Gianni

My daughter is planning a 2 weeks trip to Athens (2 days) and then to AMORGOS (Cyclades)next August / September.

Anyone has inputs / suggestions for Amorgos' accomodations / restaurants / beaches / trips ...

Grazie, arrivederci.

Gianni P. (Milan, Italy)

viking

WHY AMORGOS?!? I just island hopped thru 13 islands around there and Amorgos seemed the only one with zero appeal. Didn't spend long there to try the walking trails there that the guidebooks recommend, but all impressions were bad. The port town was tiny and drab. The inland hill town looked austere and way less interesting than the other cycladic island hill towns (although only did a drive by). Went to one beach on a paid excursion, and they refunded our money after someone complained about it. If you like brown dirt hills with shrubs, there are a dozen nearby islands that are essentially similar but with villages that I found more appealing.

kleeblatt

Viking:

Could you post a trip report on your island adventure? I'd love to hear your opinion of the many islands you saw. Thanks!

Gianni

Hi Viking.

How long have you stayed in Amorgos?

I have read on italian travel magazines (several...) different opinion.

In any case: which is the islands you prefer?

Please, let us know!

Grazie, ciao.
Gianni

ps
My daughter and her boyfriend are looking for a place with no nightlife, not crowded, not heavely impacted by tourists.

Hania

I spent about 1 week on Amorgos several years ago and loved it there. The port is not where tourists stay. It is where you shop and bank. Most tourists take a bus to Aegiali on the far end of the island. The beaches are fine sand. There are lots of short and long hikes that can be taken. Apart from Karpathos and Nissiros, this island is one of the best to see traditional living. Many islanders were still using donkeys and the small village above Aegiali is very traditional. The town up the mountain from the port is a bit touristy, with nice shops, bars and restaurants. Hotel prices in May were cheaper than allot of other islands. Amorgos is one of my favourite greek islands and I have been to about 15 of them. It has what you are looking for.

endlessummer

My husband and I stayed on Amorgos last year for 3 nights and loved it. We went as it was the setting for the movie 'Big Blue' - I don't think it has changed much in 20 years since that film was made. It is VERY quiet with just enough restaurants to keep you going. I second Hania's post with the suggestion of staying in Aegiali. There is a long stretch of sand/beach on which to relax. We rented a car and drove from one end of the island to the next. There are many trails to walk, i wish we had time when we were there to do them. Since we love photography, we spent many hours taking pictures of the churches, cemeteries, buildings, etc. We also visited the Monastery of Hozoviotissa. The island is extremely peaceful, the kind of place you would go to write a book! We stayed at Grypsos Hotel which is located up the hill and is very, very quiet. It's about a 5 minute walk down into the town. The inland town mentioned mentioned by Viking is Hora and it is austere but there are some funky bars to be found there, believe it or not. Amorgos is the sort of island people go to get away from people, that's for sure. When we were wandering around Hora, we could hear the wind, it was that quiet. But did get some absolutely stunning pictures of the buildings against the blue sky.

Amorgos is very, very quiet and if that is what your daughter wants, then that is what she will get! If she wants to take trips elsewhere to vary it a little - we REALLY wanted to go to Folegandros but ran out of time - then the island is serviced by a variety of boats. The local ferry office in Aegiali listed far more boats/jets than were listed on the GTP or Danae website. She just needs to drop by and plan accordingly. This company runs jets to/from Amorgos:

http://www.seajets.gr/index_eng.html

Has she been to Santorini?

Heimdall

Gianni, don't be put off by viking's post. His visit to Amorgos was with easyCruise, which stops on each island for a day, and then sets sail overnight for the next. While I have no objection to the easyCruise concept, Amorgos is not an island which appeals to that type of visitor.

Jago

Sorry to interrupt...we're leaving for Greece in less than a week and we've made reservations for three nights on Amorgos. After doing some reading, I'd decided to stay in Katapola instead of Aegiali (and made reservations) but now, after reading this thread, I'm wondering if I've made a big mistake. Beach time isn't our first priority. We're more interested in walking, hiking (I know it will be hot!) and being somewhere relatively un-touristed. We do like being in towns. I had thought that Aegiali was more "resort-ish" and Katapola more like a "regular" town. Am I wrong about this?

Heimdall

I'll have to admit that Amorgos is still on my "islands to visit" list - hopefully next year. From my research I would agree that Katapola is more of a town, and there is more to see on that end of the island, including Chora, and the monastery that you see clinging to the cliff on so many photos of the island. Given your interests that would have been my choice too.

endlessummer

Jago - to be honest with you, the whole island is seriously un-touristed and there are trails from all the towns. It's a personal preference but I prefered Aegiali - I thought it had more charm over Katapola. However, both towns are very quiet - I'm sure you would be happy with either. Aegiali is certainly NOT resort like. It's very family oriented, probably because of the beach (which has a lovely promenade lined with some open air bars), but you still see men getting around on the backs of their donkeys! It has enough of a restaurant scene so that you can eat somewhere different every night but no rowdy bars or anything like that. Ferries call at both towns so it's not like you HAVE to stay in Katapola. As for the monastery, it's on the south side of the island anyway. We rented the car for something stupid like €30 for 3 days and drove the entire length of the island - it really isn't that big and most of the time we were the only car on the road. We visited the town above Aegiali and the only two people in the street were 2 orthodox priests arguing! Where are you booked to stay in Aegiali?

I have to agree with Heimdall that when I read Viking's comments, i thought "Easycruise" and my heart sank. I feel that the end is in sight for Amorgos. It's quiet because it's off the beaten track for most tourists - I fear that will end now.

rosetravels

DH and I spent two nights on Amorgos in 1981 and it was our favorite island. We stayed in the quiet town on the hill and rented a very primitive room. We had a great meal in a taverna in the evening, where I learned to love olives, and hiked and visited the monastery during the day. The hiking was great.

Probably most memorable is that next to the wall of our little room was a man who sat all day with a rock hammer chipping bigger rocks into smaller rocks. We weren't sure, but he appeared to be making gravel.

We loved Amorgos and hope to return some day.

Jago

Thank you for the help, endless summer. We're booked to stay at the Pension Sofia in Katapola. I guess we'll just rent a car and explore the island. Do you think it will be hard to rent a car once we're there? Is it something I need to take care of before I go? (We're leaving in two days!!!!)

endlessummer

Hi there - congrats on going to Amorgos, I hope you love it as much as we did! I really don't think it will be a problem to rent a car when you get there, we saw several of them sitting there when we went to pick ours up. Having said that, I don't want to make false promises so if you run into any difficulties or you want to pre-book, we did ours through our hotel:

http://www.grysposhotel-amorgos.com/

This hotel is run by a chap named Yiannis Gryspos, very friendly, speaks English. He met us in Katapola and then drove us to Aegiali. I notice on their website that you can click to book a car through them (pinky-purple box on right hand side)

Be sure to drive slowly on the roads to take pics of the goats!!

Good luck and say ahhhhhhh....!

endlessummer

I should have said that I imagine he would meet you off the ferry with your car - you wouldn't need to go to Aegiali!

That's if you get stuck. I imagine you'll want to rent in Katapola..

cristine27

Unfortunately i haven't been there yet but lots of my friends have visited Amorgos and most of them loved it. Some others didn't even like it. BUT everyone told me that Amorgos has one of the most beautiful Chora in Cyclades (the main town of the island).