Trees ravaged by a forest fire in 2000 overlook a quiet bay on the northeast tip of Samos, near the Agia Paraskevi fishing village
MyGreeceTravelBlog.com
Photos & memories from our trips to Athens, the Peloponnese, mainland Greece & Greek Islands — plus profiles of places we would love to visit
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Serene & secluded Kolitsani beach on Ios
Overlooking Kolitsani beach and bay from a nearby mountainside
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Scene of tranquillity: Beach lovers would probably consider the accommodations where we stayed on Ios in May — the Hermes Hotel at Agios Ioannis — to be ideally situated. To the left of the hotel, and visible from its breakfast room and bar, is the island’s most famous beach: Mylopotas, a gorgeous curved strand of golden sand. About a 20-minute hike down the mountain valley to the right is Kolitsani, a secluded small beach accessible only on foot or by sea.
Kolitsani beach spans the foot of a long, narrow bay with shallow turquoise water. There is a large white private villa and some 12-meter cliffs on one side of the bay, and a steep hillside covered with wildflowers, herbs and low scrub bushes on the other. The beach itself is divided into two separate sections by a rock outcropping and giant boulder that jut into the sea. One side has soft brown sand, while the other is covered in large stones and rocks.
Sign at the top of the trail that winds down the mountain to Kolitsani beach
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Cool pools: Splash and dive through the ancient Portara monument at the Naxos Beach II Hotel
The bottom of the oval swimming pool at the Naxos Beach II Hotel is decorated with a large illustration of the Portara, the island’s most famous monument
Good swims: Our all-time favourite swimming pool in the Greek Islands is the only one in which we actually got to spend quite a bit of time splashing around without feeling like we were going to freeze. As I’ve mentioned before, we usually find the water in hotel swimming pools too chilly for swimming when we travel to Greece in the spring. We’ve found some pools to be too cold to our liking even in late September, too! But we didn’t have any complaints about water temperature in 2005 when we stayed at the Naxos Beach II Hotel during our first visit to Naxos.
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Favourite tavernas: Drakos at Mylopotas for relaxed dining with beach, bay & sunset views
Drakos Taverna at Mylopotas beach on Ios during sunset on May 23 2011
Seaside drinks & dining: We found our favourite taverna on Ios thanks to advice from a fellow Canadian traveller, Cathy, who visits the island regularly. Last March, I asked if she could recommend any reasonably-priced seaside restaurants that offered scenic views as well as tasty traditional Greek cuisine. At the top of Cathy’s list was Drakos Taverna at the far end of Mylopotas beach. “It’s a really good authentic restaurant,” she said.
We were at Mylopotas on May 20 when I started feeling peckish for a light midafternoon snack. I recalled that Cathy had suggested Drakos taverna, so that’s where we headed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
