They are leading a new trend in Greek accommodation, combining style with understated luxury. The company has attractive properties in Patras, Cephalonia and Ithaca, two of which are featured in their brochure (01653 617755; www.filoxenia.co.uk). These are the Emelisse Hotel in Fiskardo, Cephalonia, where a week’s bed and breakfast based on two people sharing, with flights and transfers starts at £718 per person; and the Perantzada 1811 Hotel in Vathy, Ithaca, where the same deal starts at £687.ANY MORE CITY LIFE?Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki, is the capital of the Macedonia region. It is an attractive destination in northern Greece, on the Thermaic Gulf; on a clear day you can see as far as Mount Olympus.You can reach Thessaloniki on British Airways or Olympic Airlines from Gatwick. Although it is a bustling city, its wide avenues and many green spaces make it a pleasant place to spend some time; and the propensity to earthquakes means that limits have been placed on high-rise building.

There is plenty to see in the city, including the Archaeology Museum, and the Museum of Byzantine Culture. The city’s most famous landmark is the White Tower, all that remains of the walls that once surrounded the city. The luxury, boutique-style Andromeda Hotel, at 5 Komnion Street (00 30 231 037 3700) is an excellent place to stay.AND SOME METROPOLITAN CULTURE?For this year at least, Patras is the place to go to if you want your cultural enjoyment of Greece to involve more than dancing on the table. Situated on the mainland, on the north-west coast of the Peloponnese, Greece’s third-largest city is European Capital of Culture 2006. The Roman Odeon on Germanou Street (00 30 261 022 0829) has now been restored and turned into a venue for concerts and plays; and the Archaeological Museum at 42 Mezonos Street (00 30 261 022 0829; www.culture.gr) has been renovated. It opens 8.30am-3pm daily except Monday, and admission is free. The liveliest area in the city is around Plateia Yioriou, which is lined with busy caf?and plenty of shops.

Details of the year’s cultural events are available online at www.patras2006.gr/en.Patras is in the middle of Greece’s so-called “cultural triangle”, the ancient sites of Delphi, Epidaurus and Olympia, which makes it an excellent base for some cultural tourism. All these destinations can be included in tailor-made trips offered by The Traveller (020-7436 9343; www.the-traveller.co.uk). The company is also running a 15-night guided trip departing on 30 September which will examine the worlds of the early Greek historians, Herodotus and Thucydides, and will visit a number of destinations in the Peloponnese, including Argos, Delphi and Olympia. The cost is £2,495, including flights, accommodation, most meals, and a guest lecturer.A number of other travel companies specialise in upmarket trips to Greece, including Abercrombie and Kent (0845 0700 610; www.abercrombiekent.co.uk) and Laskarina (01444 880353; www.laskarina.co.uk).I WANT TO FEEL LIKE ONASSISAristotle Onassis bought the island of Skorpios, one of the Ionian group, during the 1960s; it is still privately owned, and the shipping billionaire and his son and daughter are buried there. Anyone – well, anyone with a few spare millions – can buy a Greek island.

Vladi Private Islands ( www.vladi-private-islands.de), a company which sells islands all over the world, is currently offering tiny St Athanasios Island, in the Gulf of Corinth, for $1m (£550,000).More realistic for most travellers might be a visit to an island that is really off the beaten track. Meganisi is the next island down from Skorpios and is the only one of the tiny islands off the coast of Levkas that is not privately owned; the lack of anything happening there is all part of its charm.Kastellorizo is the smallest of the Dodecanese group, and the most far-flung of all the Greek islands, tucked away close to the Turkish coast. It has no beaches, although rocky grottos make it perfect for snorkelling, and it has a couple of hotels, each with lovely harbour views. And the island of Kythira, only 12 miles off the southern tip of the Peloponnese but somehow unaffected by mass tourism, is a wonderfully restful place. The Margarita Hotel, in the island’s main village, Chora (00 30 273 603 1711; www.hotel-margarita ), has 12 traditionally-furnished rooms, which start at €50 (£36) in low season, excluding breakfast.I NEED MY OWN TRANSPORTTo travel in style, charter your own boat. According to Panos Argyros: “Hiring a yacht for four or five days for eight or 10 people, with a captain, crew and all your food will cost the same as it would to stay in a deluxe hotel in most European cities – and think of the flexibility.” Many of the hire companies are based in Athens, and are listed by the Greek Yacht Brokers’ Association (00 30 210 453 3134; www.hyba.gr) or the Greek Yacht Owners’ Association (00 30 210 452 6335; www.hpyoa.gr).WHAT ABOUT A CRUISE?ITC Classics (01244 355550; www.itcclassics.co.uk) sells cruises to various islands and points on the mainland.