Europe’s best beach holidays: Donoussa, Greece

This quiet island in the Small Cyclades has one small town, several wild sandy bays and a plethora of panoramic walking and running trails

Elias, quiet and unassuming, meets us at the tiny harbour and says he could drive us to the house but it would be quicker on foot. He directs us up a narrow alley past a bustling kafeneio, where people are debating the news of the day over coffee.

One of a little cluster of houses, ours has a pergola of rough-hewn logs and bamboo, and looks out to sea across a garden of rosemary and agave, a vegetable patch and composter, and the pen that is home to a donkey called Yolanda. Inside there is restored wooden furniture and textiles woven on a loom by Elias’s partner, Ploumitsa, who waves as she returns from feeding the chickens. The young couple’s passion for preserving the unspoilt landscape of their island makes Argalios guesthouse an inspiring place.