Greece 2023 - Cyclades islands - Ios

We arrived in Ios and headed straight to the hotel for a cocktail and to laze around the pool. We stayed in the Levantes Ios Boutique Hotel. It was a short walk downhill to Mylopotas beach, one of the recommended beaches to visit on the island, and a short bus ride to the main town. The hotel was lovely - spacious, modern, relaxing, and with friendly staff and an awesome breakfast. 

The first evening, we walked down the hill to watch the sun set on Mylopotas beach and had a drink in a couple of the bars along the beachfront before grabbing dinner at Salt. The hotel recommended this restaurant and it was fantastic food, this was the best meal of the entire holiday. After a couple of cocktails and a belly full of good food, we didn't really feel the short but incredibly steep walk back to the hotel. The uphill training in Santorini must have paid off! 

The next day, we decided to have a chilled out day on Mylopotas beach. There are beach clubs, bars and restaurants lining the mile-long beech, with a number of them offering beds and umbrellas to hire. We stopped at Karma bar where 2 sun beds and an umbrella were only 10 euros for the day. Plus the drinks, which were brought to you on the beach, were reasonably priced and very cold. We spent the day sleeping, reading, and swimming in the crystal clear waters. It was incredibly relaxing, and we could have easily have spent the rest of the holiday on this beach. But we had more exploring to do. 

In the evening, we picked up the bus from right outside the hotel, and headed to Ios Old Town, Chora. The town is a maze of little alleyways lined with cafes, shops and lots of bars. Most of the bars didn't open until late in the evening. During the day, Chora is a chilled out town with locals wandering around doing their business. In the evening, the backpackers take over and it becomes clubbing central. It was interesting to see both sides of the town and watch it change. 

During our walk around Chora, we visited The Windmills of Ios. Here there are 12 windmills which used to provide the energy for grinding grains for the entire island. Two of the windmills are restored whilst the rest are in various stages of decay. 

As the sun started to set, we headed out of the maze of alley ways and back to the main road and up a lot of stairs to Sunset at Ios Club. This super chilled bar has the best views of the sunset. 

Heading back into the Old Town after dark, we tried out a couple of the bars before deciding we're getting too old for clubbing and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. 

Our last day on Ios, we asked the hotel to book us a boat tour of the beaches. Most of the beaches in Ios can not be accessed by road so the only way to see them is by boat. The hotel did a superb job, booking us on a small tour (with just 2 other people) on the Ios Marina Services 4-hour beach tour. Stephano (or Steve as he introduced himself to us) was our captain, and it took us around the island in a speed boat, pointing out different points of interest and providing interesting facts. 

Our first stop was to an underwater sea cave where Steve provided us with snorkelling gear and let us jump off the boat to explore. It was difficult swimming conditions but the view below was worth it. There were so many fish and amazing to see the formations of the rock caused by volcanic activity. 

We then headed to the magical Tripiti beach. Only accessible by boat, we were the only people here for an hour before another boat came in. The beach was located in a secluded cove, and was the most picturesque beach either of us had ever seen. Steps up the cliff took us to sunbeds overlooking the turquoise waters. We spent a lot of time, sitting on the waters edge enjoying the peace and taking in the beauty. 

Back in the boat, Steve provided us with sandwiches and drinks, before dropping anchor at a number of other beaches and swimming spots, including a beach where we collected marble and quartz. The entire trip was much longer than the 4 hours but I think Steve was enjoying the beaches and swimming just as much as we were. 

We eventually had to come back to the harbour and after a drink in one of the many bars, we headed on the bus back to the hotel where we cleaned up and then headed back to Mylopotas beach for Mexican Tapas, live music and cocktails at Harmony. 

The next day, it was time to get the ferry to Naxos. The hotel arranged a transfer to the port, were we sat in one of the bars whilst we waited for our delayed ferry to arrive.