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Pro
No mass packages
Con
Difficult to get to.
In a nutshell
Patmos, one of my favorite Greek islands
Monastery of St. John the Theologian
sandysmith Says: You cannot fail to see the imposing Byzantine fortress like structure of the Monastery guarding over Chora - it dominates the island. It was founded in 1088, by Ioannis Christodoulos. Its position atop the hill and its walls are testament to the danger of invading turks. The...
sandysmith Says: To the eastern side of Chora is Zoodochos Pigi (means “life giving source”) and is the second most populous convent on the island, after Evangelismos.The Convent of Zoodochos Pigi, was founded by the monk Parthenios Pankosta, under the patriarch Timothy the 2nd in 1607 and...
sandysmith Says: Take the bus from Skala to the old town of Chora and visit the monastery - its free to enter but please respect the dress code - no shorts and skimpy tops allowed. Apart from its Christian connections the building of the monastery is lovely to see and its many beautiful...
sandysmith Says: Instead of taking the bus back walk down and vist the cave, some 2.5 km from Skala - half way down the hill from the monastery. An old stone donkey path goes down to the Cave of St John and carries on down to Skala - a great way to see the island views. The Cave is where the...
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At the end of the palms...: Scala Sea Food
crazyman2 Says: My wife wanted to swim whilst I just wanted to relax in the shade and read a book. So, we took the tender from our ship and walked to the right, where there is a log line of palm trees. There were several places to eat on the way but we decided to walk to near the end of the...
Traditional Pastry Shop: Local Bakery
sandysmith Says: In Skala are a couple of good bakerys where you can buy fresh bread and traditional Patmos Pies - cheese - and other tasty sweet goodies. I loved the signs on the shops too - signs everywhere were of a similar design, typifying Patmos Island. There was one near the harbour...
sandysmith Says: Just across from Pantelis is a creperie, with a couple of outside table and chairs, that did delicious freshly made to order banana, chocolate and biscuit crepes. (4 euros) We had one each big mistake and they were big and very filling. Best to get some ice cream from the...
sandysmith Says: Just set back from the end of the harbour road is this Fish Taverna. We had a very enjoyable dinner here - a little bit more expensive than Pantlis but had the tastiest fresh squid I've had for a while. Good selection of main courses, traditional Greek, fish and chicken...
Helpfulness
This appeared to be the local kafeneon in the square in Skala. We frequented this place every night we were on Patmos and enjoyed the locals company.
I remember Nick getting so drunk one night here, he couldn't walk up the steps to our room and kept falling backwards!!
We were given BBQ'd little fish here, gratis. I think this was the first time we had ever seen a BBQ helped on it's way by a hairdryer !!! It amused us at the time but now we have seen this frequently.
Updated Apr 1, 2006
Address: Skala, Patmos
sandysmith Says: Patmos does not have an airport so all arrivals will be by sea - there are several options as it is on the main ferry and hydrofoil route through the Dodecanese:there are daily ferry sailings from the E1 gate at Piraeus, Athens by Dane Sea Lines and Blue Star Ferries on the...
sandysmith Says: There is a bus service on Patmos to Chora, Grikos and Kampos - the main areas. Mostly reliable - fares about 1.5 euros per person - may be delays when cruise ships are in are the bus is doing a school run! Timetables are posted near the main ferry harbour where there is a...
Helpfulness
In 1985 Skala's banking facilities consisted of changing money in a drinks shop. A nice idea that the whole process is so frought you simply must indulge in a bottle or two to get over the usually long-winded proceedure!!!
Now, I read, there is even an ATM. Whatever next???
What to buy: Personally I don't go to places like this to shop. I'm sure the up-market shops are overly priced, ready and waiting for the wealthy cruise ship occupants.
What to pay: Whatever the shopkeepers think they can take you for.....
Written Mar 30, 2006
Address: Skala, Patmos
Cover thy knees and shoulders!
HotRodEtte Says: When entering the grotto or the monastery, just like most churches or religious buildings in Greece, make sure your knees and shoulders are covered! I had shorts on and had to wrap a towel around my waist in order to keep my knees from showing. The local people will...
Helpfulness
The usual "trip" for the cruise tourists, while on the island, is something like:
Port --> Monastery --> Grotto --> Port (and to the ship)
So the taxi drivers (or some taxi drivers at least), trying to make the best (the most) of every cruise ship's visit, they take people from each spot to the next one. ie they take you from the port to the monastery, leave you there while they take another passenger to the grotto, where they leave him to take another to the port, and then they come back to the monastery (you already have seen the place and you are ready to leave) to take you to the grotto etc. This is how it works. At the same time they take three different passengers and of course they are paid triple money.
Fair enough, but this is a bit difficult to understand for someone who knows that "I take a taxi, I ask the driver to take me where I want, and then I pay the relevant fare".
So, either you deside you have no problem with that and you just follow the drivers "trip", or, you should discuss this with your driver from the beggining before getting in his car and, probably, hire another taxi. This will save your good mood.
Written Sep 8, 2006
Phone: Patmos taxi : 22470 31225
southeys Says: Great excitement on the car ferry "Spirit of Samos" from Samos to Patmos when we sighted dolphins in the sea. We were making the trip in September of 2009. Three of them paced the boat for about fifteen minutes then drew ahead and disappeared. I tried to take some...
sandysmith Says: Patmos has several other beaches many small coves, not always sandy - the best one is at Psili Ammos in the south but its also one of the most difficult to get to. Boats sometimes go from the port of Skala or its possible to hike there from Grikos in about 1+ hour, passing...
sandysmith Says: We took a taxi to Kampos village not a lot there the usual church and couple of tavernas. We ad a drink in one - several items were off the menu and the waiter had us in stitches with the way he shook his head when we asked for something they didn't have so it was just a...
sandysmith Says: Our last morning in Patmos and we took anther short taxi ride to Grikos - some 5 km south east from Patmos town (Chora). A lovely little harbour and narrow sandy beach here, well organised in summer with hotels/apartments and tavernas here to enjoy. We sat and watched the...
sandysmith Says: The strange honeycombed Rock of Kalikatsou also known as Petra (Greek for 'stone') - hence the name of the beach which separates it from the coastline. The ancient inhabitants of Patmos worshiped the goddess Selini (the ancient Greek name for the moon), and it is believed...
sandysmith Says: A short walk along from Grikos is Petra beach - a very pebbly beach but well organised (but deserted in October) and fine view of the rock of Kalikatsou (See next tip) There is also a small marsh which is a place of exceptional natural beauty where, wintertime, swans,...
Patmos is the northernmost of the Dodecanese Greek islands Roughly the shape of a sea-horse, it measures little more than 39 km2, boasting a coastline of 65 km and a N-S long axis of 12 km The main...
Patmos, the island of the Apocalypse
In this tiny island, Saint John the Evangelist experienced his apocalyptic vision of the Second Coming of Christ. In a cave he was inspired by God the Father to write the Book of Revelation. Around......
Time was marching on and it was time to move again. Next port of call, Patmos. We finally managed to catch the evening ferry from Leros to Patmos, arriving at Skala port, after a 2 hour journey,...
Build your own Patmos page
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