Syros

Ermoupoli

We couldn't tour the Cyclades and just do islands that we'd done already, we had to see somewhere new too. For this particular trip we'd chosen Syros as our new island and didn't really know what to expect. Beyond saying that the capital, Ermoupoli, was beautiful and interesting while not being particularly old, the guide books offered little insight. One totally rubbished the beaches, describing them all as "scruffy and not worth visiting" while others didn't really say much at all beyond Ermoupoli itself.

With that in mind we expected to spend all of our time there just wandering the streets of Ermoupoli, sitting by the harbour and climbing the twin hills up to Ano Syros and Vrontado. In the end we did do all of that, and discovered Ermoupoli to be one of the loveliest island towns we've ever visited, but also "discovered" the beautiful beach resorts of Kini and Galasas and the swimming lido below Ermoupoli's Vaporia quarter. We discovered so much to admire and love on Syros that it became our favourite Cycladic island, possibly our favourite island anywhere.

Kini

It seems to be relatively "undiscovered", and yet Ermoupoli has the greatest number of (decent quality) rooms to rent of anywhere we've been, and there was no shortage at the beach resorts either. Having no international airport, being a bit off the beaten track so far as the ferries go, and not getting great write-ups in many a travel guide means that its frequented only by those prepared to go the extra mile, or who have already discovered its charms.

We hardly heard an English voice all holiday (but a few Australian ones) and unlike on mainstream holiday islands, English (on menu boards for example) was not in evidence. It's also the first time in Greece I've had to communicate by pointing, and it did necessitate us having to learn one essential Greek phrase (that for "only cheese" as they so often also add ham to things such as omelettes or crepes, not good when you're a vegetarian)!

Another hectic day at Galasas

It was this aspect, the fact it was so "off the tourist map", along with its beauty, that really drew us to Syros. While places that rely on tourism for their income can be nice (or else who would go there?) you can eventually tire of the commercialism and the crowds. None of that applied on Syros, it basically seemed like a normal, working islands that was getting by quite nicely without tourism yet which had everything a tourist could want. It was a very "liveable" place. It was also cheap, again probably because it is catering more to its own people than to tourists. We got some very good meals here for a very reasonable amount of money!

While on Syros we stayed at the Hotel Ethrion in Ermoupoli, described here.