8
Jun
2014
0

Milos Mini Guide: Our favourite Greek Island

Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, can set the mood for romance and kindle the warmth in your heart. When you are in Milos, you don’t have to be a honeymooning couple to feel what Aphrodite can do! The island is blessed by Aphrodite – the beauty of the island sets the mood. The seventy colourful beaches on the island ensure that the mood lingers on!

Milos – ‘Island of Colours’, was the first Greek island that we visited. Rightly called so, the island is strewn with fascinating beaches along its coastline – ivory white to rusty red! Whatever is your beach preference, Milos has something to offer – fine sandy stretches, colourful pebbled arches or fascinating rocky structures that will let your imagination run wild as you compare the rock face to that of a dinosaur! We spent two days on the islands exploring a few beaches and tanning ourselves into chocolate cookies.

Milos: Colourful sunrise

Milos: Colourful sunrise

Getting there…

We took a ferry from Pireaus in Athens to Milos. We booked online about a month in advance (recommend advance booking and check ferry timetable before setting off Pireaus). Once on the ferry, I was taken over by the colour of the Mediterranean Sea and went ga-ga clicking pictures of the blue water. After a four hour ferry ride, we disembarked at Adamas in Milos.

Where to stay…..Adamas – Downtown

We were staying at Hotel Eleni at Adamas. The white and blue building told us that we have arrived in the Cyclades! Eleni had never had an Indian visitor from India, though she had met plenty of Indian’s who stayed in Europe. There was plenty to talk about ranging from Indian culture to Mediterranean climate and we still continue to exchange notes.

Milos: Hotel Eleni, Adamas

Milos: Hotel Eleni, Adamas

Food…Restaurant Recommendations…

Flisvos Restaurant is the oldest waterfront restaurant in Milos. The outdoor seating has a view of the blue water of the bay, the bobbing boats and the ambling tourist. While they did not have a huge selection of vegetarian dishes, they had the best tzatziki we had during our entire stay. There were a few pasta dishes that we could order and keep our stomach happy. There was a nice pizza joint in Adamas that served hot vegetarian pizzas right out of a wood fired oven – yum yum!

Even though I have stayed for over one year in Dubai and have travelled quite a bit in the Middle East, I would say that the most delightful baklava that I have ever had was at Ageliki Ice Cream and Pastry shop. The thought of the desserts at Ageliki makes we want to go back Milos – a must visit eatery!

Getting around the island…Zip Zap Zoom

Public transport isn’t the best way of going around in Milos. Renting your own wheels is ideal. While we did have an Indian license in English, the rental agency insisted on an international driving permit, which, thankfully was something that we had. Interesting options to rent – scooter, bikes, ATV and buggy. Our choice – the buggy for two reasons (1) It was too hot and sunny, and it was good to have a shaded buggy (2) We had never driven a buggy…which, in itself, was reason enough!

Milos: Man and Machine

Milos: Man and Machine

Beaches in Milos:

Sarakiniko

Armstrong walked the moon…. And I will walk moonscapes! I am intrigued by moonscapes. They make me search geography, geology and history pages on Google. I guess if Armstrong would have walked Sarakiniko, he wouldn’t have felt the need to fly to the moon. The sea side was stark white pumice. This made the water take on a deeper shade of blue.

Milos: Moonscape of Sarakiniko

Milos: Moonscape of Sarakiniko

 

Not too many facilities around the beach – suggest taking your picnic basket. Also, the pumice gets heated in the sun – ensure that you wear beach footwear and carry a hat/cap.

Papafragas – the Alcove Beach

Our next stop was Papafragas, an alcove beach. The beach was small, really small, but interesting. An arm of the sea extended between two high cliffs. The water in the inlet was shallow and Ankur was really thrilled about that – he had still not mastered swimming.

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Milos: Sea inlet at Papafragas

 

You could swim from the beach till the end of the arm and emerge through a ‘tunnel’ into the open sea. What a feeling!

Milos: Exit into the open sea at Papafragas

Milos: Exit into the open sea at Papafragas

Pollonia – Looking for vegetarian food

A picturesque fishing village, with sandy beaches, cobbled streets and sea side Greek tarvernas – this is a perfect place for a day long picnic.

Milos: Lunch time at Pollonia

Milos: Lunch time at Pollonia

 

We were here at lunch time. All the swimming in Sarakiniko and Papafragas had made us hungry – very hungry. Pollonia would be a delight to anyone who likes see food (sea creatures, as fresh as they can get), but for us vegetarians, it wasn’t the best place to eat.

Drinks to the rescue! We found a sea side shack that made us some chilled smoothies/milkshakes – delightful, especially to the starved souls!

Palechori… appears to be from the Paleozoic Era!

This was a red beach, with plenty of red gravel and stones. We had heard that there are thermal pools in the waters and kept wading towards seemingly shallow water, but could never feel any difference in temperature! Our tropical skin continued to find every cubic meter of water cool. This was an easy and comfortable beach – big beach with facilities around, good music playing in the background, colourful rocks – great place to spend the afternoon.

Milos: Red beach at Paleochori

Milos: Red beach at Paleochori

Local feel at Plaka…

A small town, uphill, towards the centre of the island was a recommended place for watching the sunset and dinner. While we did go there on one evening, we would have rather spent that time in Adamas. Also, after seeing the action at Plaka in Athens and liveliness of Adamas in Milos, the place looked a little sleepy.

Milos: Church in Plaka

Milos: Church in Plaka

Other things to do… which we did not do!

We were too busy jumping in and out of the water, and never did any of the ‘Things To Do’! Here is a snapshot of what can keep you occupied if you decide to visit Milos:

  • Mining and history tour
  • Hiking
  • Catacombs
  • Kleftiko Beach/Cave of Sikia which can be explored only by boat
  • Beaches – the island has about 70 beaches!

We spent only 2 days in Milos….we should have spent some more time here! The ‘Island of Colours’ continues to colour our memories till date! As always…send me an e-mail if you need any further details. Glad to help!

Let the travellers’ tribe grow!

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11 Responses

  1. This looks like such an idyllic place! I have never been to Greece even though it was so close to Malta where I lived for years. Always upset that I didn’t go. Driving around in that buggy must have been the coolest thing, I totally love it! 🙂

  2. That buggy looks like so much fun! I hired a golf cart when I was on one of the islands off of Belize City and honestly, it was the best part of my stay! So much fun whizzing around the place.
    I’ve actually never heard of Milos but it looks absolutely gorgeous! From your post it seems like it’s a lot less crowded than the other islands (like the ones you mentioned in a previous comment: Mykonos, Santorini and Crete).
    Like you I’m veggie so tend to avoid seaside towns like this as I just know I’ll be existing on spaghetti pomodoro (the go-to veggie dish in every country I’ve ever been to!) and cheese on toast. But it looks so gorgeous, I might have to add it to my currently hypothetical Greece itinerary.

  3. The more I read about the Greek Islands, the more I am in awww. I want to visit Greece so badly but I feel very intimated, I want to see as much as possible 🙂 Thank you

  4. Wow, this looks paradise! I will definitely put this one in my bucket list and drag my husband to go there for a second honeymoon. Thank you for the tips about the transportation. That buggy looks cute!

  5. Ivy

    I wanna go to Milos too! I’ve only been to Crete, Santorini, and Rhodes. Would love to stop by one of the smaller ones next time. Zipping around in a buggy looks super fun!

  6. Milos looks beautiful! It’s easy to see why Milos is your favorite.
    The only Greek Island I have been to is Kos – I really need to get out there are explore more though!

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