A small Greek island where EVs take center stage

The small, butterfly-shaped Greek island of Astypalea has all the ingredients for a relaxing vacation. Countless beaches with crystal clear waters, delicious seafood and castles perched above traditional white towns with winding alleys and views of the Aegean Sea.

It’s also less developed than its larger neighbors such as Rhodes and Kos, with a population of just 1,400 people, but when I visited in June, Astypalea was the perfect destination for a cold holiday.

Some lanes in the island’s capital Chora are so narrow that donkeys carry construction tools to difficult-to-access construction sites, but Astypalea’s most visible form of transportation is a fleet of electric minibuses, part of a scheme called Astibus, a rare sight on the Greek islands.

It’s worth starting your trip to the island by visiting the ruins of a 15th-century Venetian castle high above the Cola River. This castle was built on the site of other structures from the Roman and Byzantine periods. From there I walked towards the eight traditional red-roofed windmills in the center of town. This windmill was originally built in the 13th and 14th centuries to mill grain. At the foot of the hill is the island’s small but fascinating archaeological museum, housing artifacts from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages.

First, when it was too hot to walk the winding roads, I took a bus from the base of Chola to the top and then explored further.

My first stop was Martesana, a winding 20-minute bus ride from Chora and the second largest settlement on the island of Astypalea. I hopped a stop or two inland to take a peek at Agios Dimitros, a small church across from the grocery store in Martesana. While the outside of the church is painted in the traditional blue and white style, the interior is ornately decorated, with blue and gold Biblical scenes painted on the walls and ceiling.

A short walk from the church, restaurants line the narrow beach. After lounging under the shrubs on the sand, it felt good to step into that clear, shallow water.

Over the next few days I took Astibus to visit more beaches. Sinonta, a quiet bay leading from Martesana, and Livadi, a tree-lined boulevard with several restaurants on the beach, just over the hill from Chora.

The bus initiative is part of a grand plan to transform Astypalea into a “smart and sustainable island” and is a partnership between the Greek and Greek governments. volkswagen. This is a first of its kind initiative for the Greek Islands and aims to replace traditional internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles and support the overall transition to renewable energy.

Authorities want to keep the island pristine and focus on sustainability and moderate development.

In parallel with EVs, construction of hybrid power plants is also progressing. Astypalea Mayor Nikolaos Komineas said in an interview with CNBC that there are also plans for wind power generation, which could meet more than 50% of the island’s energy needs in the summer.

Komineas also wants to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles by making tap water safe to drink and by having hotels and other accommodation providers provide reusable water bottles. “My dream is that by the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028, all this new infrastructure will be installed on the island,” he said.

Having taken the bus to several beaches, I wanted to go somewhere more remote. I have seen pictures of Vatses, the beach at the tip of the left wing of the Astypalea butterfly. A wide sandy beach surrounded by sparse rock cliffs. Since we were outside the Astybus service area, we needed a car for the trip, so we rented an EV (VW ID.3) using the AstyGO app. Once you upload your driver’s license and credit card to the app, you can access your vehicle using Bluetooth.

The car was smooth to drive, but getting in was not so smooth, the app had to be restarted before the car started, and most of the instructions on the dashboard were only in Greek.

The drive to Vatses was not for the faint of heart. The dirt road turned into a narrow road with a steep downhill slope on one side. However, the beach was just as beautiful as the photo and with a cafe on one side serving Greek salads, coffee and cocktails, plus sun lounger rentals and a place to lie under the trees, it was a great place to spend an afternoon.

It was also difficult to access the car on the way home. Having been at the beach for a few hours, I was automatically logged out of the AstyGO app and without a 5G phone signal, I couldn’t open the car door, let alone start the engine. Luckily, the cafe had Wi-Fi, so I was able to drive back down the rocky road, following the goats the rest of the way.

We safely returned to Chora and enjoyed an al fresco dinner at Navagos. There you’ll find a tapas-style menu of modern Greek cuisine, including locally made sausages and baked potatoes, and slow-cooked chickpeas with lemon sauce. For pastries and desserts, my favorite cafe was Glykia, just up the hill past the beach in Chora.

Even in June, Astypalea feels like a local island, with a longtime visitor describing it as “like Santorini 20 years ago.”

Overtourism is a big problem on some Greek islands, with the mayor of Santorini (about 100 kilometers west of Astypalea) saying in an interview with the Guardian last year that the pressure of millions of visitors was “unbearable”.

According to the mayor’s office, Astypalea receives about 32,000 to 36,000 tourists annually. Santorini, on the other hand, is about three-quarters the size of the island and hosts more than 3 million tourists.

Astypalea takes a more balanced approach to tourism. The mayor and local government last year rejected a proposal to build 200 villas on the island. “We don’t want a crowded island,” he said. “I definitely don’t want to destroy the island. I want to leave the nature as it is.”