Nefeli Hotel

Ferry from Kos to Syros

by SWFC_Fan

During a Greek island hopping trip in May 2006, I found myself in the position of wanting to travel from Kos (in the Dodecanese islands) to Naxos (in the Cyclades islands).

The two islands aren't too far apart (perhaps 5 or 6 hours by ferry) and I assumed the journey would be a straight forward one. However, after checking the ferry schedules at the tourist office, it soon became apparent that there were no direct boats from Kos to Naxos (or neighbouring Paros). I enquired about this with the tourist office staff and they told me that, due to different ferry companies operating in different island groups, it wasn't always easy to find ferries from the Dodecanese islands to the Cyclades islands, especially outside the high season.

After a bit of research on the Internet, I found that I had a few options:

i) Take a hydrofoil to neighbouring Kalymnos (of which there are several each day) and then catch the early ferry to Piraeus (which operates a few days a week at 05:30) and stops at both Naxos and Paros. I didn't like the idea of having to be up so early in the morning.

ii) Take a ferry to Amorgos on the eastern edge of the Cyclades and then connect from there to Naxos. I didn't know how frequent the connections would be from Amorgos to Naxos and I didn't want to be stranded there for too long, so this was a no-go.

iii) Take the overnight Piraeus ferry, which stops at Syros en-route, and then make my way from Syros to Naxos. I opted for this latter option, and the following details were correct as at May 2006:

- I caught the "Blue Star 2" ferry which left Kos Town, from the port in front of the castle, at 21:15;

- The journey time was approximately 7 hours, and so I arrived at Syros at close to 4am. Even at this time in the morning, there were crowds of accommodation touts waiting for the boat's arrival;

- The ferry operates on the following route:

Rhodes - Kos - Leros - Patmos - Syros - Piraeus

- The cost of a one way ticket from Kos to Syros was 29.90 Euros.

NERANTZIA CASTLE / CASTLE OF THE KNIGHTS

by balhannah

The castle of the Knights of Saint John on Kos, was constructed with local stone and with the remains of previous constructions and buildings and was built during the occupation of the Knights, which lasted for over two hundred years.
Here, there is a stone Bridge crossing to the Castle. This is because the Castle used to be on an island, and the Bridge linked it with the main land. Today it is called “Phoinikon”, which means palm trees. The road below has an avenue of Palm Trees.
You have to cross over this bridge to reach the Castle and pay your entrance fee.

There are Four interior towers which are circular and are located in the four corners.
The Castle took a while to build, and it dates between the years 1380 – 1514.
The tower on the south was the largest, and still has gun ports, battlements and bastions on all the corners.
The oldest tower, the one on the left of the drawbridge, still has the blazons of Grand Master De Milly (1454 - 1461), and Grand Master De Lastic (1437 – 1454)
The interior is the oldest part, built in the times of of Sultan Bayazit. The exterior area was finished in 1514.
It is still possible to see a frieze depicting a number of garlands and masks from Hellenistic times.
There are great views from the Castle, especially of the Harbour area.

OPEN DAILY 8.30 - 3pm .......CLOSED MONDAYS
Admission in 2009 was....... 3 Euros

Waterside

by steventilly

The beaches in central Kos Town are nothing special - I'd regard them more as a "waterside" than as a beach. This is only to be expected I guess, as it's a busy little city and harbour. Various places do try to make something of this strip of sand though, with umbrellas and sunbeds for hire, and I suppose the views of the castle are nice. I'd be more tempted to head for Lambi or Psaladi a short walk in either direction along the coast though.

kos

by dila

"kos"

my first trip to greece was to Kos in 1991.
this is a very small island.
i stayed in Kos city.there were a lot of bars and a nice beach.but more to the north the water was more dirty,a lot of garbage next to the road and i even saw a dead dog near the road (but maybe this changed now)
on the east of the island there were spa's and a beach "paradise beach" you saw small fish swimming around.it was a very nice beach.and to the south there was a small city i liked,but i forgot the name.
warning dont take pictures in greece from militairy airbases you can get arrested and dont go from greece with a boat to turkye i think the greece will not let you in again.that was a warning i get there.
also on some places you cannot flush the toiletpaper,you have to trow the toiletpaper in basket/box?
you can make a boattrip to other greek islands.
and i went to a nice village in the mountains they make nice carpets there.
if somethings have changed,let my know