Sifnos Great Greek Island Guide & Colombian Itinerary Extraordinary

It's officially flip flop season in Europe so we took our first official dip in waters outside of Europe - Colombia.

Trawl any travel website and 99% of them will tell you this is the classic route around Colombia. Trust me, I just spent two weeks doing it. And look - there’s nothing wrong with the classics. No one comes to London and skips Big Ben. First timers can’t go to France and dodge croissants. However, (my boyfriend cancelled me for the overuse of but so there is a new adverb in town ladies and gentlemen) I beg you, especially when you are travelling long haul, to dig deeper when you are travel planning.

Why are you going all that way? What do you want to see, do, experience? What have you loved on previous trips and how can you incorporate it here? Do you and Karen (your neighbour who visited in 2015) actually have anything in common and hasn’t the world changed quite considerably since then *cough* *cough* covid? (Pun intended)

Travelling is a privilege. It isn’t hopping on a plane and box ticking with the masses. That will be illegal when I am King.

What am I getting at here… You are unique!! So shouldn’t your holidays be? Take the classic itinerary as a template and then add a little personality. A detour for an adventure, s-l-o-w d-o-w-n and unpack somewhere, detour to spot a new species, slow down and practise your Spanish, or a detour just to splurge on a couple of spoiling five star nights in a luxury hotel by the sea.

I hope the structure of the Colombia Travel Guide inspires, delights and works as a guide on how to take the Classic Itinerary and make it glow a little more you.

Confusingly, now I will open with a deep dive into the island paradise that is Sifnos, Greece.

The Ultimate Sifnos Guide (+Athens)

A couple of years ago I visited Sifnos for the first time. It was Spring and the tavernas had just opened fully for the season. We stayed 50m from the sea and paid €60 a night to Irini. Irini would appear each morning clutching two hard boiled eggs each for breakfast. Without Google Translate, we tackled the language barrier with smiles, frantic pointing and lots of big bosomed hugs.

Just back from a fourth summer of chickpeas, hiking and tzatziki, I thought it was high time I wrote up everything you might need to know if you found the time to travel to Sifnos. Sifnos is beautiful and even though word has definitely got out, it still carries a Mamma Mia charm that you might not find on other islands.

Logistics - Getting There

AIRPORT - The island is give or take 2 hours 45 minutes ferry from Mykonos (JMK) & Athens (ATH)

Athens:

Athens tends to have much more choice in flights as well as much cheaper options. It is always worth checking Mykonos, EasyJet can adhoc have some really cheap flights!

To get to Piraeus Port, you’ll want to leave an hour as Athenian traffic can be (inexplicably) terrible time to time. Once at the port, you only need show up for your ferry 45 mins prior to departure. So, I find getting an evening flight to Athens, spending the night at the Port (The Port Square Hotel is clean, around £120 a night, and in walking distance of the ferry terminal) and getting the first ferry to Sifnos means you arrive tired but you’ll be on the beach or in a taverna for lunch.

Mykonos:

The airport is only 20 minutes from the port but pre-book a taxi as there are very few on the island and you can never assume there will be a bunch of them mindlessly waiting for someone to drive around.

FERRY - Ferry Hopper is the best place for booking ferries. Pre Book, they sell out even outside of peak season.

Do not expect a luxury experience!! The ferries of the Cyclades aren’t an entirely civilised experience, even if you plump for the Business Class tickets, you’ll still find yourself in a crowd of sweaty, wheely suitcase wielding tourists being screamed at by crew when embarking and disembarking. Always a people watching highlight.

Logistics - On the Island

How you want to spend your time and where you decide to stay will massively impact how you might decide to tackle getting around the island. I would suggest deciding where you will sleep and then revisiting this section.

Taxis are expensive - approx €35/40 every time you get in one, regardless of distance. So if you are someone who likes having a car to explore, car hire would work out cheaper.

TAXI - Prebook your arrival taxi, there are only 7 on the island (billboards will tell you 8 but one died three years ago and they haven’t updated the information sheet)

+30 22840 31216, +30 694 4742652, or +30 694 4696409

BUS - The bus is a super reliable and incredibly cheap way to get around the island, especially if you are staying in Apollonia. If you are staying elsewhere, you’ll almost always have to go via Apollonia and change. Silver lining being that the bus stop is by a coffee shop that doubles up as a Greek sweet shop and in the latter you will find the baklava from the gods.

CAR HIRE - Rent from Aperent. Inexpensive way to get around the island but not essential if you are in the right area and the type of person who is happy in one base, bussing and walking.

MOPED HIRE - A really popular way of getting around the island. You can rent by the day if you don’t want the hassle of hiring a car you might barely use. There are loads of men called Yiannis renting bikes in Apollonia or Platys Gialos

FOOT - A bonus method of getting around! It won’t serve you for every journey but you could absolutely get a couple of days of new beaches, places, vistas out of your legs and not your hire car. More on this later…

Where to Stay

Apollonia

Pretty and white-washed, the islands capital has plenty going for it by way of restaurants, cafes, shops etc. and an easy base for day trips. The catch is you are nowhere near the sea - you’re around a 15 minute drive away from the islands best beaches. If you love exploring and wanted to see a new beach/village everyday with a bit of guaranteed nightlife*, this works really well.

*this is low-key, fun, bar hopping nightlife not heavy techno, drugs and 5am closing times

Platys Gialos

The longest beach on the island and the historic home of the Sifnos ceramics industry. The beach itself might not be the islands most beautiful but it’s lined with some of the islands best restaurants and a couple of great Greek tavernas. So you can have the best of both worlds - waking up by the water and eating at a new restaurant each evening.

Also worth flagging for beach enthusiasts allergic to cars on holiday (me) - you can walk to Christopigi in 30 minutes and Faros is only 15 minutes on around the headland. The bus to Apollonia is 20 minutes and hourly in season.

Faros

Faros is a cute fishing village which feels entirely Greek. With two beaches, a fish restaurant and a couple of more chi-chi ones, you could happily not leave this 200m stretch and get your Greek fix. Chrisopigi beach with two amazing tavernas is only a 15 minute walk away over the headland.

Kamares

People will tell you Kamares (the port) is a lovely place to stay. It is fine - if you have booked Kamares, you’ll have a lovely time. Personally, I would save myself sunbathing with the view, noise and pollution of enormous ferries arriving every other hour. Also, to get anywhere easily, you will need a car. Apollonia is 15 minutes away and the best beaches on the south of the island are over half an hour.

What to do

Beach

Apokofto, no sun beds so get here early with your towels to bag some shade under the trees. Two tavernas to enjoy (they’ll sell you beers you can take back to your towel and shade to drink) and the coffee shop 100m down the track from the car park is really very good. Poke your nosey face into Chrisopigi Monastery or do some bombs off the rocks on the left hand side of the beach.

Faros & Vicho are next door. Faros is a little more built up with Pelicanos Restaurant (sister to Cantina) serving chic cocktails and reimagined Greek dishes. Captain George for frappé coffee and Limanaki for fish. Vicho, is more sheltered and beautiful and under 5 mins walk away.

Platys Gialos, the longest beach on the island with a little something for everyone - beach bars, deck chairs for €10 for the day, Greek tavernas, boat hire etc. It is buzzy, busy and fun with plenty of space on the sand and in the sea to find your patch and conquer.

Vathy, a bit of a detour but lovely for a change of scene. There are bars and restaurants with deck chairs here so if you prefer a sun bed > stolen from the hotel towel, you may love it. Tsikali is the best place to eat.

Hike

Sifnos Trails is an amazing online resource of the hiking trails around the island. If you want to make the most of them, you’ll want to visit in Spring (wild flowers) or into September (warmer sea) so the sun doesn’t cook you. That said, there are some shorter ones that are rewarding if you can rise before the heat of the day picks up.

Trail 4 - Platys Gialos to Vathy is beautiful, wild and with a beach inaccessible by road half way (approx 4 hours). Head all the way to Tsikali for lunch at the end and get a taxi or the bus home

Trail 3 - Apollonia to Platys Gialos descends to the sea past donkeys, goats and monasteries (approx 2 hours 30 minutes). Beautiful in either direction, just this way around gives you a sea swim to finish!

Trail 2 - Kastro to Chrisopigi is a lovely way to see the terraced farms of the island with sea views and finishing at the best beach on the island for a swim and a well earned beer.

Nightlife

Apollonia for some bar hopping. Or, visit Kastro at sunset and walk out to the pic perfect Church of Seven Martyrs. After head to Kavos Sunrise Bar - remember to bring euros, he does not take card (approx age 300).

Other - Shop for Ceramics, E Bike or just eat…

Where to Eat

Platys Gialos - Omega 3 (pre-book), Yalos (pre-book), Mamma Mia (pizza), To Steki (Greek)

Kastro - Cantina (pre-book at least 6 weeks in advance), Captain George

Apollonia - Kafeneio Drakakis (Greek), Mamma Mia (pizza)

Faros - Limanaki Fish Tavern (order the lobster pasta if you have the stomach for it), Pelicanos (sister restaurant to Cantina)

Order Local

Sifnos Cheese - it’s like if goats cheese and feta had a baby. It’s delicious. Salivating thinking about it.

Revithatha (chickpea stew) - a local delicacy and a welcome break from calamari

Sleep

Platys Gialos £ - Blue Fish, Lodge Narlis, Irini Pension (ask for a new room and tell her Molly sent you)

Apollonia £ - Nostos Sifnos

££ - Gerofinikas Hotel, Verina Astra

£££ - NOS

top left and then clockwise; Blue Fish, NOS, Verina Astra & Nostos