It's the best time for me to be here. I usually prefer walking along beaches rather than lounging on them or swimming. The weather is perfect for hiking and the hills, littered with ruins, offer incredibly beautiful views of perfect blue waters, little fishing boats and distant Greek islands.

Assos consists of three main sections: a long stretch of now empty beach resorts, a lower town with mostly seafood restaurants and hotels, and a charming upper town where the locals sell junk to the intrepid tourists who climb the steep hill to view the acropolis. The ruins, mainly spread out on the hillside between the upper and lower town, aren't as grand as most of the others I visited, but their peaceful setting and wonderous views more than make up for this. Truly, this is an idyllic spot and photos of the surrounding area would seem like the quintessentially Aegean paradise.

The trekking is good here but the paths often end at the gate to someone's property. Also, when I wander far from the ruins, out towards the junction where more people live, the scene turns ugly. Livestock scat is everywhere and trash is strewn among the rocks. Once, disquietingly, I come across a pile of dead cats. I quickly return to the beautiful hillside ruins.

I don't think I would like Assos in season, when prices rise and all the Germans arrive at the same time to get away from it all, only to complain about all the other Germans there. However, the solitude of my time in the ruins and along the beach were very special. Turkish towns tend to be ugly, sprawling messes and only in the countryside did I feel comfortable.