Kea hotels collection

In the Cyclades archipelago, Kea is a forested island, something which might comes as a surprise. Its slopes are home to valonia oaks, whose acorn cups were once sent off to the tanneries. Ioulis, the capital, is perched on a hilltop, as, red-tiled roofs tumble down hillside lanes. Meanwhile, just outside the village, a historic lion carved from the rock has been smiling since antiquity -- at whom, nobody knows -- as paved paths run between dry-stone walls. The temples of the ancient town of Karthaia lie above a double bay, which can only be reached on foot.