It has been proven several times that a photo can be so misleading that it makes you wonder if what you are seeing is real. The same can be said for some places in the world, which do not make you wonder if what you see is true, but if what you see with your own eyes is in… Greece!
Images of whitewashed houses with stained glass windows and blooming bougainvillea, found in the Cyclades, can also be seen in Tunisia. Points of wilder beauty with buildings in earth tones that characterize our wonderful Mani, can be enjoyed in Sicily. Villages with mansions and picturesque alleys that refer to the mansion of Corfu but are located on the French Riviera. Seaside settlements almost identical to Spetses amaze the visitor of Portugal.
So, we gathered five points in the world that could be in Greece and yet meet hundreds of kilometers away from our country.
All the quintessence of the Greek summer is reflected in its grandeur in the images that one sees in Sidi Bou Said, the picturesque village in its northern part. Tunisia. Undoubtedly from the places that not only look like Greece, but make you wonder if you really are in it.
The village with its characteristic white buildings, blue windows and domes, in some parts, refers to one of our wonderful Cycladic islands. Perched on the top of a cliff, the village with its white houses and latticed balconies, colorful bougainvilleas and picturesque streets, overlooks the endless blue and enjoys a spectacular view of the dreamy sunset.
What is worth visiting, walking the cobbled alleys and wandering the tourist shops with souvenirs and works of art, as well as visiting one of the traditional Arabian cafes for a unique experience.
If there is one place in the world that at first glance not just refers, but makes you believe that you are indeed in Greece, it is none other than Ferragudo, in the famous province of Algarve, at its southernmost tip. Portugal. As soon as one sees the coastal front of the village, one is automatically transferred to the mansions of Spetses, at the point with the captain's mansions from the old port to Dapia. On the other hand, the interior of the village with the narrow alleys and the white buildings with the colorful details remind something of Apollonia of Sifnos, the most beautiful settlement of the island of Cyclades.
The white two-storey houses with red tiled roofs and the picturesque harbor right in front of them are the trademark of the village, which has managed to remain untouched by the mass tourism of the area.
Retaining much of its traditional charm, it looks like "the fly in the middle of milk" if one thinks that it is surrounded by popular tourist resorts of the country such as Portimao and Praia da Rocha.
For those who want to discover it from the inside and not stay only in its first "external" coastal image, from the shore starts a small, old cobbled path full of whitewashed houses that leads to the old village. At the end of the route at the top of the hill is the village church, from where the view reaches the river and the nearby Praia da Angrinha beach.
Along with the charm of the old village lure of Ferragudo are the beautiful beaches that can be found nearby. The main beach of the city is considered to be Praia Grande, a shore with golden sand and calm waters for safe swimming.
Built on steep, steep cliffs over the impressive El Tajo Gorge, which is over 100 meters high and is crossed by the Río Guadalevín River, which divides the city in two, Ronda is a city with dramatic images and majestic landscapes that cut through. the breath. While its history, which is lost in the depths of time, starting from the 9th century, is of great interest, full of illegal robbers, guerrilla warriors and revolutionaries.
It is a very popular destination in the province of Malaga, in Andalusia, in the southern part of Spain, which although it is not coastal, gathers countless tourists every year, disproportionate to its small size.
Its main feature, apart from the dramatic images with the imposing rocks of the gorge, are the pale white traditional houses with the characteristic tiled roofs and the picturesque, narrow, paved alleys in the Old Town district, La Ciudad, reminiscent of something from Greece.
Ronda was the birthplace of bullfighting in the late 18th century, and is home to perhaps the oldest bullring in the country, the Plaza de toros, built in 1779.
The "white city" of Spain, as many call it, was adored by American artists such as Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles - who in turn contributed to Ronda's "advertising" outside of Spain - who spent many of their summers in it. , writing about the beauty of the city and the famous traditions of bullfighting.
Its point of reference is also the wonderful view it offers from its fortress.
The mountain village of Collobrieres, in the province of Alpes-Côte d'Azur, on the southeast coast of France, takes the traveler to the beautiful alleys of the Old Town of Corfu. Here the leading role has graphic images that are very reminiscent of Campiello, the oldest district of the city, with beautiful mansions and labyrinthine alleys. The medieval village in the heart of the Massif des Maures hills, created in the 12th century around a medieval wall (does not exist today) is crossed by a beautiful river and is a calm and peaceful choice away from the noisy French Riviera.
The main road of the village is full of plane trees, cobbled sidewalks, some tourist shops as well as some attractive restaurants. What characterizes the Collobrieres, however, is none other than the chestnuts and their fruits - many call it the "capital" of the chestnut - with which they prepare what the human mind can imagine - from ice cream to soups.
Nature lovers outside the village will discover countless, wonderful hiking trails, while the wild nature that characterizes the Massif des Maures area definitely impresses even the most skeptical.
Its island with a strong Greek element Of Sicily could also be described as a "little Greece". One of the villages that, as soon as one sees it, one gets the feeling that it is located in Greece and not on the neighboring island of Italy, Cefalu in the province of Palermo, which is washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea and is 70 km from the city of Palermo. What makes a special impression is the Greek origin of the name of the small seaside village, in Greek it means "head", which, however, is not mentioned anywhere in the works of Thucydides, who clearly states that Chimera was the only Greek colony in it the coast of Sicily.
The images that one will see here are more typical of the landscape of beautiful Mani, mainly the coastal front of the village, less wild, however, and more sweet. Traditional houses at the point where the wave breaks and a small, picturesque harbor that steals the show.
Cefalu is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and one of the busiest summer holiday destinations in Sicily. Above the small town dominates a monumental rock at a height of 270 meters, also known as the "cape of Hercules", on which stands the temple of Diana, a megalithic building associated with the worship of water. The view from this point is really breathtaking. The historic district of the village is located in the shadow of the rock, whose heart beats around its impressive, cathedral.
What you should definitely experience here is the afternoon walk along the beach and the stop at one of the seaside restaurants with fresh fish at sunset over the illuminated picturesque harbor.