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MALTA. The offbeat Mediterranean island is soaked in history from ancient times to its heroic stand in World War II. From the warm yellow limestone buildings of Valletta to its deepwater bays and rocky coves, the 95-sq.-mi. island was filled with baroque buildings by the martial-monastic Knights of St. John, who ruled it for 268 years. The British left no legacy of haute cuisine, but some restaurants serve local dishes and good fish. Seaside hotels charge from $45 to $60 a day, double occupancy; each has its own tennis courts, pool and beach. At family hotels and pensions along the 85-mile-long coast, rates are as low as $20 for a double room with bath. There is a lively night life, and car rentals cost only about $9 a day. Gozo, reached by ferry from Malta, is said to be Homer's Ogygia, the isle where Calypso beguiled Odysseus. It is full of small, stone villages and semideserted beaches, and has a hotel, Ta Cenc, which charges $70 for a double room with all meals included at one of the best restaurants on either isle.
GREECE. With more than 5 million tourists expected this year, Greece has become too congested and polluted for many visitors. To remedy this, the national tourist organization is offering a stay in a "traditional settlement" far from the hubbub. These communities are all chosen because they have retained their original color; the refurbished houses rent for $105 to $350 a week. One such settlement is a fishing village at Fiscardo, on the unspoiled island of Cephalonia. The village, surrounded by cypress-clad mountains, has many small beaches and an atmosphere reminiscent of its piratical past. A double room in a private house is $9 a night. Restaurants serve traditional Greek dishes (moussaka, roast lamb in lemon), as well as fine lobster and the celebrated Robola wine ($2 a bottle). An increasingly popular island is Santorini in the Aegean, which is said to have been the legendary Atlantis. Donkeys and buses are the local transport.
On these islands and such ascetic resorts as Makrinitsa, on Mount Pelion in central Greece, the settlements offer little in the way of formal entertainment. Their purpose is to encourage tourists to live the natural life of villagers and draw deep from the country's historic wellsprings. Some may even learn Greek.