Greece

Few countries have shaped the world like Greece. This is where democracy, philosophy, theatre and the Olympic Games were born; where Homer's heroes set sail and where the myths of Zeus, Athena and Odysseus still cling to every headland. To travel here is to walk among the foundations of Western thought — through marble temples, open-air amphitheatres and oracles perched on mountainsides — while a living, breathing modern culture hums all around you.

Yet Greece is never a museum. It is a country of more than two hundred inhabited islands scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas, each with its own character — the whitewashed cubes and cobalt domes of the Cyclades, the cosmopolitan glamour of Mykonos, the green hills and Venetian harbours of the Ionian. Days here move to an unhurried rhythm: a long lunch under a tamarisk tree, an afternoon swim in impossibly clear water, an evening that begins late and ends later.

At the heart of it all is philoxenia — literally "love of strangers" — the deeply held Greek tradition of hospitality. Guests are treated as a gift, plied with food, drink and conversation, and made to feel like family within minutes of arriving. Combine that warmth with extraordinary light, a coastline made for sailing and some of the Mediterranean's finest food, and it is easy to understand why travelers fall hard for Greece and return again and again.

The best time to visit is the shoulder seasons — April to June and September to October — when the days are warm, the sea is swimmable and the famous sites are blissfully uncrowded. High summer is glorious but busy and hot; spring brings wildflowers and Easter celebrations, while early autumn offers warm water and golden light.