Ios

Introduction

Ios, Greece

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Ios is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades group, located in the central parts of the Aegean Sea. It's a rocky island halfway between Naxos and Santorini and has less than 2,000 people living on its 109 square kilometres surface. It's a popular tourist destination and some beaches nowadays are overcrowded like many of the other popular islands of Greece.

Sights and Activities

• Chora is the main village of Ios and very scenic with its small alleys and white-washed houses, though it has become quite touristy, especially crowded at night.
• Homer's tomb
• The open air theater
• Archaeological museum
• The Old castle (Paleocastro)
• The marina in the port
• The beach of Maganari, which is one of the most secluded.
• The beach of Mylopotas, which is the most famous on the island.

Weather

Ios has a very nice Mediterranean climate with warm, dry and sunny summers and mild but wetter winters. During the summermonths (June - September) it's mostly between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius during the day and 20-22 degrees Celsius at night. Winters last from December to February when it's about 13-16 degrees Celsius during the day and 10-12 degrees at night. Most of the rain falls from November to February, summers are almost completely dry.

Blue island

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Getting There

By Plane

There used to be seaplanes between Ios and Lavrio with Air Sealines but serves were suspended in 2007 and haven't resumed yet. It's best to fly to Crete or Mykonos or a few of the other islands mentioned below (by boat) and take an onward ferry or fast boat/catamaran.

By Boat

There are at least four daily connections with Piraeus (seven hours), Paros (2½ hours) and Naxos (1¼ hours). There are daily boats to Santorini (1¼ hours), five-weekly boats to Sikinos (30 minutes), Folegandros (1½ hours) and Anafi (three hours) and four weekly boats to Syros (2¾ hours). There are three boats weekly to Milos (3½ hours) and Mykonos (seven hours), two boats weekly to Kimolos (2½ hours), Sifnos (five hours), Serifos (six hours) and Kythnos (8½ hours).
One boat goes to Amorgos on Saturday (2½ hours).
Check the Greek Travel Pages for an impression about companies, schedules and prices, as the choice is very wide. Or check the Greek Ferries website or another one about Ferries between islands in Greece.

Apart from the regular ferries, there are faster but more expensive boats and catamarans:
There are daily catamarans to Piraeus (5½ hours), Santorini (40 minutes), Naxos (one hour), Paros (1½ hours), Mykonos (two hours) and Heraklion and Rethymno on Crete (2½ hours).

Sleep