Kos Greece Holiday and Travel Guide.
Welcome to our Kos Greece Travel and Holiday Guides, Walks and Photographs.
Kos (or Cos) is a major Greek Island holiday destination and particularly
popular with tourists from Northern Europe (it's around 3.5 hours flying time
from Gatwick) as well as for visitors from the Greek mainland and from Italy.
The island is part of the Sporades island group of the Dodecanese - is quite a
long but fairly thin shaped island measuring around 42kms by as little as 8kms.
Our holiday to the Greek Island of Kos was at the end of
June 2008 - this is immediately before the real start of the holiday season on
most Greek Islands and probably prices for just about everything were about to
head upwards. We have included some information on buses, car-hire prices, food
costs and so on as guidance only.
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Much of Kos
is quite flat with it's mountainous area located to the North-east.
There are beaches
around most of the island - some are of sand but many of the coastline beaches
are often quite narrow shingle affairs and can have a nice layer of weed on
their edges.
The best sandy beaches - for instance around Kardemena - are
often inundated with beach chairs and umbrellas and it can be difficult to
actually see the sand in places.
Kos (particularly Kos Town) has some excellent archaeological sites to visit
whilst on holiday - most of them are free to enter - however quite often these
sites are not at all maintained and there can be lots of long grass, thistles
and shrubbery to have to negotiate which is disappointing. The exception is the
Asklepieion which you pay 4 Euros to enter - this site is well maintained with
good paths and clear views of the archaeology. There is of course the
magnificent fort to visit which dominates the harbour area of Kos Town -
currently with an entrance fee of 3 Euros.
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The Turkish mainland is extremely close to Kos (around 4kms away at one
point) and therefore it is of no surprise to find lots of Greek military
presence on this island - so sometimes watch where you aim your camera. Actually
the military seem to have removed themselves from some areas on the island
compared with what we saw when we were last there - for instance the huge out of
bounds areas around Cape Chelona now seem to be open.
About getting to Kos.
Flying. The international airport has reasonably good facilities - you
get through quite quickly - and the usual variety of services to get you away on
your holiday - buses, taxis and so on. As far as leaving is concerned the
facilities are not at all bad once you get through the inevitable security bits
- currently you have to go to a check-in desk for your seats etc and get your
luggage labelled and weighted then you take the luggage to another queue and
it's put through the scanners and taken away. They only allow around 20 or so
people at a time inside so if you arrive behind a load of coaches you can be
stuck outside in the hot sun for some time. The airport facilities in the waiting
area are the usual snack type food, cold drinks and so on and the whole area has
quite a few seats and is air-conditioned. There are several screens showing
departures - gates - boarding etc and they usually give one tannoy announcement
in both Greek and English for the flight boarding warning.
Ferries. Kos is well served by the Greek Ferry
network system - with the usual large car ferries, the Flying Dolphins serving
nearbye islands and the excellent Dodekanisos Express Cats running between
Rhodes and Patmos.
On top of this there are other small ferry companies which
you can use to get to various islands - the timetables for these you have to
find from their actual departure points (say at the harbour in Kos Town) since
these are not easily discovered on the web etc. Ferry prices have increased
enormously in recent months - our trip on the Cat going Kos to Patmos and
back cost the two of us 117 Euros. Many people take the day trip over to Nysiros
to see the volcano whilst on holiday on Kos however we have previously made this
trip so not go this time however we were offered a trip from Kos Town
for which they wanted 30 Euros each. If possible it is better to take this trip
from Kardamena as the town is very close to Nysiros and therefore the prices
must be considerably lower. The coach ride to the calderon is quite interesting
to say the least - on most day trips you get around 45 minutes to an hour when
there - remember to wear shoes as flip-flops and similar are not a good idea.
Getting Around. There is a variable
bus service
running out of Kos Town going out to most of the towns - with some buses running
as often as every 15 minutes in peak times - these buses operate well into the
evening. Buses from Kos Town visit locations such as Psalidi/Agios Fokas,
Platani, Mesaria and Kardamena - but you need to check times which are often
displayed at the bus stops. For instance bus 1 and 5 (Psalidi route) are meant
to run every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the time of day but you can find
nothing at all turns up for an hour.
In and around Kos Town and elsewhere cycling is extremely
popular - it helps of course that most of the island is fairly flat. There is a
wide well surfaced cycle lane (and also pedestrians are allowed to use it too
cyclists please note) going from Kos Town harbour along the coast passing the
pebble beaches and continuing well past Psalidi. Cycle hire ranges from a bit of
heap at 3 Euros per day through to brand-new well geared bikes costing around 5
Euros or so.
Car-hire - really expensive for some reason on Kos
- we went to several different car-hire companies in Kos Town (you can find
several of these just off the main road to Psalidi a little bit past the yacht
marina). Prices were generally being offered at around 42 to 45 Euros per day -
and this with a perhaps 350 Euro own-fault accident excess - there is of course
no fully comprehensive insurance available which is normal for Greek Islands.
Scooters etc. - these were going for around 20 to
25 Euros per day - there were hire companies everywhere to chose from.
Buggies were being offered at 35 Euros per day and quad bikes
just a shade cheaper. All in all hiring motorised transport on the island was
extremely expensive - this of course did help to keep the roads fairly quiet
since most people were seemingly taking a hire out for only 1 or 2 days and
packing all their sightseeing in. In truth you can see most of the
archaeological sites by using a bus out of Kos Town (a road-train takes you the
4kms from there to the Asklepieion for instance for 5 Euros return). The
Fortress of Andimachia is just outside of Kardamena and can be walked if you fancy it or
if you have the energy you can cycle as far as the monipath and walk the rest of
the way. So apart from having a
drive round some of the villages in the mountains (Zia is a favourite spot for
tourists) and taking a look at some of
the more isolated beaches etc. a couple of days car-hire is plenty since much of
the island is somewhat featureless.
Taxis. There are loads of taxis running from the
main square in Kos Town - as is adviseable generally when using taxis on the
Greek islands you should get your price agreed prior to your journey. On Kos you
do not usually pre-book a taxi - you just ring for one when you wish to make
your journey. As mentioned prices are up for negotiation but as an example we
payed 6 Euros for a trip from the ferry port out to our accommodation - around
6kms.
General costs whilst on the Island.
Tavernas - we stayed in the
Psalidi area and found the tavernas to be really nice - there are several
situated alongside the beach
and it was great to spend a relaxed evening
watching the ferries go by etc whilst drinking some nice wine and having a good
meal. It was quite difficult to spend more than 30 Euros for two of you in one
of these Tavernas - as often in Greek Islands the amount of food you get is
considerable. We did not actually use any of the tavernas at Kardemena but the
prices seemed similar - however what you do get there is the eventual annoyance
of being approached and asked to have a meal as you wander by every taverna -
something not so apparent in for instance Kos Town.
Supermarkets. Well food prices - milk -
bread - fruit - everything - has all shot up in price in the islands - in a similar way
and in amounts to that which are now enjoyed in England.
Kos Beaches. Beaches on the island vary from
sandy right through to quite heavy shingle - the beaches around the most popular
holiday areas are regularly cleaned of seaweed and then totally re-covered with
umbrellas and beach chairs - sometimes 4 or 5 lines of them out from the
seashore. The cost of these varies but when we were on Kos early July we saw two
chairs and an umbrella being offered for 5 Euros - and in some cases a couple of
bottles of water were being thrown in as well (not thrown at you).
By July the sun is amazingly hot
- even the sand can scorch your feet let alone the pebbles - so it is worth
having some "jellies" whilst getting your sun tan. As you leave the beach chair
hotspots like Kardamena the further-out beaches are frequently lined with at least a couple
of feet of sea weed - and it's worth mentioning that where washed up sea-weed
exists then often as not so do annoying flies. The most enjoyable beaches we
thought were those after the hotel complexes on the far side of Psalidi up
as far as Cape Ag. Fokas - these are
shingle beaches but the pebbles are nice round types so you can strech out on
them quite nicely - and there is a distinct lack of sea-weed - just nice clear
sparkling sea. The sea temperatures seem always to be quite cool in the
Dodekanese Islands and stay that way until well into August so it's quite a
shock to go from a 35 to 40 degree beach into perhaps 21 to 22 degrees in the
water. Kos does quite often enjoy nice sea breezes especially along the Tigaki -
Mastihari side of the island and these can make you think the temperatures are
not as high as they really are especially when on the beach. The Kardamena side
of Kos can feel quite a lot hotter as the wind and sea-breezes are often blocked by the
mountains.
Locations around the Island.
Kos Town. Kos Town is of course the island's
capital city and where you wi find the main ferry terminals for both the large car ferries and also
for the Kats and Dolphins. Quite close by you will also find quite an extensive yacht marina
which you can wander around and admire the often expensive boats.
There are numerous cafes and shops, a huge castle and perhaps one
of the largest free to enter archaeogligical areas to look around in the Greek
Islands. Having visited many of these sites we have created a separate item on
all this which can be found on our Sights of Kos topic.
Tigaki. This is located on the northern coast
of Kos - the area is a favourite destination for holiday companys and so is full
of large blocks of accommodation - i.e. not particularly scenic. There are of
course shops and tavernas etc. The beach right in the centre is sandy and is
totally packed with sunshades and sunbeds - however as you head north along the
coast the beach becomes quite narrow and does suffer from seaweed.
Mastichari.
The town has a reasonable size
harbour for yachts and there are some fishing boats - the harbour also provides
a car ferry service out to Kalymnos. There are of course plenty of shops and
tavernas plus accommodation in it's narrow mostly vehicle free streets.
There is also a quite wide nicely paved promenade area running alongside it's
presumably sandy beach because sadly yet again this Kos beach was covered in
sun-beds and umbrellas. If you walk a little bit out of Mastichari the beaches become
sun-bed free to a large extent and there is the possibility of some peace and
quiet - however also the real possibility of sea-weed.
Kefalos (area). This area of Kos Island has
quite a few of Kos's more remote beaches, plus several nice churches etc. -
please see our Kos Sightseeing Topic.
Kardamena. We actually stayed at Kardamena some years ago and it has changed
quite a lot with it's now nicely paved streets and walking areas and looking
quite clean and tidy. This is pure holiday Kos - tavernas and shops and drinks
places just everywhere. The town does have a beach which is apparently sandy -
it is somewhat hard to tell because it is just about totally covered with
sun-beds and umbrellas.
I am not sure there is even room for anyone to stretch
out on the actual sand should they find it because the lines of sunbeds are placed really
close to the shoreline. If you head north along the coast out of Kardamena the area is a little wilder and the sand gets a little coarser but you find far few people about and
it's even often possible to find a bit of beach where you can strip off for a
nude swim and sunbathe.
As mentioned we had returned there just to see what is was now like - there are
still groups of teenagers wandering around and one wonders just what things get
like later into the evening. Talking to a family whilst in a taverna back near
Kos Town one evening they said they had felt a little nervous about walking
around Kardamena with their two children in the evening because of these groups
of teenagers. Worth perhaps noting that in Kardamena the bars are allowed to be
and therefore are often open until 3 or 4 a.m.
Pyli and Old Pyli. Pyli is a populated village
situated up in Kos's hilly area whilst Old Pyli is now deserted and really only
consists of the ruins of the village and an old castle. Please see our
Sights of Kos Topic.
Zia. The mountain village of Zia is extremley pouplar with
coach tour companies so
if you want to have a look round the best time to go is as early in the morning
as possible because by midday it's inundated. However any Monday is also good -
the tour companies have Zia on their round the island trips usually and since
various stopovers are shut on Mondays they often do not run these trips on that day.
There are lots of shops and tavernas in Zia - it is worth taking a walk round
the village - especially take a wander up towards the mountain for a while. Zia
marks the start point for a walk up to Kos's highest point - Mt. Dikeos - this
nice walk is on rocky paths and initially through forest however you do need
walking boots or good trainers and you do need plenty of drink with you.
Pisso Thermes. This is another target for the holiday tour company escursion
coaches - apart from driving yourself you can also get there either by Bus no.5
out of Kos Town or by cycling to it (or of course walking as we did). The top
parking area has several buildings selling hot dogs and other
junk food around it - once past these head down left on a steep
dusty track (there is some parking in two places on the way down by the way) to
reach sea level. A little way along there are more places offering you culinary
delights before you reach the sulphur springs - these barely noticeable outlets
are located within a small-ish ring of rocks. As mentioned we walked there as
part of a beach walk from Kos Town - really quite glad that we did not spend any
money going to Pisso Thermes because quite honestly there is little there of
interest and the area has quite a scruffy feel to it and is certainly not
particularly scenic.
Kos's Hungry Ducks - Limni Springs.
These Springs (and the ducks) are located on the main road at the road junction
at Linopotis where the road to Pili goes off into the mountains. The last time
we visited and fed the ducks it all looked quite nice but unfortunately for our
July 2008 visit some of Kos's infernal bulldozers had been at work nearbye and
it's a bit of a mess.
However the ducks are still alive and well and it is
essential that when you visit them you have lots of bread as they are always hungry.
We also saw several turtles as well as a tortoise on the small island in the
middle of the springs.
Apart from the ducks you can also spot some quite large eels who also seemed
quite keen on getting something to eat.
Pictures of Kos's archaeological
sites, castles, churches
and beaches and so on can be found on our
Sightseeing Kos topic.
Other Kos related Sites well worth looking at:
Kos
Travel Guide from Greek Island Postcards
Kos by Greeka
www.foxysislandwalks.com
The best sandy beaches - for instance around Kardemena - are
often inundated with beach chairs and umbrellas and it can be difficult to
actually see the sand in places.
