National Geographic’s annual list of breathtaking places around the world includes a Greek destination recommendation for 2023.
Featuring only 25 destinations in total, the magazine’s editors singled out five destinations in five categories (community, nature, culture, family, and adventure) sure to amaze visitors in 2023.
The Greek destination in question, which the article describes as “a growing center of ecotourism” with “striking landscapes surrounded by the Aegean Sea,” is the first place named in the article, and features in the “community” category. It is the Dodecanese island of Karpathos, a rural yet among tourists increasingly popular island offering more than a hundred beaches, many outdoor activities, and picturesque villages – the latter including traditional Olympos which, famously, for centuries was a self-governing matriarchal community. And it seems Karpathos is still giving birth to strong women; what put the island on National Geographic’s list today is, particularly, the “women-led ventures leading the charge in sustainable tourism.”
While Karpathos is the second-largest Dodecanese island, its remoteness, located 242 sea miles from Piraeus, has worked in its favor as far as maintaining its authenticity, and the island is still, to a degree, quite self-sufficient. Locals here actively work to prolong their tourist season, while hoping to avoid mass tourism.