The tiny Greek island where EVs take charge
Chora or capital of Astypalea.
Ed Moskalenko | Getty Images
The small, butterfly-shaped Greek island of Astypalea has all the amenities for a relaxing holiday: numerous beaches with clear waters, great seafood and a castle perched above a traditional white town with winding streets and views of the Aegean Sea.
It is also less developed than its larger neighbors such as Rhodes and Kos, and with a population of just 1,400, Astypalea was a quiet holiday destination when I visited in June.
Some of the lanes in the island’s Chora (or capital) are so small that donkeys carry construction tools to hard-to-reach construction sites, but the form of transport most notable on Astypalea is a fleet of electric minibuses, part of a scheme called AstyBus, an unusual sight for Greek islands.
It’s worth starting a trip to the island by visiting the ruins of the 15th-century Venetian castle, built on the site of other structures, including from the Roman and Byzantine periods, above Chora. From there I walked towards the eight traditional, red-roofed windmills in the center of the town, originally built to grind grain in the 13th and 14th centuries. Small but charming island at the bottom of the hill Archaeological MuseumArtifacts dating from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages.
To start, I used the bus to get from the bottom to the top of Chora when it was too hot to walk its winding streets before exploring further.
The church of Agios Dimitrios in the village of Maltezana, Astypalea
Lucy Handley
My first stop was Maltezana, Astypalea’s second largest settlement, a 20-minute circuitous bus ride from Chora. I went downland a few more stops to look inside Agios Dimitros, a small church across the street from Maltezana’s grocery store. While the exterior of the church is painted in the traditional blue and white style, the interior is ornately decorated and features biblical scenes in blue and gold on the walls and ceiling.
A short walk from the church, a row of restaurants line a narrow beach. It was fun to dive into its clear, shallow waters after lazing under one of the bushy trees on the sand.
Over the next few days I visited more beaches using AstyBus: Schinonta, a quiet bay on the coast of Maltezana, and tree-covered Livadi, located on the hill just above Chora and with several restaurants on the beach.
The bus initiative is part of a grand plan to transform Astypalea into a “smart and sustainable island”. volkswagen. Claims to be one The first initiative of its kind For the Greek islands, it aims to replace traditional combustion-engine vehicles with electric-powered cars and support the transition to renewable energy in general.
Authorities want to keep the island intact by focusing on sustainability and moderate development.
Volkswagen has supplied electric minibuses to Astypalea as part of its initiative to make the island “smart and sustainable”.
Lucy Handley
In addition to electric vehicles, a hybrid power plant is also being built. Astypalea mayor Nikolaos Komineas said in an interview with CNBC that wind generation plans will meet more than 50% of the island’s energy needs in the summer months.
Komineas also wants to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles by making tap water drinkable and ensuring hotels and other accommodation providers offer reusable water bottles. “My dream is to have all this new infrastructure on the island by the end of 2027, the beginning of 2028,” he said.
An unusual beach
After traveling to many beaches by bus, I wanted to go somewhere further away. I have seen photos of Vatses beach at the tip of the Astypalea butterfly’s left wing; A wide, sandy bay surrounded by sparse, rocky cliffs. Since Astybus was out of coverage, I needed a car for the trip and rented an EV (VW ID.3) using the AstyGO app. I loaded my driver’s license and credit card into the app, which uses Bluetooth to access vehicles.
While the car was comfortable to drive, getting into it was less so; The app had to be restarted before the vehicle could be started, and most of the instructions on the dashboard were only in Greek.
The road to Vatses was not for the faint of heart: an unsealed road gave way to a narrow path with a steep incline on one side. However, the beach was very beautiful and looked like its photos; on one side there was a cafe serving Greek salads, coffee and cocktails, as well as sun loungers for rent and trees to lounge under; An easy place to spend the afternoon.
Vatses beach in Astypalea, Greece, is reached by an unblocked road.
George Papapostolou | Moment On | Getty Images
Accessing the vehicle for the return trip was also difficult. Since I had been at the beach for a few hours, I had automatically logged out of the AstyGO app, and without a 5G phone signal, I couldn’t even open the car door, let alone start the engine. Luckily the cafe had Wi-Fi and I managed to make my way up the rocky path, following a goat part of the way.
Once safely back in Chora, I enjoyed an al fresco dinner. NavagosIt features a modern Greek tapas-style menu that includes locally made sausages with baked potatoes and slow-cooked chickpeas with lemon sauce. One of my favorite cafes for pastries or desserts was Glykia, located just up the hill from Chora beach.
Even in June Astypalea looked like a local island, with one long-term visitor describing it as “like Santorini 20 years ago”.
Overtourism is a big problem for some Greek islands; The mayor of Santorini (about 100 km west of Astypalea) states that the pressure of millions of visitors has become “unbearable”. Interview with the Guardian last year.
According to the mayor’s data, Astypalea receives approximately 32,000 to 36,000 tourists per year. Santorini, on the other hand, is approximately three-quarters the size and hosts more than 3 million visitors.
Astypalea brings a more balanced approach to tourism. The mayor and local government rejected a proposal to build 200 villas on the island last year. “We don’t want a crowded island,” he said. “We don’t want the island to be degraded in any way. We want nature to remain as it is.”
