Megisti, the only town on Kastellorizo, is built around a small natural harbour. Two- and three-storey neoclassical mansions painted red, yellow, blue and green, with tiled roofs and wooden balconies and windows, stand along the quays and climb the hill behind them. Their colours are reflected in the clear water. Cafés and tavernas line the waterfront. Narrow lanes and steps lead up from the quays to the upper part of the town, and the whole town can be crossed on foot in about half an hour.

Around 1908, some 9,000 people lived on the island. In the following decades most of them emigrated, many to Australia. In July 1944 a fire destroyed about half of the homes. Fewer than a thousand people live on Kastellorizo. The Italian film Mediterraneo, which later won an Oscar, was filmed on the island in 1991, and it made the island known abroad.

Megisti, the only town on Kastellorizo, is built around a small natural harbour. Two- and three-storey neoclassical mansions painted red, yellow, blue and green, with tiled roofs and wooden balconies and windows, stand along the quays and climb the hill behind them. Their colours are reflected in the clear water. Cafés and tavernas line the waterfront. Narrow lanes and steps lead up from the quays to the upper part of the town, and the whole town can be crossed on foot in about half an hour.

Around 1908, some 9,000 people lived on the island. In the following decades most of them emigrated, many to Australia. In July 1944 a fire destroyed about half of the homes. Fewer than a thousand people live on Kastellorizo. The Italian film Mediterraneo, which later won an Oscar, was filmed on the island in 1991, and it made the island known abroad.

The castle of the Knights of St John stands above the harbour of Megisti, the island's only town. It was built in the 14th century on a reddish hill. The island is named after it: Castello Rosso, the red castle. A narrow iron staircase leads to the top, with a wide view over the town and the sea. A tomb carved into the rock in the 4th century BC, in the style of ancient Lycia on the facing coast, overlooks the water.

West of the town, Paleokastro is the island's ancient acropolis, with walls of huge stones from the 4th century BC. A path of about 400 steps climbs from the town to the monastery of Agios Georgios tou Vounou.

On the islet of Ro, Despina Achladiotou, known as the Lady of Ro, raised the Greek flag every day from 1927 until her death in 1982. She is buried on the islet.

There are no sandy beaches on Kastellorizo. People swim from rocks, small piers and ladders straight into deep, clear water. In Megisti, the island's only town, there are ladders at the edges of the harbour, a few steps from the cafés. Plakes, a stretch of flat rocks with a concrete platform, is the main swimming place, and the water there is clear enough to see fish on the bottom.

Mandraki, a bay about 15 minutes' walk from the harbour, has a small pebble beach with tamarisk trees for shade. The islet of Agios Georgios, five minutes away by small boat, has a concrete swimming platform with ladders into the sea. Past the lighthouse on the east side, Faros is a small pebble cove reached by a 20-minute walk along the coast, with no facilities.

The Blue Cave is a sea cave reached only by small boat from the harbour of Megisti, the island's only town, in about 15 minutes. Its entrance is about 2 metres high, so passengers lie down in the boat to pass through. Inside, the chamber rises to around 20 metres, and light coming in under the water turns it bright blue. Visits inside last about 15 minutes, often with a swim. Boats do not go in when the sea is rough.

On the island itself, old paths, many with long flights of stone steps, climb from the town into the rocky hills. They lead to the ancient acropolis of Paleokastro, to Cape Agios Stefanos and along a stone road built by the French in 1915. Ask locally which paths are in good condition.

The food of Kastellorizo shows the influence of the facing coast of Asia Minor, with cumin, cinnamon and cloves in many dishes. Alongside fish and seafood, local cooks use goat, stuffed with rice and herbs and baked in the oven.

Other local dishes include saitia, a rice pilaf with onion, mint and tomato; salantourmasi, onions stuffed with rice, herbs and cumin; and octopus or chickpea fritters. Two local sweets are katoumari, a round pie made of strips of dough rolled into a spiral, fried in a pan and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; and strava, small rolls filled with walnuts, fried and soaked in syrup.