Category: Cyclades islands

  • Island sail tour is a must for Milos visitors

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    Milos tour sailboat

    A poster at the Adamas marina advertises the daily Milos tours that J & J Yachting offers on the sailboat Joanna I

     

     

    Milos must-see / must-do: One of the top tourist activities on Milos in the southwest Cyclades is a day trip that actually takes place off the island — on a sailing yacht or tour boat cruise along the marvellous Milos coastline.

    Created by 3 million years of volcanic activity, Milos boasts some of the most impressive landscapes in all the Greek islands, including dozens of breathtaking beaches and a spectacular 139-kilometer-long coastline.

    The stunning coastal scenery is best viewed from the sea, of course, and a variety of sailboat tours and day cruises are available from Adamas, the main port town on Milos. Excursions typically depart the Adamas marina between 8 and 10 a.m. in the morning, and return by sunset. Many of the sailboat tours take sightseers past western Milos as far as the dramatic cliffs at Kleftiko, near the island’s southwest tip, while other excursions travel completely around Milos. Some tours offer trips to Antimilos, Kimolos and other nearby islands.

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  • Our sailboat tour to Sykia and Kleftiko on Milos

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    Excursion sailboats anchored at Kleftiko on the southwest coast of Milos

    Excursion sailboats anchored off the scenic cliffs at Kleftiko near the southwest tip of Milos. Click the photo to view it full-size.

     

     

    Stunning scenery: It has been nearly six years since we took a sailboat tour along the scenic western coast of Milos, but my memories of the trip are still so vivid it seems as though it happened only yesterday.

    As I described in the preceding post — Island sail tour is a must for Milos visitors — sailboat excursions and boat cruises rate among the top recommended tourist activities on Milos, thanks to the island’s spectacular coastal scenery.

    A sailing tour was at the top of our personal “must-do” list when we visited Milos for the first time in mid-September 2007, but we had to wait several days to take one of the popular excursions because high winds forced most boats to remain in port.

    It was well worth the wait.

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  • Pic of the day: A beach view toward Naxos Town

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    Approaching Naxos Town from the south end of St George's beach on Naxos

    Naxos Town, as seen from the south end of St. George’s beach on Naxos. We walk to Naxos Town from the Agios Prokopios area at least once each time we visit Naxos, and this is one of our favourite views during the final 20 minutes of our hike. Click on the photo to view it full size.

     

     

  • Pics of the day: Agios Iakovos church

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     This chapel above Agios Sostis on Mykonos is dedicated to Agios Iakovos

    A chapel dedicated to Agios Iakovos occupies a lonely location on a hill above Agios Sostis bay on Mykonos. Click on the photo above to view it full-size.

     

      Agios Iakovos church

    Side view of the chapel from the highway leading to Agios Sostis

     

     

    Agios Iakovos church Mykonos

     Front view of the Agios Iakovos chapel

     

     

    Agios Iakovos church Mykonos

     Inscriptions beside and above one of the chapel’s blue doors

     

  • Amazing views from Hotel Katerina on Ios

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    The terrace for Katerina Hotel's Room 7 boasts this marvellous view of Mylopotas beach on Ios

    This was the marvellous view of Mylopotas beach and bay that we enjoyed from our terrace at Hotel Katerina on Ios in May

     

    180 degrees of scenery: We really lucked out with our hotel choice on Ios during our trip to Greece last month.

    After spending five days on Mykonos in a hotel room that didn’t have any view at all (the room had no balcony or terrace, and its window only looked onto the private terrace for a nearby suite), we got to enjoy four days of spectacular scenery at Hotel Katerina on Ios.

    We realized we were really in for a treat when we arrived at Hotel Katerina and caught a few glimpses of beautiful Mylopotas beach as we walked across the swimming pool terrace next to the reception area. And when the hotel manager, Maria, led us to our room (#7) on the second-highest level of the property — 56 steps above the pool deck — we were blown away. The private terrace for Room 7 offered an incredible 180 degrees of marvellous views of the Mylopotas and Agios Ioannis areas of Ios, as well as nearby Sikinos island and even Santorini in the distance.

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  • Delos ferry prices & times unchanged for 2013

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    Delos ferry ticket booth

    The Delos island ferry ticket booth at the Mykonos Old Port

     

    [Editor’s Update: For information about extended opening hours and extra Delos ferry service in 2014, please see my April 2 2014 report Visiting Delos will be easier this summer with Sunday openings, longer hours and extra ferries.]

     

     

    No change: Some good news for people travelling in the Cyclades on tight budgets this summer —  prices for visiting Delos island from Mykonos have not increased this year. It still costs €17 for a return ferry ticket (same as in 2012), while admission to the grounds remains €5 (a price that hasn’t changed in years).

    According to Greek mythology, Delos is the sacred island on which the Greek gods Apollo and Artemis were born. Administered by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Delos is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the top Greek island tour destinations for archaeology and history buffs. Day trips to Delos rank among the top “things to do” for visitors to Mykonos, which is the closest nearby island, and are popular excursions from Naxos and Paros as well.

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  • Pic of the day: A painted pathway on Ios

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    a path of cement steps winds down the hillside above Tzamaria beach on Ios

    Cement steps outlined in white paint wind down the side of a hill above Tzamaria beach on Ios

     

  • Greece getting good press as international media promote travel to Athens & the Greek Islands

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    Agriolivadi Bay on Patmos

    Agriolivadi Bay on Patmos, part of the Dodecanese island group. Patmos is one of five  islands that the Globe & Mail says travellers “need to see.”

     

     

    Good time to visit: During the past five years of economic turmoil, Greece has been subjected to extensive bad publicity in the world press, with a steady barrage of negative news stories focussing on strikes and riots and the massive social upheaval caused by high unemployment and painful austerity programs. It’s refreshing to see the tide changing, with major international media outlets now regularly publishing feature articles that recommend travelling to Greece instead of avoiding it.

    One article in particular — Luring tourists back to Greece by Liz Alderman of The New York Times — has been republished in major newspapers in countries around the world. In that piece, published on May 23, Alderman notes that “travelers are returning in greater numbers this year, lured by discounts of up to 20 percent on hotels in major cities and on Greece’s stunning islands, as well as assurances — at least for now — that Greece won’t be ditching the euro and returning to the drachma after all.”

    Writers at other high-profile newspapers have been filing their own reports explaining why the time is right to visit Greece, and recommending where travellers should go.

    Here’s a roundup of several interesting travel reports I’ve discovered just in the past week alone:

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