New York Times: Methana One of ‘52 Places to Go in 2023’

Methana. Photo source: Visit Greece.

Greece’s town of Methana, situated on a volcanic peninsula attached to Northeastern Peloponnese, was included in The New York Times’ “52 Places to go in 2023” list.

This year the list, which was recently published in the US newspaper’s online edition, focuses on the question of why we travel, highlighting food, culture, adventure, and natural beauty as four of the main elements that drive us to want to explore the world.

The list’s destinations offer some or all these elements plus their own special characteristics, making them must-visit places for the world’s travelers.

Methana, chosen by the New York Times as the 39^th most interesting place to visit in 2023, is a town of almost 1,000 permanent residents that administratively belongs to the Attica Region.

Methana. Photo source: Visit Greece.

It is built upon Athens’s nearest active volcano of the same name and has been getting tourism traction in the last few years as a hiking destination.

According to Demetrios Ioannou, who speaks about Methana in the New York Times feature, “in recent years, groups of locals have managed to reopen and map old walking paths, some of which date back to the Mycenaean Era, creating hiking trails that attract visitors from around the world”.

Ioannou also makes special mention to Methana’s Volcano Challenge, a trail run first organized in 2021, as well as the variety of hot springs operating in the area.

Furthermore, Visit Greece’s blog, calls Methana an ideal low-profile destination “retaining the retro aura of Greece’s most famous water spa destinations” and hails the unique village of Kameni Hora with “houses built on the dark stone that the passage of lava left behind”.

Methana. Photo source: Methana Volcano Challenge.

The top 10 global destinations that made New York Times’ “52 Places to go in 2023” were:

1. London, UK
2. Morioka, Japan
3. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona
4. Kilmartin Glen, Scotland
5. Auckland, New Zealand
6. Palm Springs, California
7. Kangaroo Island, Australia
8. Vjosa River, Albania
9. Accra, Ghana
10. Tromsø, Norway.

Previous Greek entries in the newspaper’s annual travel list were the island of Evia in 2022 and the island of Andros in 2021.