This week’s dream: Aegean hideaway

The Aegean island of Bozcaada seems as though it's lost in time, says Kevin Gould in the Guardian. Now part of Turkey, but known for nearly 4,000 years by its Greek name, Tenedos, it was famous in Homer's day for its sea winds and delicious wines. The Greeks built their wooden horse here before the battle of Troy; and since then, the island has been conquered in turn by the Persians, Byzantines, Venetians, Genoese and Ottomans. Yet today it feels "undiscovered", with none of the "grasping tourist prices or show-off restaurants" of its neighbours. Only "Istanbul's chic set" are in on the secret, but they haven't marred its "solitude, tranquillity and warm, honest welcome".
From the ferry, Bozcaada looks like "any northern Aegean island", with its fort and "huddle of low, white buildings around a harbour". The island's only town, home to most of its 2,500 inhabitants, is "more Greek in character than Turkish". "Cobbled alleys strung with leafy vines" wind up the hillsides, past "affordable designer pansiyons, seafood tavernas and authentic cafes". There are plenty of wine bars, too, selling the "world-class biodynamic wines" produced here, which taste of "sunshine, sea breezes and wild herbs".
It is tempting to laze afternoons away in town, "sipping smoky, silty Turkish coffee under a bower of bougainvillea" - but there's the rest of the island to explore, perhaps by bicycle. It is "virtually treeless", save for an occasional orchard, its fields "combed with vines, strewn with melons and pumpkins, or wild with scented thyme and anemones". And there are "a dozen completely deserted pebbly coves" in which to sun yourself and enjoy the "crisp, transparent water", before returning to town for seafood and one of the island's sensational wines.
EasyJet flies Luton-Istanbul from £60 rtn. Buses leave Istanbul at midnight, arriving at Geyikli ferry terminal in time for the 10am ferry to Bozcaada. ·