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Ios Island Itinerary

Out of so many islands of Greece, we chose to go on a holiday in Ios, in the Cyclades group, in the Aegean Sea. It's a nice hilly island with spectacular cliffs down to the sea. We chose this one as we were looking for a chill holiday, with wilder landscapes and without much noise around.

We arrived on the island by ferry and settled in the main town of the island, Ios, as it was easier to get to places from there.

Today we decided to explore the island a bit. To do that, you either have to join with a guided tour or to rent a car or some other vehicle. For us it was best to rent a car.

We went to visit Skarkos, the early Bronze Age settlement. It is one of the best preserved settlements from the special Cycladic civilisation of the bronze ages. You can even walk up here from Chora, the main village on Ios Island.

We got in the car and drove to Paliokastro, a ruined castle, on the west coast. Paliokastro Castle is an old Venetian fortress situated on a rocky cliff overlooking the sea and the nearby islands, so you can imagine there are wonderful views from there. From the parking to the top of the mountain there's a paved road you have to walk on. The hike is not that difficult to take, but be aware there are no shades on the way!

From the castle, we went to visit Psathi village, not far from the site of the castle. It's a nice beach famous for a specific taverna and also for its beach. We checked them both after we took a light walk on the village streets.

We had lunch at Alonistra taverna. It's an awseome taverna with spectaculat views and super delicious food. We had some very good food and perfect Greek salads.

After we ate we walked to Psathi Beach. It's a pretty wide and fantastic sandy beach. There are also some reed umbrellas there for some shade. We spent the rest of the day here, on the beach, relaxing, swimming and sunbathing.

We got back to Chora in the evening.

In the first part of the day, we explored Chora, the very town we were staying in. It's the most important town of the island, so it's not that little. We allowed ourselves to get lost on the streets of the town with typical Cycladic whitewashed houses and blue windows.

We then walked to Mylopotas Beach. It's an hour walk to it, you can either walk or take a bus. Mylopotas Beach is the main beach of the island. It's the beach where you can try some water sports as well. Ant there also restaurants and cafes around.

We chose to at Drakos Taverna. The food is simply amazing.

Towards the evening, after coming back from the beach, we took our walking shoes and headed to Gaitis Simosi Museum, a nice place to watch the sunset from. The walk is a bit tiring but the views on the way are amazing. We watched the sunset from the steps of the museum.

We got back to our accommodation.

Today it was beach day. We checked different beaches near the port.

We first went to Paralia Gialos, beautiful beach with fine sand and shallow waters. We loved it.

Then we walked to Tzamaria, about a kilometer away from the port, in a bay, so there is no wind there, perfect for snorkeling and swimming. The beach is with pebble and sand and one taverna overlooking the bay.

And the last beach of the day was Koumpara. It used to be a wild beach, now it's a beach with plenty of facilities, sunbeds, restaurants and all.

Today we watched the sunset from beautiful Church of Agia Irini.

Today we combined some nice hiking with nice beaches.

From Mylopotas there's this hiking path on the side of the mountain that offers great views over the sea. The trail is marked. Make sure you wear hiking boots!

We arrived at this beautiful secluded beach were we spent a few good hours before going back on the same route.

We spent another night on the island before leaving the place behind.

Just had time for breakfast and went towards the gport to take the ferry back.