It's rare to find a house right on the beach in Greece - especially such a handsomely restored stone house, on such a beautifully secluded coast. Perched at the far end of sandy Parisaina beach, and with no road to the front door, this is a proper escape. And yes, that's right: no road. Instead you walk 7 mins down from the nearest lane, or 10 mins along the beach from the laid-back seafront village of Chorefto (a low-key resort in summer, almost empty in winter), while your bags follows on the back of a pickup. It's a pretty cool way to arrive.
The two-storey, slate-roofed mansion is not luxurious in the 21st-century sense - there's no pool or air-con, for example - but it has charm and history in spades (and WiFi). It was built in 1905 by Egyptian stonemasons for a local trading family who had moved to Alexandria, but who wanted to keep a summer base in their homeland. With airy and elegant reception rooms - kept cool by thick walls and shuttered windows on three sides - and no fewer than four bedrooms upstairs, it was always impressive, even in this wealthy corner of mainland Greece. On the rocky promontory outside, they built a terrace - now a perfect spot for sundowners and al fresco dinners using fresh local produce.
This is a verdant peninsula of apple, olive and chestnut orchards, where ancient footpaths thread through shady woods to handsome mountain villages. Remote and sub-radar, it's 4-5 hours' drive from Thessaloniki or Athens, the last hour winding up and over the ridge of Mt. Pelion. But such is the price for reaching this slice of paradise.