Athens pulled in more than 8 million international visitors in 2025, and Santorini handles around 3.4 million a year. Kythira, the island myth says Aphrodite called home, counted just 81,672 visitors in 2022. That gap is exactly why its tiny east-coast fishing village of Avlemonas is worth a detour: same Aegean beauty, a fraction of the crowds, and a guest list that's largely Greek, which keeps things feeling genuinely local.

The village centres on a small pocket beach that reads like a natural swimming pool, ringed by stone paths and steps, prickly pear cacti, and bougainvillea in magenta, pink and white. A few minutes on foot brings you to the ruins of the Castle of Avlemonas, an octagonal fort raised in 1725 by Venetian governor Francesco Correr to guard the seaport against Maltese pirates. History, in other words, is baked into the stroll.

For a bigger beach day, head west to the Baths of Helen (Paralia Paleopoli), Kythira's largest beach and, allegedly, the very spot where Aphrodite rose from the sea foam. Expect sand and pebbles, lounge chairs, a beach bar and warm, swimmable water.

Food is the other pull. Avlemonas has few restaurants, but the quality runs high. Psomoladea, near the beach and easy to spot thanks to a lime-green door, serves locally sourced dishes like sea bass tartare, stone fish cakes and seafood linguine — brush up on your Greek or keep a translation app handy, since there may be no English menu. A short drive away, Skandeia is a tavern-style favourite with more than 2,300 Google reviews, serving mousaka, Greek salad, baked lamb and whatever the day's catch turned up, all on a greenery-fringed veranda.

Getting there takes some planning. Ferries leave Piraeus twice weekly and take six and a half hours to Diakofti, Kythira's main port, then it's a 15-minute taxi to Avlemonas. Flights from Athens International Airport to Alexandros Onasis Kythira Airport take 50 minutes but run only once or twice a week, and schedules shift with the seasons. There's no public transport on the island, so rent a car or budget for taxis.

If you've been put off by overtourism headlines in Athens and Santorini, Avlemonas is the antidote: a slow, seaside Greek village where the main activities are swimming, eating well and doing very little else. Aim for June or September if you want the calmest version of it.