Folegandros · wild coast, slow tables

Your likely Mr & Mrs Smith port base: contemporary Cycladic design, pool, spa and a polished all-day restaurant.

An easy first or last swim above the harbour, especially good in soft morning light.

The simple port beach, useful for an immediate swim after the ferry or a gentle early morning.

Six hours, five swimming stops, a light homemade lunch, fruit, local sweets and raki. Route follows the wind.

Friendly, informal harbour cooking: pies, grilled fish, prawns, courgette fritters and good-value seafood pasta.

Straightforward fish, seafood and Greek dishes directly beside the water. A useful low-key alternative.

Local vegetables, day-caught seafood, Greek wines and a quieter, polished dinner without leaving the hotel.

Your booked base from 19 to 23 September, close to the squares, evening restaurants and the Kastro.

The continuously inhabited medieval core of Chora, built into the cliff as protection against pirate raids.

The serpentine climb above Chora ends with the island's defining view. Go with Poly once, then return for photographs.

Local stories, Kastro, water systems, pirate history and Panagia with a guide whose family roots are on the island.

A dive-centre-led marine experience to Georgitsis Cave and Katergo, with professional guidance rather than a basic boat taxi.

Garden breakfast, takos, eggs, yoghurt and preserves served on ceramics handmade by resident artist Lisbet Schou.

Family-run since 1989. Seek out kalasouna cheese pie, karpouzenia watermelon pie, bread and a takeaway freddo.

A 24-seat contemporary island restaurant built around local fish, seafood charcuterie, minimal waste and Greek island wines.

Romantic courtyard, thoughtful Greek and Mediterranean cooking, a good wine list and tarama already singled out in your saved list.

Taste the island's wine project, including wild-fermented Themonies and traditional sun-dried Mantilaria Mavrouka.

Day-caught fish, lobster and slipper-lobster pasta in a garden. Confirm the catch and price by weight before ordering.

The useful no-reservation night: grilled meat, gyros and generous portions in the middle of Chora.

Contemporary Greek cooking in Block722's cliffside resort, plus a vinyl-only hi-fi bar inspired by Japanese jazz kissaten.

A small cafe beside the Kastro, saved from a personal recommendation and well placed for a pause while exploring the old quarter.

A contemporary breakfast stop in central Chora for açaí bowls and lighter cafe food.

A traditional Chora taverna saved specifically for moussaka, useful for a relaxed rustic dinner in the village.

A Chora bakery saved for spinach pie and an easy portable lunch before a walk or beach day.

A central Chora restaurant to keep as a flexible village dinner when you want to decide on the night.

Its terrace is saved for breakfast and a sunset drink, with wide views above Chora rather than as an overnight stop.

A contemporary Chora cafe for breakfast that changes gear later for cocktails.

A small Chora food stop for island pantry goods, with fresh capers specifically noted in your saved list.

A late-evening Chora cocktail stop, saved in particular for its paloma.

A seafood-focused option on Antimatsa Square, handy for an unhurried dinner in central Chora.

Walk the dispersed rural settlement for dry-stone walls, cisterns, ovens and combined farmhouses rather than a conventional village centre.

A preserved themonia showing the island's old agricultural life. Valuable, but the published season ends before your visit.

The essential grocery-taverna meal: matsata with slow-cooked rooster, rabbit or goat, plus pies, greens and whatever was cooked that day.

A longstanding rural taverna with a bookable cooking class covering matsata, local pies and home-style island food.

A contemporary local gastropub for brunch, a simple seasonal lunch, cocktails and music in the middle of rural Ano Meria.

An Ano Meria honey shop and breakfast stop that fits neatly into a morning among the rural themonies.

Wild clear water reached by boat from Karavostasis or a steep walk. There is no shade, food or water on the beach.

The starting point for the island's best easy coastal sequence: Fira, Galifos and Agios Nikolaos. Taxi boats can also turn it into a dinner departure point.

A short, scenic coastal path through Galifos to a sheltered beach with trees and tavernas.

A terrace above Agios Nikolaos for anchovy bruschetta, octopus, catch-of-the-day pasta and a long, breezy lunch.

A rockier old-path day linking pale-pebble Livadaki with the 1919 lighthouse and the island's western landscape.

An easy port-base day through Latinaki, Vitsentzou and Pountaki to the broader beach and cultivated land at Livadi.

A feet-near-the-sand taverna at Agios Nikolaos, ideal after walking from Agali or arriving by taxi boat.

A saved Agali lunch option close to the beach and taxi-boat point.

A remote west-coast dining address near Ampeli, best treated as a destination rather than a spontaneous stop.

Your central Fira base on both sides of the island trip, close to the bus station and practical food rather than the caldera premium.

Use a pre-booked transfer from Fira. The road can congest, so leave Hotel Antonia around 12:30 for the 14:25 ferry.

EasyJet arrives 19:30 on 15 September and departs 19:40 on 24 September.

The best cultural use of the final morning, with Akrotiri finds and frescoes in a compact museum beside central Fira.

The most promising proper speciality-coffee stop in Fira, with espresso, breakfast and bakes.

A relaxed central choice for Greek meze, seafood and a final Santorini lunch without building the meal around a caldera view.

Family-run, home-style Greek cooking near the bus station, particularly useful after the late arrival on 15 September.