Having visited mainland Greece a couple of times (see last year’s Athens trip) the opportunity to explore one of the islands was impossible to say no to. A few year’s ago, we made a family trip to Paros which was stunning but we stayed mainly cocooned in a beautiful villa with friends. This time – teamed up again with perfect travel companion Arianna (our Athens trip was such a success we were thrilled to travel again together; two similarly temperamented  London-based girls of Italian heritage makes for an excellent match we’ve realised!) we made our way to Samos, an island just off the Anatolian coast in the east Aegean sea.

With Discover Greece and Aegean Airlines we travelled from London to Athens, overnighted in the airport’s Sofitel (very comfortable, with a 24-hour breakfasting available) and took the first flight to Samos the next morning. Already swooning from the romance of a propeller plane and misty pink sunrise, we landed at the pretty-in-soft-yellow and satisfyingly small Samos airport. A cab took less that 10 minutes to drive us through Samos’s second most important city Pythagorios to the 5-star Proteas Blu Resort, perched above the most glorious beach coves.

Very chill, adults only and very considered, quite minimal decor with the most wonderful views, the resort is made up of little villa type rooms at various points on the slope down to the sea. We were right at the front with a private pool looking seawards. Even though there were other guests – Italian, Germans, Scandinavians and English – the vibe was incredibly laid back and easy going. Whatever your plans, it would be quite easy to just choose the beach cove for the day, eat at one of the four restaurants and repeat the next day.

As we’d arrived very early, we sat on the breakfast terrace and soaked it all in for a while, tucking into fresh fruit, eggs and coffee. When our room was ready, we went and rested for a while before popping into the sweet little Adam & Eve spa for a welcome massage. So what was needed after the travelling! And then we were straight to the beach for a dip – I never truly feel quite right until I’ve plunged into the blue water and covered myself in its saltiness. As the light faded and got all golden hour, we whiled away our time before dinner, snapping away and chasing kittens.

That evening we dined quite lavishly – with an 8-course menu – in the terraced Panorama restaurant, trying out the local Samos wines (the dry white Aegean Breeze was exquisite!) and nattering endlessly. For these longer menus, it’s worth bearing in mind that they can take up to three hours – so prepare to settle in and enjoy the wine! All completely delicious…

The next morning we headed to the capital city of Vathy and explored all the gorgeous little windy streets and afterwards we headed to the wonderful temple of Hera with its single standing column and an old monastery in the hills with an underground cave – so many lovely photos from being out & about, I have a separate blog post coming on that! And that night we ate an extravaganza seafood menu on the hotel’s ThalaSea boat restaurant (see below!) that sits above the beach. Gorgeous lobster dishes and that delicious Samos wine again as we watched the full moon get brighter and brighter. Honestly, Arianna and I could talk till the sun came up! But we got to bed as soon as we could in preparation for an island-hopping boat trip (with Samos Travel Services) the next day! Again, all the pictures from that and the gorgeous port town of Pythagorios to come!

Our last morning, we wanted nothing more than to lap up some sun before we left. We walked to the furthest part of the beach and settled in on one of the lovely big shady four poster beds and cooled off in the water and then back again… Stayed tuned for our boat trip and exploring Vathy and Pythagorios!