Ios

About Ios

By the ULTIMATE Athens City Guide Editorial Team

Famous for its lively nightlife and long golden beaches, Ios also has a lovely hilltop Chora of windmills and chapels, a Bronze Age settlement and the tomb said to be Homer’s.

The back story

Ancient tradition held that Homer, the poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey, died and was buried on Ios, and a site in the north of the island at Plakotos is still pointed out as his tomb. Whatever the truth, the story gave this small island a special place in the Greek imagination.

Ios has been inhabited for thousands of years. At Skarkos, on a hill near the port, archaeologists have uncovered an Early Bronze Age settlement with streets and two-storey houses, one of the best preserved of its time in the Cyclades and now open to visitors. In the 1970s Ios became a favourite of young backpackers, the start of its reputation as a party island.

In the 1970s Ios became a favourite of young backpackers, the start of its reputation as a party island.

Chora

Chora rises above the port of Gialos, a classic Cycladic village of white houses and blue doors, with a line of windmills on the ridge and dozens of chapels. By day it is quiet and photogenic; at night its lanes turn into one of the liveliest bar districts in the Aegean, especially in July and August. Climb to the church of Panagia Gremiotissa at the top for the view, and visit the open-air theatre named after the poet Odysseas Elytis.

Beaches

Mylopotas, a long golden bay below Chora, has watersports, beach bars and tavernas, and is the island’s social hub. In the south, Manganari is a series of sandy coves with clear water, reached by road or by boat, and the more remote beaches of the east coast, such as Agia Theodoti, are quieter. Outside the peak weeks Ios is relaxed and surprisingly peaceful.

Getting there

Ios has no airport. The quickest route from abroad is to fly to Santorini and take a ferry, which takes under an hour on a fast boat. From Piraeus, high-speed ferries take about four hours and conventional ferries about seven, arriving at Gialos. Ios is easily combined with Santorini, Naxos, Paros and Folegandros.

Ios at a glance

Ferry times are typical and change with the season, the boat and the number of stops; check current timetables with the ferry companies or Ferryhopper before you travel.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ios before you go.