The eastern of Halkidiki's three peninsulas is the autonomous monastic republic of Mount Athos — twenty Orthodox monasteries strung along sixty kilometres of cliff and forest, with a 2,033-metre marble peak rising at the southern tip. Access is severely restricted: only male visitors with a four-day diamonitirion permit may enter, with about a hundred permits issued per day.
For everyone else, the standard way to experience Athos is the daily boat trip from Ouranoupoli, which sails along the western coast at the prescribed distance and gives an unforgettable view of seven or eight of the monasteries clinging to the cliffs. Even from the water, the scale and isolation of the place is extraordinary.