wild beaches.

Serifos is all about its beaches

The beaches in Serifos are stunning and some of the best I’ve been to in Greece. If you’re a sunbed, umbrella and beach bar babe, don’t bother with Serifos. It’s all about wild beaches, a little traditional taverna or small cantina and shade from the trees or craggy rocks. No 20 euro minimum sunbed spend. Bring your own towel and expect to take on a nice golden tone if you don’t manage to find shade from a tree, (which you will always find, because Serifos beaches are empty of people!) There were only a handful of humans on every beach I visited and we’re talking June, in the summer season - not March or April.

The beaches I loved the most were as follows: