Postcard from Folegandros

INSPIRATION | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

Athens-based travel writer Kate Lough slips into the slower, wilder side of the Greek island of Folegandros while staying at Spina, an off-grid osteria-with-rooms on the island's remote south-western coast.

BY KATE LOUGH | CABANA TRAVEL | 31 JULY 2026

Every evening, we try to make it back to Spina for the last few hours of sunlight. Ambeli, the small and secluded cove in front, is perfect at this time. It glows lilac. And we float like starfish, unable to see the osteria and its five rooms from the water.

It was this light that Matteo Serri, Spina’s co-founder, first fell in love with more than 20 years ago as a backpacking student from Modena. After being brought to Ambeli by boat by fishermen, he walked barefoot up the path from the beach, under its tamarisk trees, and eating grapes and figs. “I was a photographer,” he explains “and I thought to myself: This is the best light I saw in my life.”

Serri, who has his own advertising studio, opened Spina in 2024 alongside his best friend and chef, Alessandro Pagnoni, who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants across Italy. The pair had bought the land more than a decade before with the idea of preserving Ambeli, where they returned year after year, coming for ouzo and olives every day at sundown. “The idea was to have a garden in front of the sea,” Matteo explains, “with friends around, preparing food in such a way, with some rooms to rent.” In the Greek siga siga (slowly slowly) way, the plan quietly evolved.

The result is just beautiful in its simplicity, with guests experiencing Folegandros in much the same way as Matteo and Alessandro have done for years. Swimming off the rocks at Ambeli, it never feels crowded — protected in part thanks to the state of the road that connects it to the rest of the island. After baking like lizards on sun-warmed rocks, everyone follows the path up to the Osteria for an aperitivo. Silky black olives and rough slices of a pungent goats’ cheese that is made just above the hotel. Accompanied by a glass of something — most likely recommended by Matteo, who is also a trained sommelier.

At 8pm, not necessarily sharp, the nightly tasting menu begins. A former animal refuge provides a small kitchen, while most of the ingredients are cooked outside over fire. “Cooking in this way is survival here, since we don’t have energy — not a fashion,” as Matteo points out. A mosaic of early dishes focus on vegetables from the garden, while the main plates depend on what the fisherman or butcher brings to the table that day. For us, it is a delectable calamari ragu and an octopus pasta.

Spina’s five rooms are built into the hillside, using only rocks and stones that were found right there. It was “designed as a boat, as my first passion is sailing,” explains Matteo, as he points out the osteria as the bow, and the final bedroom the stern. Self-sufficient where possible, the hotel’s energy comes from solar panels, rainwater is collected in winter and there is no AC. Interiors are stylish but pared back. From our bed we can see the sea, just as you would from the front cabin of a boat. And there are small, thoughtful touches everywhere: a metallic water bottle to take with you to the beach; short stories about the sea to read before bed.

Here, luxuries are small and quiet. “For me, luxury is to wake up and have a swim before having breakfast,” says Matteo. And each morning, I do just that. Following the Spina suggestion to leave my shoes behind and walk barefoot down to Ambeli for a dive. Often I am alone. After, over coffee, perfect omelettes and banana bread, while a pair of donkeys get ready on the hill opposite, the day’s programme is decided. Shaped by the direction of the wind and discussed with Giulia, Matteo’s partner, in all senses, while their long-haired dachshund Pinot snoozes under a stool nearby. 

Shepherded by our hosts that treat us like friends, we experience a softer, slower side of tiny Folegandros, hiking to wild beaches and eating in village tavernas. One morning, after stocking up on courgette pies and orange cake from the bakery, we dropped our car on top of the island’s arid spine and followed ‘LV’ markings for an hour down an uneven path to Livadaki, a remote beauty with emerald waters and a lighthouse beyond.

Whichever beach we chose that day, we always stopped in Ano Meria, a traditional village with views of the sea on both sides. That I preferred to Chora, despite the latter’s magnificent monastery and obvious photogenic quality. There, on the suggestion of Giulia, we ate at Irini’s: a grocer’s-come-kafenio with spearmint green woven ceilings and some of the best food I have tasted in Greece. An island matriarch, Irini cooks from noon each day, preparing in particular matsata, a handmade fresh pasta dish that is typical of the island.

Back to Spina, of course, for that final dive of the day.

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Tip: If you are travelling to Folegandros via Santorini, stay for a night in one of Cycladica’s traditional cave houses in Oia. The Old Bakery, in particular, is a delight.