Romano Garden House · 50 m from the beach, Tinos

A family house by the sea at Agios Romanos, a short walk from a long sandy beach and wrapped in its own gardens and orchard. Pick what you like from the vegetable beds; the wine and the raki on the table are ours.

Two bedrooms, antiques and old family furniture, and a natural dale beside the house that keeps the ground floor cool through the hottest days of August.

Five and a half kilometres from the port.

Two bedrooms and three beds, for up to six people. One bathroom and a separate WC — worth knowing if you are six; the house is at its easiest with four.

A kitchen, a living room, air conditioning, and a terrace that catches the evening. The house sits beside a natural dale, which keeps the ground floor cool even through the hottest days of August with nothing switched on.

Inside it is a family house rather than a rental: antiques, old furniture, fabrics and crafts that have been here far longer than any of our guests.