697 Best Sights in Greece

Kilometer-long Mars-red sands sheltered by bright-white cliffs make this one of the most distinctive shores on the island. It's also the most popular, in part due to shallow waters that make it especially good for families. Its popularity also means that it's well catered for, with a number of excellent restaurants and bars having sprouted on its fringes. Umbrellas and sun beds dot the shore. Good access and a mix of water sports and plenty of children ensure this is one of the noisier shores on the island. It can be reached by bus from Lixouri. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee). Best for: swimming.

This beach doesn't have the best of reputations, but it doesn't lack for amenities. Umbrellas and sun beds scatter practically every inch of sand (and cost extra); there's water sports, bars, restaurants (including a popular souvlaki eatery), a children's water park, and cabins where you can change. It's also very busy, often to its detriment. Varkiza is also popular with windsurfers and waterskiers. Amenities: food and drink; free parking; water sports. Best for: walking.

Filoti is the starting place for several walks in the countryside, including the climb up to Zas Cave where obsidian tools and pottery fragments have been found. Mt. Zas, or Zeus, is one of the god's many reputed birthplaces; on the path to the summit lies a block of unworked marble that reads Oros Dios Milosiou, or "Boundary of the Temple of Zeus Melosios." (It is thought that Melosios, is a word to do with sheep.) The islanders say that under the Turks the cave was used as a chapel, and two stalagmites are called the Priest and the Priest's Wife, who are said to have been petrified by God to save them from arrest.

The busiest of the villages in the Asfendhiou area is Zia, with its appealing smattering of churches and craft shops selling local honey, weavings, and handmade soaps. There is also a so-called traditional nature park—really a petting zoo where kids can feed goats, donkeys, and bunnies. Buses run here five times a day direct from Kos Town in summer, and thus the commercialization of the village has skyrocketed in recent years. But one thing the crowds can't take away is the views, with a handful of open-air tavernas, such as the excellent Oromedon, offering a fine vantage point for the village's coveted sunsets. It also makes a good base for walks in the surrounding countryside.

This is, in fact, two beaches split by a verdurous little peninsula. On the right, the larger beach offers a day of relaxation away from the cosmopolitan crowds, with few amenities other than the beautiful water. You can rent sun beds and umbrellas from the local taverna (June–September). On a clear day you can see all the way to Nafplion. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: solitude; swimming.

The Orthodox cathedral of Mykonos is dedicated to the life-giving spring of the Virgin Mary, as its icon was found inside a well ("pigadi"). The church is also known as Angelohtismeni---built by angels; however, more prosaically, it was probably founded in the 1600s.

Athenians flock here for the piroshki, a Russian turnover filled with spicy ground meat, but leave carrying bags filled with all types of baked goods, from baguettes and hearty peasant loaves to honey-drenched cakes. A branch of this historic bakery (founded in 1910) recently opened right in the center of Athens, on Ermou Street, a few yards away from the Greek Parliament.