Patmos Greece Holiday and Travel Guide.
Welcome to our Greek Island of Patmos Travel and Holiday Guides and Pictures.
The fairly small Greek Island of Patmos Is located in the
Dodecanese Chain
- we travelled to Patmos towards the end of
June 2008 as part of an Island Hop - i.e. just as this Greek Island's quite short holiday season was
about to really let rip.
Travelling to Patmos.
Flying. There is no airport on the island of Patmos - however there is a heli-pad
mostly for emergency use.
Ferries. Patmos is visited by a variety of ferry
companies - large ferries like the Blue Star and G&A passenger and
car ferries through to the Flying Dolphin
service to the Dodekanisos Express Catamarans all arrive regularly on the island. There are
also several local ferry services such as the Patmos Express which go around
the immediate neighbouring islands - all in all the island is easy to get too and good for
island hopping.
Cruise Ships. These visit regularly - whilst we stayed on the island we saw
always at least one and sometimes as many as three cruise ships moored in and
around the harbour area.
The island is on their itinerary principally because of
the Cave of the Apocalypse and also of course sat right on top of the Chora The
Monastery of Evangelist and Apostle John the Theologian. These cruise ship
visits create a sort of split state on just how busy Patmos gets - they often
arrive overnight and in the first part of the morning there are coaches and
taxis and so on everywhere as the passengers are shipped up from the port
at Skala to Chora. Often with the itinerary lasting only a few hours before the ships go somewhere else the
whole thing can quieten down just as quickly and the island especially around
the port reverts to a somewhat more peaceful state. Various day trippers also
arrive from some of the neighbouring islands such as Leros.
Getting Around on Patmos.
Taxis. Beware of what you pay as far as Patmos's
taxis are concerned - you really do not want to get into a taxi here without
being totally agreed on the fare before you take your journey. One of the taxi
drivers biggest earners on Patmos is from conveying cruise ship passengers (who
often only have a short time available before their cruise leaves again) up to
see the Monastery in Chora - and although this journey is not that far (around
4.5kms) they are liable to charge outrageous amounts if they can. We know from
our own experience that this type of overcharging will be tried on for any other
journeys too.
Buses. There is a somewhat infrequent bus service running
from Skala to Kambos, Kambos Beach and Grikos plus a slightly better service going up to Chora - the buses all leave
from the port right by where the ferries arrive.
As a guide we took the bus to Kambos which
at the time of our visit left Skala Harbour at 10:30 - the bus fare was 1.40 Euros each
and although we got off at the square in Kambos Town you could also continue on down to Kambos
Beach at this price.
General Costs on Patmos.
Skala - Tavernas - most of the tavernas
in Skala are situated in and around the side alleys and streets although a few can also be found a
little way along the edge of the quite large harbour area. Immediately around the ferry
docking area where the cruise ships also disgorge their passengers and in the
Square most of the food outlets are really just cafes serving fast food and
drinks. The actual tavernas do have quite a good menu selection and you can get
a nice meal with some house wine for around 25 to 30 Euros or so for two of you.
Skala - Supermarkets and Shops. There is a quite large
supermarket just up from the main square in Skala and also several small mini-markets
dotted around - there are also many shops selling clothes and of course various
china and leather goods and trinkets and stuff that holidaymakers are presumed
to be desperate to buy - these all mostly aimed at the cruise-ship market. When the
day trips and/or cruise boats are in this area is very busy with tourists wandering around of
course.
Patmos's Beaches.
Skala has a narrow sandy beach
- most of the beach area is in fact taken up by several tavernas who have placed
their tables and chairs directly onto the sand leaving not a great deal of room
for sun-bathers etc. There are numerous beaches on the island but we only had
limited time and visited just a few whilst out walking. The easiest beaches to
get too if you use public transport are Kambos (Kampos) beach and the beach at
Grikos and on towards Petra. It's worth noting that many of the beaches are
lined with Tamarisk Trees which offer some welcome shade from the hot sunshine.
Several pictures of Patmos's beaches are shown below.
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| Patmos - Agriolivad Beach |
Diakofit Bay Beach |
Grikos Beach |
Patmos - Kali Katsou Beach |
View of Kambos Beach |
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| Kambos Beach on Patmos |
Meloi Beach |
Petra Beach |
Psili Ammos Beach |
Psili Ammos Beach |
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| Skala Beach Patmos |
Area around Stravou Beach |
No name beach Patmos |
No name beach Patmos |
No name beach Patmos |
Chora and The Cave of the Apocalypse and The Monastery of Evangelist and
Apostle John the Theologian. These are the huge attractions on Patmos and why
all the cruise ships turn up. The Monastery of St John really dominates the
island in that it is perched right on top of Chora and visible from everywhere -
the other thing you can see are the series of windmills which go along the ridge
on Chora's outskirts.
On the other hand the Cave of the Apocalypse is halfway up
the Skala to Chora road by the Moni Zoodochou Pigis and quite well hidden
amongst trees. We have no photos from the actual Cave as photography is
forbidden but the picture on the right shows the Monastery and the other is the
entrance to the Cave.
Similarly once you get inside the Monastery of St John you are not allowed
to take photographs and although you can see some parts and wander around them
it's obvious that a lot of the area
is closed off to the public.
Note that you have to be correctly dressed to enter
the Monastery - generally if you are male then shorts and t-shirt is ok but
females have to cover their shoulders and legs - you can borrow something to
wrap round you if necessary.
Chora is not necessarily just about visiting the Monastery - it is actually an excellent
area to wander around - there are lovely narrow whitewashed streets and alleys,
beautiful old buildings and lots of
flowers plus around one hundred churches or so (perhaps a slight exaggeration but
there are a lot of churches at Chora.)
Please see our Patmos Walks
topic for just a couple of walks you might enjoy whilst on holiday on the
Island.
Other Patmos related Sites well worth looking at:
Patmos by Greeka
Patmos Travel Guide from Greek Island Postcards
www.foxysislandwalks.com
The island is on their itinerary principally because of
the Cave of the Apocalypse and also of course sat right on top of the Chora The
Monastery of Evangelist and Apostle John the Theologian. These cruise ship
visits create a sort of split state on just how busy Patmos gets - they often
arrive overnight and in the first part of the morning there are coaches and
taxis and so on everywhere as the passengers are shipped up from the port
at Skala to Chora. Often with the itinerary lasting only a few hours before the ships go somewhere else the
whole thing can quieten down just as quickly and the island especially around
the port reverts to a somewhat more peaceful state. Various day trippers also
arrive from some of the neighbouring islands such as Leros.
