Marion's Shirley Valentine moment on a Greek cruise!
There's a kind of magic in these small, unexplored islands of Greece
This is an adventure at sea.
I'm delighted to be on a seven-night, Variety Cruises' motor yacht voyage around the magical Unexplored Islands of Greece.
Variety Cruises are a world apart from traditional ocean cruises on multi-decked ships with non-stop entertainment and hundreds of passengers.
Sunlight glitters on the Aegean as I cross the gangway to receive a warm welcome from members of the wonderful crew on the sleek, white, three-masted, Panorama, docked in Sea Marina, Piraeus, the ancient, main port of Athens.
I unpack quickly in my roomy, air-conditioned, twin-bed, below-deck cabin (cleaned twice daily) with an en suite shower room, tv, mini-fridge and port hole.
The breakfast buffet includes fresh croissants, dishes of creamy Greek yogurt, local honey, jams and nuts, plus fresh fruits such as raspberries, pineapple and huge blueberries. Eggs to order.
A cocktail or ice cold glass of wine on the terrace before dinner? Don't mind if I do. We feast on home-cooked meals with wine included, al fresco in the evening on several nights. Sometimes we dine at a local restaurant. The villa's music playlist is just right. In fact, everything is just right.
Our group comprises six females, hosted by the dynamic, smiley Suzi, who greets me, and all the other guests I'm sure, with a great welcome at the airport plus a pastel de nata (delectable Portuguese tart) and a coffee while we wait for another group member's flight to arrive. Suzi stays on site and eats with us, oversees our excursions, accompanies us and keeps us all together.
The award-winning, long established Friendship Travel provides a safe environment, a wide choice of summer and winter UK and overseas holiday destinations and carefully selected accommodation for single travellers, all of which works really well. And there's no single supplements. Summer house parties are their most popular option. It's easy for new solo travellers, who might feel a bit nervous about a first solo holiday, to bond quickly and make friends.
Olhao on the Eastern Algarve, is predominantly a fishing town, relaxed and laid back, with a colourful harbour and seafront. Freshly cooked fish is the order of the day and you can't beat a grilled mackerel lunch with bread, salad and a sea view for just eight euros. Interesting shops, restaurants and cafes adorned with Azulejos – Iberian-painted ceramic tile work - line the winding, fascinating, tiled back streets. Within the huge, twin. red brick, municipal market – the biggest in the Algarve – proud sellers display their catch of the day, plus fruit and vegetables.
An almost full day, very smart motor launch trip around the Ria Formosa a unique, natural network of inlets and lagoons system, is a highlight of the holiday. The beauty is breathtaking. It's hot and while we welcome the caress of a warm sea breeze, Ricardo steers the craft and tells us that 99 per cent of the area's clams and oysters are exported to France.
About six kilometres from Olhao is the idyllic island of Armona, only about nine by one kilometres and our own Utopia for a couple of hours. With white sand between our toes we make our way into the sun-warmed, clear, glittering Atlantic ocean for a swim. In this area, there is a protected section to preserve the vegetation and habitat of sea horses, a diminishing species. On the island of Culatra we tuck into a splendid fish lunch. Tuna and sardines are regional favourites here.
We accompany culinary expert Paola to the market to buy fresh produce for her cookery demonstration at the hotel. For our lunch, The six delicious courses include bruschetta; seared chorizo on pieces of sourdough bread; scrambled eggs and leeks; fig jam and anchovies on toast; sea bream with garlic paprika and red pepper sauce, prawn and onions and finally braised pears flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mustard seeds and lemon verbena.
Olhao is only about 20 mins by road to Faro Airport and 15 minutes to Faro town, where we visit the impressive cathedral, which was founded in 1713. The detail and the lustrous gilded interior is incredible. But we're curious about the Bones Chapel where the interior is lined with the bones, skulls and skeletons of more than a thousand holy men. A message outside the chapel more or less translates as 'live a good life or this could happen to you'..
I would have welcomed some divine intervention at our a mosaic workshop at a local craft centre. Without any guidance or explanation, we set to with a special tool, cutting and shaping pieces of coloured glass and sticking them on to a tile to form a pre-determined picture or pattern. Members of our group were busy, focussed, decisive, committed. There were yachts, Picasso-style designs, beach scenes, abstracts etc Armed with only an O'level Art certificate and no inspiration, my effort is feeble to say the least. Our tiles are cemented and returned, packed in cardboard on the last day of the trip.
As our names are called, each person is handed their artwork. Proud group members are delighted to open their packages to view their finished work. Compliments are flowing. Mine just isn't worth opening
Marion Ainge November 2025
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