Off the beaten path, quiet and literally smoking hot, Nisyros is mainly visited by day-trippers staying in Kos and wanting to step a) on a fuming active volcano and b) back in time in the unspoilt traditional villages perched on all four corners of this 8-km diameter round island.

Arrived in the evening in the laidback port of Pali, we moored stern-to with the help of our soon-to-be pier neighbour, boys hopped and ran on the breakwater rocks, to stretch their legs after a long upwind navigation, while us parents introduced ourselves to other visiting sailors, cooked dinner, and prepared the tour of the island for the next day.

Just as advised by our car rental agent, a lovely fourty-something ex-expat Greek lady returned from Australia in her teens who had kept the unmissable accent, an early morning start granted us exclusivity not only to the village of Nikia which was still half asleep by the time we got there, and which Unesco-listed square was empty when we arrived and about ready to welcome its first coffee drinkers when we left, with chairs, tables and umbrella filling up the whole (tiny) space, but also to the volcano where we beat the crowd too, parking our car just before the first busload of tourists, so we could shoot our traditional hand-stand pictures without a soul in sight.

In Emporio, scrumptious smells emanating from Taverna to Balconi overlooking the volcano (contrasting with the rather derelict aspect of the surrounding buildings) nearly rushed us to lunch, yet, instead, we ate our picnic in Mandraki, the heart of the island (still tiny), where we found a bench in a back alley, almost in the shade under a bougainvillea in full bloom, before taking a dip in Hohlia’s pebbly beach.

To end the day on a high we made a small detour back to Emporio to try out the natural sauna we had missed earlier in the day.

Between meditating in churches and monasteries, admiring the breathtaking views, getting a thrill on an active volcano (enduring its sulfuric smells), wandering through narrow cobbled streets, snorkelling on the black pebble beach, and a spa session, we made the most of our rental car and this lesser-known island.

In the morning I even managed to locate Pali’s bakery, at the outskirt of the village, and stock up on bread before setting sail again towards Giali, our pit-stop before Astypalea, the butterfly island.