Tag: Kos Town (page 2 of 2)

All about Eva

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Eva cruise ship Kos island

The Greek sailing boat Eva approaches Kos Town harbour

 

Sponge boat: One of my many vivid memories of Kos is the colourful waterfront of Kos Town, and especially the port and harbour. I was struck by the number of tour boats of all shapes, and sizes offering day trips to Turkey as well as excursions to nearby Greek islands like Kalymnos and Pserimos. But one ship in particular sticks in my mind: the two-masted wooden sailboat Eva.

I saw Eva our first day on the island while we were walking along a beach near Kos Town shortly after 6 p.m. Bathed in the warm glow of the slowly setting sun, with the mountainous coast of Turkey providing a scenic backdrop, Eva was motoring its way back to port at the end of a daytrip. Most of its passengers were either sitting or standing on the starboard side of the boat, looking content and relaxed as they caught some final rays before their excursion concluded. I felt envious, and wished I was with them.

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Greece holiday pic of the day

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Excursion boats in Kos harbour

Tall masts of excursion boats dominate views of the harbour at Kos Town on Kos

 

Greece holiday pic of the day

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Castle of Neratzia on Kos

Tourists explore the grounds inside the Castle of Neratzia in Kos Town

 

 

Greece holiday pic of the day

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A square in Kos Town

Stormclouds pass above a pedestrian square in Kos Town

 

 

Greece holiday pic of the day

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Castle of Neratzia in Kos Town

Tourists explore the Castle of Neratzia in Kos Town on Kos

 

Things I love about Greece: Waking up to gorgeous views at hotels in the Greek Islands (Part 5)

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Andromeda hotel Samos balcony view

The view from our balcony at the Andromeda hotel in Kalami, Samos

 

One big miss, two great hits: In my earlier posts about Greek Island views, I recounted how we were “on a roll” in terms of picking places to stay where we could see impressive scenery without leaving the hotel premises. Whether it was from our room’s windows or balcony,  or the hotel’s dining area or pool terrace, we always seemed to luck out with amazing views of sea and island scenery and sometimes glorious sunsets, too. Well, that run of good views came to a screeching halt at our very first hotel destination in 2010.

Kos was our first island stop in May 2010, and we stayed at Saint Constantin Hotel in Kos Town. When I booked our room, I knew it wouldn’t have a sea view, but I kept hoping there would be something interesting to see from our balcony or somewhere on the hotel grounds. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way, and we wound up with our worst island views ever. Thankfully, good scenery was less than a 10-minute walk away. (The hotel itself was all right, by the way.)

Patmos was our second island, and the Hotel Golden Sun at Grikos Bay more than made up for the lousy views at Kos Town. I was already impressed by the hotel’s views while still sitting in the taxi that drove us to there from the ferry port, and when I walked onto our balcony I was totally blown away by the awesome scenery. We overlooked the full Grikos valley and bay area, and could even see the coast of Turkey. Mountains obscured sunset views, but Tragonissi Island and the mountains surrounding the bay took on a gorgeous golden glow in the late afternoon/early evening sun, and we got to see rainbows above nearby Petra Bay as a storm system moved over the region.

Samos was our final island-hopping destination, and good views continued at both our hotels there. We spent our first night in the island’s largest town, Vathi (a.k.a. Samos Town), staying at the Samos Hotel (which now also calls itself Samos City Hotel). It was situated on Vathi’s main street — a wide waterfront road that curls around the foot of Vathi Bay. Our second floor room overlooked the bay, with great views of the Vathi ferry port and main street, while the hotel’s huge rooftop pool and bar terrace had tremendous views of the entire town and bay.  The next day we moved to the Andromeda Hotel in Kalami — a resort region in the scenic “suburbs” of Vathi, a 20-minute walk away. The breathtaking balcony views of Vathi Bay rivalled the Grikos Bay scenery we had enjoyed on Patmos, but came with an added bonus: direct sunset views.

Though Kos was a complete write-off for views, Patmos and Samos clearly ranked among the best we have experienced. So we can’t complain about Kos; as the saying goes, “two out of three ain’t bad.” Below are photos of our views (and lack thereof) from the Saint Constantin Hotel on Kos, the Hotel Golden Sun on Patmos, the Samos Hotel in Vathi, and the Andromeda Hotel in Kalami, Samos. (Unfortunately, the Andromeda doesn’t yet have a website.) To view some short videos of the views from the Hotel Golden Sun, see my May 12 2011 post. There’s a clip of the view from the Andromeda Hotel at the bottom of this post.

Saint Constantin Hotel in Kos Town

Our balcony at the Saint Constantin Hotel in Kos Town looked directly onto the balcony for a room at the hotel next door. Thankfully, our balcony doors had dark-tinted glass to provide a bit of privacy

 

Saint Constantin Hotel in Kos Town

If we peered over the balcony and looked to the right, we could see the street

 

St Constantin Hotel in Kos Town

This was our view, looking to the left

 

St Constantin Hotel in Kos Town

The hotel’s breakfast area had a view of the street …

 

St Constantin Hotel in Kos Town

… as well as the ground-level swimming pool and bar terrace

 

a street in Kos Town

This is what the street outside the hotel looked like

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos balcony view

At the Hotel Golden Sun on Patmos, our balcony had this fabulous view of Grikos Bay,  Tragonissi Island (right) and the coast of Turkey

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos balcony view

Our balcony, on the Hotel Golden Sun’s upper level, gave us a panoramic view of the entire Grikos valley and bay area

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos balcony view

To the left our balcony overlooked the small harbour on Grikos Bay

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos balcony view

To the right, our balcony overlooked Tragonissi Island and Kalikatsou Rock

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos breakfast terrace

The outdoor breakfast terrace had terrific views of Grikos Bay …

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos breakfast terrace

… as well as the surrounding hillsides of the valley above the bay …

 

Hotel Golden Sun Patmos breakfast terrace view

… where construction of new luxury hotels and villas is underway (happily, we weren’t disturbed by any noise from the work activity there, or from lower in the valley where workers were finishing  the new 5-star Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa.)

 

rooftop terrace at the Samos Hotel in Vathi

In the main town of Vathi on Samos, the rooftop terrace at the Samos Hotel offers tremendous views of the city, the port, and Vathi Bay

 

Samos Hotel balcony view

Our balcony overlooked the Vathi ferry pier (plus other balconies on our floor)

 

Samos Hotel balcony view

Here’s a daytime view of the ferry port from our balcony …

 

Samos Hotel balcony night view

… and a night view of houses on the hillsides above Vathi Bay

 

 

Samos Hotel balcony view

To our left, we could look down the main waterfront street in Vathi

 

Andromeda Hotel in Kalami Samos

At the Andromeda Hotel in the Kalami area of Samos, our room had a narrow, small balcony with a really, really big view

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos balcony view

To the immediate left of our balcony were some luxury rental villas on the hillside

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos balcony view

Also to the left were views of Vathi Bay

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos balcony view

This is the first view we saw each morning when we walked onto the balcony

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos view of Vathi Bay

We rode bikes to the scenic seaside village of Kokkari on the far side of the bay

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos balcony view

To the right we had views of houses on the Kalami hillside above Vathi Bay …

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos seaview balconies

…  as well as other bay-view balconies on our floor. (I know it doesn’t look very private, but hotel guests tended to watch the scenery and sunsets, rather than their neighbours, whenever they sat on their balconies.)

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos

There was a long, narrow terrace overlooking the bay next to the Andromeda’s breakfast room; if we got up early enough, we could eat outside (those tables were popular, and almost always occupied).

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos view

During breakfast, we watched tour boats travelling to and from Kusadasi, Turkey

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos seaview swimming pool

The Andromeda had a huge swimming pool with great views of Vathi Bay

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos seaside sunbathing area

At the bottom of the hill, the hotel had a private seaside sunbathing area …

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos seaside sunbathing area

… with great views of Vathi Bay and the surrounding hillsides

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos sunset views

Each evening, almost everyone at the Andromeda Hotel relaxed on their balcony with a bottle of wine while watching the gorgeous sunsets

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos sunset view

This was one of the sunset views we enjoyed watching from our balcony …

 

Andromeda Hotel Samos sunset view

… and this was another  — we saw a beautiful sunset every night

 

Greece holiday 2010: Kos

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Bougainvillea in Kos Town

A giant wave of bougainvillea cascades over a stone wall in Kos Town

 

Starting point: Kos wasn’t on our travel radar for 2010 until I discovered it would be the easiest (that is, the fastest) island to get to after our overnight flight from Canada arrived in Athens. And when I realized it would be a convenient starting point for island hopping to Patmos and Samos, two islands we really wanted to see, I immediately booked two tickets to Kos on Aegean Airlines.

We spent only three nights on Kos, but that gave us enough time to relax and recover from jet lag, explore colourful Kos Town, and spend a day bicycling around, visiting the Tigaki area and the Asklepieion. (We had hoped we’d have time to take a day excursion to Bodrum, Turkey, but it just didn’t work out.)

Things we liked the most about Kos:

The ruins. At home, we can’t walk very far without passing a Tim Horton’s coffee shop or a McDonald’s. In Kos Town, you can’t walk very far without encountering historic ruins and monuments from centuries past, like the castle overlooking the harbour.

Cycling: Kos is a great island for bike riding! There are dedicated bicycle lanes on some of the main streets in Kos Town, and it’s an easy bike ride to some of the island’s beach areas, including Tigaki. We also rode the bikes to see the Asklepieion, rather than take the little tourist choo-choo train that makes regular trips from Kos Town.

What we liked the least about Kos:

We knew Kos would be extremely touristy and commercial, but we didn’t expect to be hounded and hassled as much as we were whenever we walked past restaurants in Kos Town, or strolled along the harbour past the excursion tour boats. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times restaurant staff actually came running — and I do mean running! — out to the street to urge us to stop in for a meal. Some even followed us part way down the street, with one fellow actually pestering us for nearly two blocks! It happened so often it was ridiculous, not to mention extremely annoying.

At some future date I hope to post a more detailed report of our short visit to Kos. In the meantime, you can find plenty of information about Kos at the kosinfo.gr website and on travel-to-kos.com.

 

St Constantine Hotel in Kos Town

We stayed at the St Constantine Hotel in Kos Town. Convenient location, pleasant & helpful staff, decent breakfast, OK room

 

a street in Kos Town

It took about 15 minutes to walk along this street to get from the St Constantine Hotel into the heart of Kos Town. The street is lined with shops, tavernas and cafes all the way.

 

fishing boats and tour boats in Kos Town harbour

Colourful fishing boats and tour boats in Kos Town harbour

 

a church in Kos Town

A huge church in Kos Town

 

tavernas and shops on a street in Kos Town

Tavernas and shops on the street leading to the big church

 

one of the beaches near Kos Town

The view toward Kos Town harbour from one of the beaches just a short walk away from the St Constantine Hotel

 

lounge chairs on one of the Kos Town beaches

Colourful lounge chairs and umbrellas on one of the Kos Town beaches

 

the palm tree lined street outside the castle in Kos Town

Palm trees line Finikon Avenue outside the Castle of Neratzia in Kos Town

 

the castle at Kos Town

Inside the Castle of Neratzia at Kos Town

 

the castle in Kos Town

Inside the Castle of Neratzia in Kos Town

 

A street in Kos Town

A street in Kos Town

 

ruins in Kos Town

There are archaeological ruins in Kos Town practically everywhere you walk

 

archaeological ruins in Kos town

More archaeological ruins in Kos town

 

Mary's House restaurant in Kos Town

Mary’s House restaurant in Kos Town, where we had an amazing dinner — friendly hosts and an absolutely wonderful food!

 

The bicycles we rented to explore Kos

The bicycles we rented to explore Kos, seen here at a stop along the coast during our ride to Tigaki and the Asklepieion

 

tall grasses near the coast on the way to Tigaki

Tall grasses near the coast on the way to Tigaki

 

dunes near the beach at Tigaki on Kos

Vegetation on dunes near the beach at Tigaki on Kos

 

one of the sandy beaches near Tigaki

Lounge chairs along one of the sandy beaches near Tigaki

 

The Asklepieion ruins near Kos Town

The Asklepieion ruins near Kos Town

 

Kos Town and Bodrum Turkey

The view toward Kos Town and Bodrum Turkey from the hillside at the Asklepieion

 

fishing boats in Kos Town harbour

Fishing boats in Kos Town harbour

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