Island guide · Samos
To dikó mas Sámos · the Samos we know
Not a top ten from the internet. This is what we do ourselves when we are on the island: where we swim when the meltemi blows, which mountain we climb before it gets too hot, and when the village dances until four in the morning.
Swimming
Samos has no deserts of sand but pebbles and clear water. Which beach is best depends mostly on the wind. If it is blowing hard from the north, head for the south coast.
5 minutes
The village beach, within walking distance. Pebbles, clear water, and kitesurfers at the end of the bay once the wind picks up. Handy for a swim before breakfast or after a day in the mountains.
10 minutes
Two bays slightly further west, closed in by pines and rock. Tsamadou is the finer of the two and the deepest blue. Go early, because the car park fills up around eleven.
When the wind is up
When the meltemi hits the north coast, the other side of the island is often perfectly still. Half an hour of driving and you are swimming in a mirror.
For snorkellers
Around the headlands between the bays there are small outcrops with a surprising amount of fish. Bring water shoes, the pebbles are round but the rocks are not.
On foot
Samos is greener than most Greek islands: pines, cypresses, vineyards and springs. The best months for walking are April, May, September and October. In July and August you walk only early in the morning, and always with more water than you think you need.
The classic
Through the Aïdonia valley, the valley of the nightingales, up to the mountain village of Manolates. Shade along the stream, a solid climb at the end, and at the top a village with small ceramics shops and a view over the coast.
Gentle
A short loop from the wine village of Vourliotes to the Panagia Vrondiani monastery, the oldest on the island, founded in 1566. Mostly along old paths between the vineyards.
Refreshing
On the west side near Karlovasi you walk from the beach through a gorge to small waterfalls and pools. Partly through the water itself, so wear shoes that can get wet.
Demanding
Ampelos rises above the north coast and is the gentler of the two. Kerkis, in the west, is the highest mountain in the region and a serious day out. Only in clear weather and with proper boots.
Eating & drinking
Kokkari has a row of tavernas at the water where you eat well. But the evenings you remember are usually the ones up in the villages, where it is two degrees cooler and the bill is lower. Our own addresses are further down this page.
By the sea
Fresh fish, octopus drying on the line, and tables so close to the water that your feet get wet when a boat goes past. Walk the row and look for where the Greeks are sitting.
In the mountains
Two villages twenty minutes away by car, each with a square under plane trees. Vourliotes sits in the middle of the wine country, Manolates clings to the mountainside with a view down to the sea.
Drinking
The sweet muscat wine is protected and famous the world over, but the island also makes a dry white that suits fish far better. At the cooperative you can taste and buy.
Breakfast
Fresh bougatsa, spanakopita and bread from the wood oven. One of our habits: swim first, fetch breakfast afterwards.
Through the year
A panigiri is a village festival around a saint's name day: church first, then tables on the square, music and dancing deep into the night. On Samos that music sounds different from the Cyclades. Because of the refugees from Smyrna who settled here after 1922, you also hear the santouri and dance the karsilamas and the zeibekiko. Anyone may join a table. That is not politeness, that is the whole point.
The biggest festival of the year, on a date that moves from year to year. Midnight mass, fireworks over the villages, and lamb on the spit the next day. Come in these weeks and you see Samos at its most Greek.
One of the largest panigiria on the island, in the mountain village twenty minutes away. Go late, because not much happens before midnight.
In Pythagorio the sea battle of 1824 is re-enacted with a burning boat in the harbour and fireworks above it. Elsewhere on the island there are smaller festivals on the same day.
The Assumption of the Virgin, after Easter the most important day of the year. That evening there is a festival in almost every village on Samos, Kokkari included. Book early if you want to come this week.
It starts in the small villages and ends in Samos town: you buy a cup and have it refilled as often as you like. Music, dancing and a great deal of muscat.
The monastery above Vourliotes celebrates its name day. Tradition has it that the first autumn thunderstorms arrive with this festival, and that is where the monastery gets its name.
Grapes in September, olives from November onwards. The island smells different then and the villages fill up with crates. The quietest and perhaps the finest time to come.
For our guests
We do not share this part of the guide publicly. It is about people we know personally, and about places small enough to be ruined by crowds. Guests get the key when they book.
We do not know that key. Check your confirmation email or send us a message.
No key yet? You get it from us as soon as your booking is settled. Request a stay.
Below is what we would normally tell you at the kitchen table. One request: keep it roughly within the family.
Worth knowing