Xinara House, a stylish villa on the Greek island of Tinos, has introduced some new experiences for its guests, so they can immerse themselves in the traditional island culture of this lesser-known island, which is experiencing a culinary and cultural revival. Although the island is only a 30-minute ferry ride from Mykonos, it has mostly escaped mass tourism and is increasingly becoming the island of choice for chic Athenians.
Jenny Prinea, the house manager, who has lived on the island all her life, knows everywhere and everyone on Tinos and can organise for guests to experience life like a local.
Guests can visit Aggelas Rouggeri, where kariki cheese is matured in the traditional island way in a sealed gourd and for those, who want to learn traditional Cyclades recipes, she can organise cooking classes at the house using local fish and meat and organic vegetables and eggs from Xinara’s gardens. She can also arrange for guests to experience authentic local dishes served in Tereza’s village shop in Myrsini, which doubles up as a small taverna and serves ingredients grown, hunted and gathered by her farmer husband, such as rabbit stifado and stuffed tomatoes.
In the past Tinos was a major wine producer and a revival is well underway with the arrival of new organic wine producers developing unique wines using rare ancient varieties of grape isolated from the arrival of phylloxera. Guests can be taken to a number of vineyards for private wine tastings including the award winning Volacus Vineyard and O-Tionos, which produce wine from the Assyrtiko grape, which grows well in the volcanic ash rich soil.
Jenny will keep guests posted on the village festivals, which are held throughout the summer till late at night, including the nearby Komi Artichoke Festivals with dozens of locally grown artichokes dishes.
The island has many well-preserved hiking routes that were donkey tracks connecting more than 50 villages. Xinara House’s guide and island author,Manthos,will take hikers on the most beautiful ancient walking paths – one of his favourite hikes starts from Xinara House weaving down through wooded paths, past Medieval dovecotes, where local people bred pigeons for meat and fertiliser and blue and white villages considered to be the model of Cycladic architecture. Either picnic in small meadows blanketed in an eclectic variety of wild flowers or lunch at Svoura Taverna, tucked away in the old square in the village of Komi.
Captain Yiannis can take guests in his restored traditional kaiki to the nearby ancient Greek and Roman island, Delos arriving before the ferry passengers from Mykonos. After exploring the site, known as the mythological birthplace of Apollo, they will be taken to the nearby deserted island of Rineia for a swim and a picnic lunch with home-grown produce from the gardens at Xinara House such as heritage tomatoes and figs together with homemade cheese and spinach pastries.
The more adventurous can try bouldering on the large rocks above the house or around the village of Volax, dotted with house-size spherical boulders, creating a lunar landscape as a result of a volcanic eruption. Bouldering is climbing without ropes and harnesses – Xinara House will provide a crash pad to break your landings. A former Bishop’s house which sleeps up to 13, Xinara House was restored by English designers Peter and Susan Marston with quirky decorative pieces, colourful flashes and contemporary art six years ago. A large studio is located in the next-door ex-blacksmiths with its own small kitchen with lime green painted woodwork and bedroom. The house opens this year with a new swimming pool set into the rocks overlooking the Tinos countryside.
Xinara House is in the centre of a traditional island village beneath the rocky Exomvourga Mountain, a ten-minute drive from both the beach and Tinos Port with its market, shops and restaurants.
Prices start from £780 per week in The Blacksmiths sleeping 2 to 3 or £3,450 per week for the main house sleeping 8 to 10. Breakfast is included and local cooks can provide evening meals.