Samos has an impressive landscape of verdant, rounded hills above which soar two ranges of rocky mountains, in the centre and at the west of the island (see, for example, photos on gallery page 34). Farmlands on a number of plains around the coast produce a variety of crops, most notably the famous sweet Samian "Muscat" wine.

As the eighth largest Greek island it has a couple of small towns and numerous villages around the coast and among the hills. The main roads connecting the settlements are mostly narrow but generaly well built. There are also many smaller minor roads and dirt tracks in remoter areas. For hikers and cyclists there are several footpaths, although they are not marked on most maps.

Many traditional houses and buildings can be seen, especially in the villages, and the church architecture is quite remarkable, with plain stone topped by outlandlish blue and white striped domes.

As well as the usual evenings of traditional bazouki music in local tavernas, you may also be lucky enough to enjoy summer concerts by some of Greece's best musicians and theatre performances at the ancient ampitheatre in Pythagoria.

Add to this scene wide, sandy beaches stretching along the coast of the deep blue Aegean, and you have a very attractive and charming setting. This has not escaped the notice of the Greek and foreign visitors who choose to spend their holidays here. Although popular with tourists, there is little sign of the mass tourism found on Rhodes, Crete or the Cyclades.

In antiquity Samos was a powerful independent city state and the bithplace of several notable people, including the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. Not much has survived from these heydays except a couple of quite bare archaeological sites, including the famous Sanctuary of Hera, and two small museums. Unfortunately, most of the more historically and artistically important archaeological objects found on Samos are now in other museums around the world.

As in many places in southern Europe, summer wildfires are a great danger to the ecology of the island and the livelihood of its inhabitants. Following a particularly disatrous fire on Samos in 2000, which devastated forests and farmlands, more resources have been invested in prevention and fire-fighting by land and from the air.

The coast of Turkey is only 1.6 km from the east of the island, and Samsun Daği, known in ancient times as Mount Mykale (Greek, Μυκάλη), can be clearly seen from the southeast coast. In summer daily ferries cross between Samos and the Turkish seaside resort of Kuşadası (see page 3: How to get to Samos), from where many visitors travel to the nearby sites of the ancient Ionian cities Ephesus, Priene, Didyma and Miletus.