Travel stories from the World: Visiting Samos, the island of Pythagoras

Blue and green waters

This summer, after quite a few years I decided to visit the island of Samos. It is located on the Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish coast (actually the closest point is 1.6km straight line).

The island is unique and much different than the rest of the famous Greek islands of Cyclades as it is covered with forests and has waterfalls and vineyards on the sides of its two mountains, Kerkis and Karvounis. Easily accessible by boat and plane from Athens and Thessaloniki but also with direct flights from many European cities during the whole summer.

Ano Vathi

The base of our exploration was Samos town. Not the most historic town of the island, still beautiful, rich with history and the capital. The city has been historically split into 2 different large neighborhoods, the village of Ano Vathi and Samos town. Ano Vathi retains its beautiful architecture, village atmosphere with narrow alleys and traditional architecture. Built on a hill it requires good fitness level to climb from the sea level but certainly the visitor is rewarded by the magic view and traditional architecture. If not fit enough there are roads to reach the top by car or taxi. The church of Ai-Giannakis is a good spot, especially in the sunset.

Gagou beach

The rest of the town is built around the port and is where the market, the bars and cafes are located. In the area behind the old Xenia hotel (an abandoned building that one cannot miss) lies a beautiful square, the city hall and the archeological museum where the largest Kouros that has been found in Greece is on display. It's certainly worth a visit. Near the port there is a row of beautiful bars built on large balconies of old mansions right on the sea. After a long day on the beach it worth visiting for a refreshing cocktail or even better a glass of local sweet wine (vin doux)!

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Near Vathi there are only a couple of beaches accessible on foot, the best one being Gagou, a small bay fully organized with umbrellas, sun beads etc. This year we encountered a pleasant surprise, a seal (monachus monachus) that was sitting among bathers! On the eastern side of the island there is a seal colony but apparently this lonely, young one left the herd and found comfort among people. The locals gave her a name – Argyro- and in the summer of 2014 it visited several of the busy beaches of the island. Next to Argyro, almost always, members of the Greek organization “Archipelagos” sat making sure that curious visitors did not come too close to her, fed it and bothered it. Hopefully she will find her way to the rest of her herd.

Manolates village

Pigi Pnaka

Samos is a big island with bad public transportation (that's true for most of Greece) which makes renting a car a necessity. We did so and started by visiting the villages, Manolates and Vourliotes. Built on high altitude they offer unparalleled views of the Aegean Sea and unique architecture, cobbled stone alleys and taverns lying below vineyards. On the village of Manolates many artists produce and sell their work. You can even see art on the making! Although both villages offer excellent taverns, my recommendation is a very special one built right next to a spring called "Pigi Pnaka". On the way to Vourliotes there is a sign on the main road some 2km before the village. Follow it and it leads to a quiet place, under a huge platanus and next to a spring. The view is breathtaking. As of 2014 it is run by two very friendly Greek guys who cook excellent local food. Don't miss the staffed pumpkin flower and the local chickpea-balls which you can wash down with some souma, a spirit produced on the island.

Good beaches (but way too touristic for my taste) in the proximity of the above mentioned villages are Tsabou and Tsamadou. It seems that few locals ever visit any of those but if you have seen pictures of Samos beaches, the chance is that it is one of those two.

One of the reasons Tsamadou beach is so popular, is that is it lies within walking distance from Kokkari, one of the two main touristic places of the island (the other one being Pythagorion). Whatever you have in mind as a touristic stereotype you will find it there: Greek traditional music and tourists dancing around it, colorful drinks with little umbrellas, plethora of hotels, etc. Nice place and definitely worth visiting both day and night.

Kokkari by night..

Most loved by foreigners on the island is the village of Pythagorion, on the south-east side of the island. Full with taverns, cafes, bars, hotels, souvenir stores and right next to the airport it offers a convenient base to explore the island. Unique are the taverns that offer food right on the beach. Cannot comment on the food as I have never sat there but please leave a comment if you have!

Vourliotes main square

Definitely worth visiting close to Pythagoreion are the Tunnel of Eupalinos and the monastery of Panagia Spiliani (literally: Virigin Mary of the cave). The tunnel of Eupalinos is an ancient aqueduct built through the mountain in order to bring water to the ancient city of Pythagoreion from the other side of the island. The main accomplishment is that construction began on both sides of the mountain and engineers met somewhere in the middle only a few meters apart. Must have been an amazing engineering achievement at the time! The monastery of Virgin Mary of the cave is a nice Greek Orthodox monastery built next to a natural cave in which a tiny church is built.

Statue of Pythagoras

Second biggest town of the island, is Karlovassi on the western side. A modern place with a few University departments is more of a student town than a tourist destination. Still worth visiting and best combined with the Potami beach a few km to the west. Before you dive to the sea, make sure you visit the waterfalls that are located right behind the beach. Bear in mind that even in the warmest summer day, the water on the waterfalls will be freezing cold. When entering the small valley there are a number of waterfalls leading all the way up to the mountain (the visitor can climb few first of them). Few years ago there used to be ropes leading from the 1st to the 2nd, the 2nd to the 3rd etc. In the summer of 2014, those were gone so it makes it pretty tough to climb and that's why most visitors will just see the first one.

With no road access, a few km to the west from Potami beach lies Megalo Seitani, a beach where the monk seals reproduce (and that is probably why access to the beach is difficult). Definitely worth a visit both for the beach and the hike.

One of my favorite villages and rather isolated, is that of Platanos. Few km away from Karlovassi (still on the western side) and in high altitude offers unique view and a number of good taverns.

Poseidonion with Turkey in the background

Finally, I could not leave out my favorite beach on the island, Kerveli. I remember we used to go there when I was a kid and there was nothing but a single house and a military post. Now hotels are taverns have been built making it a lot noisier. Still, the few trees offer shadow under which one can always put their towel and there are no umbrellas and sunbeds. A short drive away is the village of Poseidonion, which is the closest point to Turkey with also lovely waters and a couple of taverns.

For the more adventurous

Church bell of Panagia Spiliani monastery

The unique, mountainous, topography of the island offers the chance to engage in alternative activities like hiking, mountain biking and cycling. Most of the paths are well maintained and signed. A few I can recommend as I have completed myself:

Stavrinides - Manolates (or the opposite): A rather easy hike around 3km
Agios Kostantinos - Vourliotes: Starting from sea level and reaching 350m after 6km it requires some level of fitness for the way up. Still a beautiful hike crossing creeks and almost always walking under the shadow of the trees
Pandroso - Top of Karvounis Mountain: A rather difficult hike as the path is not clean and is extremely steep at points. For the fit enough, it will take you from this beautiful village to the top of the second tallest mountain, where a church and a couple of strange constructions lie. Getting down is a lot easier
Drakaioi - Megalo Seitani: Beautiful hike, will take you from the most remote village on the island to the beach where the seals reproduce. Long but not difficult hike. It’s easy going and slightly more difficult coming back as the village is up on the mountain

Sunset in Aegean Sea

Popular with locals and foreigners is cycling. A good tour is starting from Pythagorion, moving westwards towards Karlovassi, from there on the north side all the way to Vathi and back to Pythagorion. During the summer make sure you start early as it can get pretty warm quickly.

Thank you for reading!