Milos, Greece is the south westernmost island in the Cyclades group. It’s not quite as famous as say, Santorini or Mykonos but has not yet suffered the full brunt the negative impact that tourism can bring. You will find that English is widely spoken and it has all the facilities you will need to make a great stay. You will also find a rustic volcanic charm that makes Milos quite captivating. Beautiful beaches a spectacular rugged coast line and quaint white washed villages. Basically everything you look for on a Greek island.
The main tourist season starts mid June and runs through to the end of September. There is little to no rain in these months and the temperature will usually stay in the high twenties to mid thirties. Outside the main season transport options become less frequent and the wind gets stronger which can make the ferry crossings a little wild.
The months either side of the main season, October and May can be a good time to visit. It will be quieter and cooler but as I said above you will have to take a chance on the strength of the wind. July and August are the hottest months and the most popular with the tourist, both of which can be quite stifling. You may find it more difficult to find accommodation and a lot of the facilities such as buses may be closed or not in service.
Our choice would be September the temperatures are still good but not overwhelming the wind is still quite low and there are less people about. If you are planning to do a lot of hiking you may find it better to visit in the spring May or June when the flowers are in bloom and the temperatures are manageable.
You have a good number of choices when travelling to Milos the easiest being the ferry. In general terms the slower the ferry the cheaper the price. We used Ferryhopper to book our tickets online and to check on schedules and options and found it to be a very useful tool.
To get to the ferry ports you can fly into a choice of three international airports Athens, Santorini and Mykonos all of which have non stop connections with the UK, check Here for schedules and prices. Milos has it’s own national airport with regular flights from Athens which takes about forty minutes.
The ferry arrives into the port town of Adamas and is a great place to base yourself to explore Milos island. It has a good choice of accommodations and restaurants and although not the capital of the island it is the main transport hub with a bus services to the main points of interest. The fashionable choice would be Plaka the main town of the island. In the hills and a way from the coast it has a chic feel to it with trendy shops and restaurants which come to life in the evenings.
Pollonia a small fishing village in the northeast of Milos island away from the Bay of Milos is a quieter choice with a less touristed feel to it. It has public transport links to the main port and plenty of accommodation options and restaurants. There are smaller fishing villages such as klima all around the coast where it is possible to stay in a traditional Fishermans cottages called syrmata check out the Booking.com widget below for accommodation options around the island.
We stayed at Anita Rooms & Apartments just on the outskirts of Adamas, within walking distance of the beach and the town which worked out to be a good choice for us as we wanted to be close to the restaurants and public transport but also the beach.
Milos has paved roads so most areas are very easily reached. Public transport runs to the most popular attractions and towns on the island and a taxi service is also available. There are many car hire establishments in the main towns so if you want to visit the more off the beaten track parts of the island this could be a good choice shop around to get the best price, or book in advance here.
Milos Island has many great beaches all around the island the most popular of which are, Sarakiniko Beach – This beach only has a small area of coarse sand beach but makes up for it with its spectacular white rock formations. One of the most photographed spots on the island in our opinion this is a must visit. Buses run from Adamas and back in the main tourist season. Take a picnic and water if you are staying for a while as there is only one place to by food and drink and this is above the beach at the bus stop/ carpark area. It’s about a ten minute walk down to the beach. It also has some tunnels to explore but be careful if you go in they can be dark in places and the floor is uneven.
Tsigrado beach is a popular but small beach which is reached via a series of wooden ladders down through the cliffs it is beautiful and secluded but not for the faint hearted as the climb down is difficult and you will need a car to reach the access point. You will need to take everything you need down there with you as it has no amenities at all. Within walking distance of Adamas are the beaches of Adamas beach a small sandy beach backed by hotels and connected to the port and Papakino beach a long thin strip of sand with trees for shade and clear shallow waters popular with families and locals. This beach has a couple of restaurants with beach beds and umbrellas at a charge and plenty of space to lay down your towel if you don’t want to pay.
If your staying at Pollonia within walking distance you have the local beach named after the town, Pollonia beach is again a long thin strip of sand backed by trees with crystal clear waters . It has all the facilities a day at the beach requires and is easily reached. There are many other beaches to explore these are just a few. If you hire a car you can reach some of the many less accessible choices all around the coast.
One of the islands claims to fame is that of being the place the Venus de Milo was found. The statue, now in Paris, was found in pieces is in the Hellenistic style and is thought to represent Aphrodite. Christian Catacombs close to the village of Tripiti and discovered in 1844 are the first century christian catacombs and this is one of the biggest christians burial sites of the roman era. Unfortunately only a small portion of the site is open to the public but it is still well worth a visit. The tour only lasts about fifteen minutes but is very interesting. You can reach Tripiti on the bus from Plaka or Adamas or you can walk from Plaka as it is only about a kilometre to the site from the bus stop just follow the signs.
On the way down to the catacombs you will see the signs for the Roman Theatre, built in the hellenistic period third century BC, it’s well worth a visit it’s free to explore and is a good place to sit and relax and admire the view. Both sites sit above the picturesque village of Klima with is colourful fishing houses or syrmata as they are known on the island. It’s well worth a visit if you have the energy for the walk back up the hill. If you have hired a car all three sites can be reached by road.
Milos has been mined for it’s rich mineral deposits and you can see some of the remnants of the industry at Paliorema were the sulphur was mined and processed before being shipped for use in wine production. Its possible but not easy to get to the site by road down a rough track. The best way to see the ruined works are on a round the island boat trip as the boats come close to the shore to give you a good look as they go past. The Mining museum in Adamas has may exhibits and tells the story of the mining industry on the island this small but very interesting museum is well worth a visit if your passing.
High above Plaka on top of a hill sits the Venetian kastro or castle in English. Built in the thirteenth century it has long since been abandoned a series of white washed chapels now sit on the hill and the views are fantastic from the top, it’s well worth the short but steep climb to the top.
One of the most popular things to do on Milos is a boat trip around the island. You can do a full day trip or a half day depending on the weather. The full day trip goes right around the island and takes in the uninhabited island of Poliegos for a swimming stop. Shop around the harbour area in Adamas to get the best deal the are four boat operators with offices on the harbour front and countless operators selling tours directly from their boats. It seems expensive when you first get told the price but when you consider that they are all inclusive trips it doesn’t seem as bad.
We booked a full day tour of the island as we wanted to see everything we could . This trip is weather dependant, if the wind is strong they will only offer the half day trip around the more sheltered side of the island. Included in the deal were all meals an open bar which on our trip consisted of a cool box full of cans of Greek beer and a cool box full of bottles of water plus wine local wine served with the evening meal and raki afterwards.
The food was good the main meal served served late afternoon was a meze of local dishes probable the best examples of authentic local greek food we had all trip. You also get sweet treats and snacks throughout the trip we didn’t go hungry.
We stopped four times for an hour each time at four different swimming spots around the island most of which could not be reached any other way, we also got a small rib tour of the caves at Kleftiko which was amazing. The boats goes past all the main sites of the island, Mining villages, Klima, bear rock and the geologically formed islands with there hexagonal blocks similar to Staffa in Scotland.
My one regret about for trip was that it didn’t include Sikia cave which I really wanted to see, so make sure you do your homework and get everything from your boat trip you want as it’s quite expensive to go back and do it again.
The tours cost between ninety and one thirty euros for either the full or half day tours depending on the boat you pick and the number of people on the boat. Its a very good Idea to ask around and look at each boat and try and figure out where all the people will go when the boat is full as some of the boats are quite small and don’t look to have much space. We picked a big boat with few people and had plenty of space to move around and relax.
There are lots of choices for very pocket when it comes to eating on Milos. Most of the resturants in Adamas where we were based were collected around the harbour with a few in front of the beach which we used for lunch on the days we were topping up our tans. Most of the restaurants seem to have very similar menus nearly all selling meat fish our vegetable dishes in the local Greek style with the odd Italian dish thrown in for good measure. We found the fish choices to be quite disappointing as it was either fresh fish and extremely expensive or frozen seafood and not very appetising apart from that the food in the main was very good.
Plaka offers a more romantic option with the restaurants taking over the narrow streets at night the whole village seems to become one big outdoor festival of local food. One of the islands staple dishes is goat in lemon sauce which we had a few times and was always very tasty.
For a cheap street food type option if you don’t want to eat a sit down meal every night is a Gyros which is basically a cone shaped kabab with sauce and chips on the top. A good one is very tasty and at just a few euros is very good value. Drink options for us were usually local wine or beer which were both cheap and drinkable with a meal.
Milos Island is a wonderful choice if you want a relaxed authentic Greek feel but still have all the comforts to make your visit enjoyable. We would suggest a minimum stay of three days to be able to take in everything the island has to offer, although you will find that you will want to stay longer.
You can compare cheap flights on the Expedia platform or here on the Aviasales website. Both will give you a good idea of how much its going to cost you to get to your chosen destination.
We have always tended to use Booking.com having said that if your on a tight budget another good site to try as a comparison is Hostelworld, If your looking to compare different sites you can do that on Hotellook, we tend to look on here first to make sure we are getting the best deal.
You can book your visits as you go at the entrance to your chosen attraction or site. Or you could use the following links to book in advance or just to find out what your choices are in the area. GetYourGuide and Tiqets are our go to choices you could try Viator to see how they compare.
For a full list check out our resources page. Don’t forget always shop around to find the best deal for you. What works for us should be good for you but it’s always reassuring to check.
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