Agios Georgios island appears in silhouette in this sunset view from Mykonos
Tag: sunset (page 6 of 6)
Giaros Island appears beneath a sky of glowing clouds in this spectacular sunset view from the Rochari Hotel‘s cocktail terrace on May 18 2011.
Scenic overlook: The seaside cocktail bars at Little Venice usually get top mention in travel forums when people ask for advice about good sunset viewing locations in and around Mykonos Town. We’ve seen some wonderful sunsets from there, from Windmill Hill overlooking Little Venice, and from the rocky seashore just below the Paraportiani Church, too. We’ve also enjoyed tremendous sunset views the three times we have stayed at Hotel Tagoo, a 15-minute walk north of Town in the island’s Tagoo district. Thanks to a tip from an online colleague, this year we experienced a superb new sunset viewing spot for the first time — one that now ranks among our favourites.
In a post on TripAdvisor.com’s Mykonos travel forum, fellow Mykonos Destination Expert jon_rwr had suggested my partner and I go for a drink on the terrace at the Rochari Hotel sometime. I remembered his recommendation on May 18 when we arrived at the Fabrika bus depot following a full day of hiking to four different beaches on the island’s south coast. We had spent hours on our feet and were looking forward to just sitting and relaxing with a drink before dinner — but where? We wanted to visit some place new, with a view … and since the Rochari was just a short walk up Ag Ioannou Street from the bus depot, we took Jon’s advice and headed right there.
Jon’s recommendation was excellent! The Rochari’s sun-soaked cocktail terrace overlooks much of Mykonos Town, including the iconic windmills, with sweeping panoramic views of the sea and other nearby islands. It proved to be the perfect place for us to relax and unwind with a nice glass of wine at the end of our active afternoon. When the blazing sun dipped closer to the horizon, painting rich, warm hues of amber and gold on the clouds and western sky, a distant island suddenly came into sharper view. We had been chatting with Darren, the Rochari’s cheery, affable bartender, while we were shooting photos of the spectacular scene dramatically playing out before us. Darren politely excused himself for a moment so he could grab his camera to take some shots of his own, explaining that we were experiencing a remarkably clear view of Giaros Island. (We realized it must have been a noteworthy sunset if Darren, whose enviable “office” gives him gorgeous views every evening, was compelled to capture it in photos, too).
The sun went down a short while later, but the terrace remained a comfortable and cozy spot to enjoy the evening. Unfortunately, that was our final night on Mykonos this particular holiday, so we couldn’t make a return visit. But we’ll definitely be going back there for more wine and sunsets on our next trip. With its amazing views of Mykonos Town and those stunning sunsets over the Aegean Sea, the Rochari’s terrace will be one of my “must see” Mykonos recommendations. If you happen to drop by for a drink, please give our regards to Darren. And don’t forget to bring your sunglasses — the rays of the setting sun get so strong and intense, you’ll certainly need to wear them! (By the way: The Rochari is a beautiful hotel in a great location; keep it in mind if you’re searching for quality accommodations right in Mykonos Town.)
Below are several photos of the sunset views from the Rochari Hotel cocktail terrace. More photos can be viewed in the Mykonos 2011: Sunset at the Rochari Hotel album on the mygreecetravelblog.com Facebook page.
Cocktail terrace view of the Rochari Hotel’s swimming pool and deck
Rochari Hotel terrace view of the swimming pool and part of Mykonos Town
Terrace view of Mykonos Town before sunset
Me on the terrace, enjoying the views under the hot evening sun
Standing on the Rochari terrace at sunset, with the whitewashed buildings of Mykonos Town spread out below the hotel
A shot from the other direction, with more of Mykonos Town and part of Tinos island providing a backdrop in the distance
The terrace has amazing views of Mykonos Town and nearby islands
Sunset view from a table inside the Rochari Hotel lounge
Giaros island starts to become more visible in the amber clouds below the sun
The sunset reflects in the calm water of the hotel swimming pool
The terrace is a perfect place to enjoy a nice glass of wine or an ice cold drink
Giaros Island starts to take center stage directly below the setting sun
Clouds in the sky above Giaros Island take on an amber glow in the sunset
A great view overlooking Mykonos Town and islands across the horizon
Hotel terrace view of the famous windmills on the hillside above Little Venice
Another peek at the Rochari pool as the sun prepares to dip below the horizon
Mykonos Town spreads out below the hotel; Tinos island is visible to the right
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.
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
If we peered over the balcony and looked to the right, we could see the street
This was our view, looking to the left
The hotel’s breakfast area had a view of the street …
… as well as the ground-level swimming pool and bar terrace
This is what the street outside the hotel looked like
At the Hotel Golden Sun on Patmos, our balcony had this fabulous view of Grikos Bay, Tragonissi Island (right) and the coast of Turkey
Our balcony, on the Hotel Golden Sun’s upper level, gave us a panoramic view of the entire Grikos valley and bay area
To the left our balcony overlooked the small harbour on Grikos Bay
To the right, our balcony overlooked Tragonissi Island and Kalikatsou Rock
The outdoor breakfast terrace had terrific views of Grikos Bay …
… as well as the surrounding hillsides of the valley above the bay …
… 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.)
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
Our balcony overlooked the Vathi ferry pier (plus other balconies on our floor)
Here’s a daytime view of the ferry port from our balcony …
… and a night view of houses on the hillsides above Vathi Bay
To our left, we could look down the main waterfront street in Vathi
At the Andromeda Hotel in the Kalami area of Samos, our room had a narrow, small balcony with a really, really big view
To the immediate left of our balcony were some luxury rental villas on the hillside
Also to the left were views of Vathi Bay
This is the first view we saw each morning when we walked onto the balcony
We rode bikes to the scenic seaside village of Kokkari on the far side of the bay
To the right we had views of houses on the Kalami hillside above Vathi Bay …
… 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.)
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).
During breakfast, we watched tour boats travelling to and from Kusadasi, Turkey
The Andromeda had a huge swimming pool with great views of Vathi Bay
At the bottom of the hill, the hotel had a private seaside sunbathing area …
… with great views of Vathi Bay and the surrounding hillsides
Each evening, almost everyone at the Andromeda Hotel relaxed on their balcony with a bottle of wine while watching the gorgeous sunsets
This was one of the sunset views we enjoyed watching from our balcony …
… and this was another — we saw a beautiful sunset every night
Enjoying the view from our private terrace at Fildisi Boutique Hotel on Astipalea
Return visits: Our 2009 Greece holiday took us to four islands, and on two of those we made return visits to hotels we had stayed at once before. That’s something we rarely do, since we generally prefer to experience new hotel surroundings whenever we return to a destination we’ve already seen. But we had particularly liked both of these hotels, so we were anxious to stay there again.
Astipalea was our first stop on this particular island hopping holiday, and we stayed at Fildisi Boutique Hotel near Livadi, a peaceful farming valley below the island’s main town, Chora. It was early in the season and the Fildisi had only a handful of guests; in fact, the owner, Elias, was still getting the swimming pool, terrace and some of the other rooms ready for the summer. When Elias picked us up at the Astipalea airport to drive us to the hotel, he said he was upgrading us to the “VIP Suite.” We had no idea what that meant until we arrived and discovered it was a large studio-size room with an enormous two-level private terrace. The spacious room was great, but the jaw-dropping views from the huge deck stole the show. (To be honest, I don’t think there is a bad view from anywhere on the Fildisi property.)
Amorgos was island destination number two, and we chose Yperia Hotel in Egali, one of two port towns on the island. We were embarrassed when the Yperia’s owner, Antonis, picked us up at the port when we arrived shortly before 7 in the morning on a gargantuan Blue Star Ferry that had left Astiplea at 5.30 with fewer than two dozen passengers. The drive to the Yperia took less than one minute — we could easily have walked there with our suitcases, which we were barely able to squeeze beside us into Antonis’s tiny sedan. (Mind you, there is no sign on the hotel, so we could just as easily have walked right past the place and missed it.) Antonis assigned us a second-floor room right above the hotel reception and breakfast area. It had two balconies that overlooked the hotel swimming pool and gave us views of the Egali ferry pier as well as sunsets over Naxos island. The room also had a window facing the mountainside behind the hotel; it gave us views of Potamos, a picturesque village where had three memorable sunset dinners at the wonderful Kamara Cafe (which, we later learned, is owned and operated by Antonis’s cousin, Christoforos).
Naxos was our third island, and we returned to the Lianos Village hotel which we had enjoyed in 2006.
Mykonos was our final stop, and Hotel Tagoo was our hotel choice there for the second year in a row.
Below are photos of our views at Fildisi Boutique Hotel, Yperia Hotel, Lianos Village and Hotel Tagoo.
Every room at the Fildisi has this view of Astipalea’s Chora and Kastro (castle)
The private terrace for our “VIP Suite” at the Fildisi Hotel was unbelievably bigger than the hotel room itself.
The top level of the terrace was furnished with this giant canopy shading a teak dining table and chairs, while the lower level had two lounge chairs for sunbathing.
The enormous terrace offered an incredible panoramic view of the Livadi farming valley, Chora, the Aegean Sea, and a small beach below the hotel
Part of the Livadi valley viewed from our terrace at the Fildisi hotel
Chora, the coastline and a small beach viewed from our private terrace
I never got tired of the view of Chora and the sea
At the Yperia Hotel in Amorgos, our second-floor room had two balconies. One of them can be seen here, above the hotel entrance and pool terrace
We could see Egali bay through the door to our balcony
This photo, taken from one of our room’s two balconies, shows part of the sea view that we enjoyed from the second balcony
I enjoyed relaxing on the balcony with an ice cold bottle of Mythos beer or glass of wine after a long day of hiking on Amorgos
The balcony was a great spot to watch fishing boats return with their catch …
… and to watch Greek ferry ships come and go from the pier at Egali port. This was the same big Blue Star ferry that brought us to Amorgos from Astipalea
This was our balcony view of the Express Skopelitis ferry arriving at Egali one evening. We rode the Skopelitis to Naxos a few days later; this online album has photos of our journey through the Small Cyclades en route to Naxos.
Our balcony also had this view toward the mouth of Egali Bay
A window in our room faced homes and hotels on the hillside behind the Yperia …
… but also gave us views of Potamos village higher up the mountain
Best of all were the views from our balcony of sunsets over Naxos
On Naxos, we could view the sea from inside our hotel room at Lianos Village
Our balcony was a nice spot to relax with a glass of wine while enjoying extensive views down the southwest coast of Naxos
From our balcony we could see Agios Prokopios beach, Agia Anna, beach, Plaka beach, and mountains in the distance behind them
Palm fronds and colourful flowering plants beside our balcony
Balcony view toward Agios Prokopios beach at the bottom of the hillside
Another balcony view toward Agios Prokopios beach
The Lianos Village swimming pool terrace had terrific views of the southwest Naxos coast and other nearby islands
Swimming pool terrace view of the Agios Prokopios resort area of Naxos
Another view from the hotel swimming pool terrace
Another pool terrace view of the island’s southwest coast
This was our balcony view during our second stay at Hotel Tagoo on Mykonos
Another view from our balcony, looking toward the left
The Hotel Tagoo pool terrace is a great place to relax in the afternoon sun…
… or watch cruise ships and ferries come and go from nearby Tourlos port
Hotel Tagoo pool deck views in the morning, looking toward the left …
… and looking toward the right
A gorgeous Mykonos sunset reflects in Hotel Tagoo’s reception room windows
A dramatic sunset viewed from Hotel Tagoo on Mykonos in September 2007
Sunsets, sea views & windstorms: 2007 was the year we took our first-ever September trip to Greece, breaking a pattern of travelling in mid- to late May or early June. This particular island-hopping holiday took us to Milos, Sifnos, Folegandros and Mykonos.
Milos was our first stop; we flew there on an Olympic Airways flight from Athens the same day we arrived in Greece. We stayed at the Santa Maria Village hotel near Adamas, the main port town on Milos. Santa Maria Village is a hillside complex of hotel rooms, suites, apartments and bungalows less than a 15-minute walk from the Adamas harbour. The hotel overlooks the Gulf of Milos, and the balcony to our room had views of the gulf, 748-meter Mt. Profitis Elias and other mountains on the west side of the bay, and Adamas. No sunset views from this location, but we did get to see a spectacular sunset from Utopia bar in Plaka one evening.
Sifnos was our second destination. We stayed at Hotel Delfini, which sits directly across from the Kamares ferry port on the far side of Kamares Bay. The hotel has a beautiful swimming pool that overlooks Kamares and the bay. In our room, one of the tiniest hotel rooms we’ve stayed in anywhere, the window and the balcony both gave good views straight down the wide bay toward open sea. We saw some brilliant sunsets during our stay — a stroke of luck considering that a bad weather system moved over the Aegean during our first night on Sifnos, bringing cloudy skies and a fierce windstorm that disrupted ferry travel for several days. We actually had to spend one extra night on the island because there were no ferries going anywhere on our scheduled departure day.
Folegandros was our third stop, and we arrived more than a day late because of the ferry cancellations caused by the weekend windstorm that “stranded” us on Sifnos. We stayed at the Fata Morgana Studios, a small clifftop complex of 14 apartments near the island’s main town, Chora.This place has incredible views, including sunsets! The swimming pool and bar overlook the sea and the mountainous western half of the island, while our balcony gave us even better views — the same breathtaking sea and mountain views, plus sightlines of Chora and the stunning church of Koimisis tis Theotokou (Assumption of the Virgin Mary), perched high on the mountain above the town.
Mykonos was our final island-hopping destination, and this time we decided to stay close to Mykonos Town, rather than at a beach resort like Elia or Platis Gialos where we had stayed three times before. We chose Hotel Tagoo not only because of its many positive reviews on TripAdvisor.com, but also since it came highly recommended first-hand by some people from Toronto we knew who had stayed there the previous year. (I had recommended the Lianos Village to them for their Naxos visit; they loved it and suggested we try Hotel Tagoo next time we went to Mykonos because it had many similarities and they felt certain we would love it. They were right.)
We actually got to stay in two different rooms. Our first room was situated on the east side of the Hotel Tagoo complex, with a semi-private partial sea-view terrace that was cozy, comfortable and quiet. We couldn’t watch the sunset from that terrace, but if we wanted to see it, all we had to do was walk a few flights of stairs to the swimming pool and pool bar deck. The panoramic vistas from there are spectacular; on clear days, you can see several other Cyclades islands including Tinos, Syros, Rinia and sometimes even Giaros. As you can imagine, the sunsets look sensational from up there, too. And for our last night on Mykonos, we got to move into a room with a direct sunset view. When guests checked out of one of the hotel’s front-facing rooms earlier in the day, hotel manager Anna asked if we wanted to switch rooms for the night. We did, of course, so we got to watch a brilliant sunset while enjoying a bottle of wine on the comfort of our own terrace. It was the perfect place to spend our final evening on the island!
Below are photos of our views from the Santa Maria Village on Milos, the Hotel Delfini on Sifnos, the Fata Morgana Studios on Folegandros, and Hotel Tagoo on Mykonos.
This was the view looking straight out from our second-floor hotel room balcony at the Santa Maria Village hotel in Adamas on Milos
Directly ahead is the Gulf of Milos, the wide bay that separates the east and west sides of the island
Off to the right stands Mount Profitis Elias on the west side of the Gulf of Milos
The mountains blocked sunsets from sight at the hotel — but there were many excellent sunset viewing spots in Plaka and Kastro
Our balcony also overlooked the Santa Maria Village swimming pool and bar terrace
The swimming pool and its surrounding terrace had views of the Gulf of Milos …
… as well as views towards the island’s main port town, Adamas, which was only a 15-minute walk from the hotel along the waterfront
The Hotel Delfini is situated on a hill above Kamares Bay on Sifnos
The Delfini has great views of the mountains that tower above the bay and port…
… while parts of the hotel property overlook the port town of Kamares
The Hotel Delfini has a beautiful infinity pool …
that faces straight down Kamares Bay toward the open sea …
… has views of the island’s main port town, Kamares …
… and offers excellent sightlines as the sun sets over the Aegean Sea to the west
Another sunset view from the Hotel Delfini’s infinity pool
The window in our room overlooked the pool and the hotel’s outdoor restaurant area (under the bamboo roof), and had great views of Kamares Bay
Our balcony faced right down Kamares Bay toward the open sea
Our balcony view of the rugged coastline and rocky mountain above Kamares Bay
Our balcony view of a sunset over the Aegean Sea
The swimming pool terrace at Fata Morgana Studios on Folegandros has fantastic views. The island of Paros is visible in the distance in this photo.
This was part of the view from our terrace at Fata Morgana Studios; I say “part” because the second-floor balcony wrapped around the building, offering wonderful views in several different directions
We could see the village of Ano Mera on the mountaintop in the distance
Looking straight out to sea from our balcony at Fata Morgana Studios
A sitting area for the pool bar had amazing views of the island, sea and sunset
The sitting area looks surrounded by nothing but deep blue sea
Our balcony also had great views of Chora, the main town on Folegandros
This was our balcony view of the Church of Koimisis tis Theotokou at sunset …
… and this was our view of the moon high above Chora at sunset one evening
With all those views, I loved sitting on the balcony when we weren’t hiking around Folegandros (which is one of the best islands for walking)
This was the semi-private sea-view terrace for our first room at Hotel Tagoo
To the left was this view of the hotel next door to Tagoo. The hillside in the distance is the Apollonia area of Mykonos island.
This was the direct sea view from our second room at Hotel Tagoo
Our balcony overlooked the swimming pool deck for another hotel lower down the hillside in what is known as the Tagoo district of Mykonos
The upper levels of Hotel Tagoo offer superb views of the sea and nearby islands
On a clear day, the shimmering sea looks silver under the glare of the blazing sun
Standing on the swimming pool deck, two Hotel Tagoo guests watch as a four-masted luxury cruise ship sails out of Mykonos port
Guests watch a sunset from the swimming pool terrace at Hotel Tagoo
The incredible sunset views make the Hotel Tagoo swimming pool terrace a popular gathering spot for guests each evening
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