Dear readers .. i just came from 3 days of holidays in the very beautiful island of Sifnos …….
Some info about Sifnos – ελλ. Σίφνος
Sifnos is the island of Apollo and it belongs to the Western Cycladic islands, close to Serifos, Kimolos and Antiparos.
There is no airport in the island, therefore the only way to get to Sifnos is to come with the boat (about 3 hours from Piraeus with the speedy boat).
They say there are as many churches in the island as the days of the year :)
The island is not very big – every location is about 10-15km from Apollonia, the capital of the island. In a couple of days you may have seen all of it. The West side and the north are pretty arid – Kamares is the most arid part of the island while on the easter side of Sifnos is full of olives, almond trees with lot of hillsides and valleys and a delicious smell of liquorice overall :)
Sifnos is famous for its night life and for the pottery. They say also for the food but honestly I cannot confirm it … apart from the loukoumades :)
What to see
The island is pretty small – in about 2/3 days you may visit most of the beaches and the main towns of the island – Kamares, Apollonia and Kastro.
Kamares is the port of the island and it’s about 6 km far away from Apollonia. There are nice shops and cafés while you are waiting for the boat
Apollonia – the amazing Chora of Apollonia is one of the most beautiful I saw. Actually all the island is very beautiful with all white washed and all renovated typical Cycladic houses. The main night life of the island is in Apollonia, with many nice restaurants and clubs. Lot of nice touristic shops (thought pretty expensive). In Apollonia you can have the most delicious “loukoumades” at 3 blond angels !!! don’t miss them :)
Kastro is a very beautiful medieval village – build on top of the cliff with amazing view to the Aegean sea and to Antiparos island. It’s about 5’ with the car from Apollonia. As Apollonia the main part is pedestrian therefore you need to leave the car and have a fantastic walk in this venetial town, with its fantastic mansions and 2 stores houses. In Kastro you may still find the old venetian walls of the fortress
Vathy Beach is about 10 km from Apollonia. It’s a very nice and cozy fishing village with a nice long beach (still not amazing waters) and the nice white monastery of Taxiarchis (Archangel). At Vathy you can find the very famous Elies SPA hotel with one of the biggest swimming pool you can find in Greece. There are nice tavernas, with tables on the beach – nice pottery shops and charming environment close to the monastery.
Faros is a cozy little fishing village, close to the famous church of Chrissopigi. It’s a nice bay, with sandy beach and nice ouzeries. Perfect place for a relaxing time :)
Platis Yalos Beach is the biggest beach of the island with golden and sparkling sand. It offers lot of facilities and you can also find free umbrellas J Waters are crystalline still not amazing (my personal opinion).
Heronissos is a small sandy beach located in the north of the island – about 15 km from Apollonia. The harbor is delicious, the water outstanding and here you can find the best tavernas ever !
Apokoftos Beach is located by Chrissopigi monastery. It’s a nice bay with sandy beach and nice tavernas.
Chrissopigi (golden fountain) is one of the most famous monastery in Greece. It’s located on a rock, connected to the mainland with a small bridge. The view of it is breathtaking, the place outstanding and it does not surprise me that it is one of the most famous place for Weddings and Baptism in Greece.
Let’s go to my trip
First of all I must say a HUGE thank you to our friend Kostas that came to our house to look after Pepe! As I already pointed out it is still quite difficult to travel with our pet friends in Greece :(
Secondly I must say THANK YOU to my friends Giannis and his wife Eleni that provided us with lot of info about the island, tips, what to see and what to do !
My daddy – after 1 year ! – decided to come back to Greece … and I spotted this island for his relaxing long weekend. Not too far from Athens and still very characteristic. Moreover my daddy is very young and adores night life -and Sifnos is very famous for his clubs and night life in general :)
Booked the hotels 2 months in advance ! and honestly I had serious problems to find an hotel since the policy of the island is to book rooms for at least 3 nights ….. and we were only staying for 2 nights …. booked the boat 2 months in advance … we were ready for our long weekend!
After a nice evening at my favorite restaurant in Athens and a small stop in Athens Casino (we had to, for my daddy … I hate these places …… ) at 7.30 am we were already on our boat – destination …. Sifnos !!!
The first impression was very positive – Kamares looked very nice :) – with a nice beach with umbrellas, nice shops and cafes :) . In about 10’ we arrived at our hotel – a very nice surprise since it was pretty cheap comparing to the average costs of the island, located in a perfect location – facing Kastro – with very nice rooms ! http://www.agnanti-sifnos.gr/
The first thing we did was to visit the nice Apollonia where I took the amazing pics you can find here below :) We had a nice walk there, booked the strongly suggested restaurant for the evening (usually overbooked) and then we left for Vathy for our first swim in Sifnos.
I must admit that Vathy and honestly all the beaches in Sifnos have been pretty a delusion to me … I mean clean waters but I was expecting to find the beaches of Mykonos, or the very close Paros or Naxos …. but it was not like that ….. Anyway we had lot of fun and my daddy spent hours in the water – that was my first objective.
During the night we went to Apollonia that honestly was very charming … with all its tavernas, clubs and nice shops of jewels, pottery and very expensive dresses :) Still the first dinner in the island in the very famous restaurant Odos Oneiron was a huge delusion and honestly pretty disappointing …. they not only forgot to bring us what we ordered (my daddy had been waiting for his vegetables that finally never came but have been charged) but even included in the bill things that we never ordered … like extra wine and extra beer …. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g189434-d1065154-r113353199-Odos_Oneiron-Sifnos_Cyclades.html They were very busy with a table close to ours where very famous VIPs were eating (people working in greek TV stations) and simply forgot about us …… Anyway we left this restaurant for our night life and we had delicious cocktails in Apollonia.
The day after has been dedicated to visit Platis Gialos beach, the very famous Chrissopigi Monastery, the close beach of Apokoftos and the amazing Kastro – ah I was forgetting that we also stopped to have the ever delicious loukoumades I ever ate at 3 blond angels (tris xanthi angeli) in Apollonia.
Apart from the monastery that is really breathtaking I was very much impressed by the beauty of the Kastro …. the nice mansions, nice clubs … the famous CUBA bar with its tables facing the Aegean Sea ….. and the breathtaking walk on the hill of the kastro with the venetian ancient walls …..
Last day I think was the best ever in Sifnos ! We decided first to visit Faros where we stopped to have a relaxing freddoccino :) Then we decided to explore the island and to go north and visit the nice (and far) fish village of Hersonnisos. It is a fantastic small bay, protected by the wind – with the most amazing waters of the island :) a small but nice beach and delicious fish tavernas were we enjoyed fresh lobsters !!!
Then we left to Kamares …. our holiday was over …… but we were happy .. tanned with lot of nice images and memories in our minds :)
Overall it has been a nice trip – Sifnos is a beautiful islands in terms of landscape & town – still pretty normal for beaches …… They say that it is also pretty famous for the quality of the food that honestly I found it very standard …. nothing comparing to the quality of food of Skopelos :)
If you almost visited most of the cyclades islands and you want to visit something new I recommend you to go to Sifnos – but if you are coming here for the first time I would rather recommend other islands (if you are looking for amazing beaches !) like Mykonos, Paros, Naxos, Koufounissi and Milos. I was told that Serifos is also very nice … need to plan a trip there :)
Ciao !
φιλάκια
Recent Comments