For a long time, the standard advice for Indian tourists traveling to Europe has been the same old three Cs... France for romance, London for shopping, and Switzerland for the snow.

But over the last few years Greece, which has been steadily establishing itself as one of the most satisfying international destination for Indian families, honeymooners and food aficionados, has become one of the easy options to have in your list. The journey is feasible even at short notice, if you have only one stopover in Dubai, Doha or Istanbul; the Schengenvisa, if one has secured it, can take you to the entire continent; and the country itself offers an experience that is both Rome and Goa's combined, but at prices far more justifiable than France or Italy.

What is most unexpected for first,time Indian visitors to Greece, though, isn't the ancient ruins or the legendary blue waters of the Aegean. It's the cuisine. The Greek food that Indians often dismiss as "feta cheese and gyros" as part of the "Mediterranean diet", turns out to be yet another one of the world's great eating traditions ,, based on terrific olive oil, sun,ripened vegetables, fresh fish, slow,roasted lamb, and the kind of no,nonsense, ingredient,led food that has been perfected over three millennia.

For those travelling in pursuit of authentic Greek cuisine, two islands provide some of the most,interesting eating out venuesthough they could hardly be more starkly contrasting as places. On Skiathos, part of the Sporades archipelago, you'll find the modestly superb island where Greek families themselves head in summer to eat well. On the windswept part of the Cyclades chain, in Mykonos, you'll find the beautifully slick, globally famed place, where some of the most,celebrated chefs from the Mediterranean have established themselves. Between the two of them, they provide an almost,Wikipedia definitive guide to the Greek,dining experience for any prospective visitor.

Skiathos: Where Greek Families Eat Well

Skiathos an island of only seven hundred and fifty residents, is quite a small pine island situated in the western Aegean. It is a good twenty minute flight from Athens or a ferry from the Greek mainland port of Volos. It is not one of the more popular Greek islands and it hasn't been overrun by the mass tourism, so the restaurants still have a true Greek feel. The taverna owners are still proud to be in the same family that started them, menus are still dictated by what the day's boat brought in, and prices still remain very reasonable.

What is especially interesting for the gourmand is that Skiathos is a meeting point of two very different Greek culinary heritages. Thesally, covering the Greek mainland villages, is known throughout Greece for its meat cookeryslow,roast lamb, wild game, nourishing mountain,cooked stews made with stuff from distant pastures. But, of course, it is an island, so its tavernas combine this meat tradition with the freshest seafood varieties: red mullet still red and warm from the harbor; octopus tenderised on the rocks and then cooked over charcoal; sea urchin served raw, smeared on slices of bread.

The other fascinating aspect of Skiathon cuisine is its social element, which is becoming rather harder to find on Greece's more high,profile islands. The tables spill out onto the street. Young children sit happily alongside pensioners and late drinkers down alongside groups of friends. The owner will bring additional plates of whatever they had a glut of that day. This is traditional Greek hospitality at its most welcoming, laid,back and built around the simple culinary principle that the best way to eat is together.

For a properly curated overview of where to eat across the island - including the harbourfront classics, the village tavernas that locals favour, and the newer farm-to-table places that have emerged in recent years - this guide to the best restaurants in skiathos is a useful resource for travellers planning a culinary-focused trip. It covers price ranges, reservation requirements, and the kind of practical detail that is genuinely difficult to gather from generic travel sites.

Mykonos: The International Stage of Greek Dining

Mykonos, though, is where Greek food is most bravely defining itself. Over the last ten years it has arguably established itself as the most significant Greek,Cypriot gastronomic destination in the region, bringing French and Italian celebrity chefs, establishing franchise operations from London, Paris and Dubai and nurturing a lively new generation of young Greek chefs trained in world,class kitchens who have elected to come back and reinvent their grandmothers' cooking for a new generation.

Which results in a mouthwatering element of range? On one side are the traditional tavernas in Ano Mera, the inland villages, and the hilltop hamlet of Ano Mera in which shepherds' wives and children have been braising goat for long enough to be experts at it by now, slurping pasta for equally long, and welcoming visitors into their homes. On the other side are the opulent fine,dining specialist's restaurants, with tasting menus to rival those of the Establishments of Paris or Tokyo, where the price can sometimes appear more beer,garden than bottle garden. In the middle are the thriving ecosystems of beach clubs, organic kitchens, sushi bars, Italian trattorias, and Lebanese eateries.

Mykonos has a significant edge for the Indian traveller, in that with the omnipresence of cuisine, accommodating the diverse tastes of a 'mixed' family of vegetarians, boldly,cooked,everything teens, in,laws craving Indian or Lebanese flavors, can all be done within the same eating ecosystem. Many of the more upmarket places now have vegetarian tasting menus that have used the Greek vegetables, pulses, and dairy to genuinely creative heights. There are Indian/South Asian chefs working in some of the best restaurants. Almost all are willing to translate therequest for vegetarian/Spicy/Gluten,Free, etc., through the back of the kitchen if asked nicely well in advance.