Hotel Ethrion

When we visited Syros we stayed at the Ethrion, primarily because it gets decent reviews on Tripadvisor and at the time was ranked their 4th best hotel on Syros.

I can say with all honesty that we weren't disappointed. The hotel fulfilled all our needs, having a large, comfortable room and being conveniently close to the port and town centre. It also had a balcony with a decent view, though I think what view you get depends on which room you end up with.

A Room With A View

The price was good too - only €40 per night for the period we visited, making it by far the cheapest place that we stayed during our entire holiday. Part of the reason for that could be the style of the hotel. It is very much "no frills", offering none of the services you might usually associate with a hotel - no pool, bar, public rooms, breakfast, safe, not even a reception. To contact the owner you have to knock on a door on the road the hotel is on and hope that he is in. If he isn't, someone else (another family member) will phone him for you. It can all seem quite strange, and may not suit those who are not used to independent travel.

The fact there's no breakfast isn't a huge problem, there are tons of good breakfast places in Ermoupoli (we ate out every time) or you could construct your own to have on the balcony or in the garden. The room has a large (and very good) fridge, so buying stuff and keeping it fresh is no problem.

Breakfast at Cotton Fresh

As I said earlier, the room was comfortable, spacious (the largest of our holiday) and clean. It was so large in fact that the aircon unit, which was at the opposite end of the room to the bed, was almost far enough away to be quiet at night. Every other hotel's unit was so close to the bed that it kept us awake at night. Little things like this make all the difference!

Ethrion Bedroom

The bathroom had a shower with a curtain that actually worked in preventing the floor getting wet (quite a rarity in the Greek islands), although it did have the obligatory "wires sticking out of the wall" - a hotel isn't a hotel in Greece without this "feature". What public areas there were consisted of a very pleasant garden with the most beautiful smelling flowers. We always knew when we were approaching "home" because we could just smell the garden!

Ethrion Garden

Getting to the hotel could be tricky if you're old, infirm or just plain unfit. It's set up a street that has a lot of steps in it (a typical feature of Ermoupoli) and although there is a way to get there that doesn't involve quite so many steps, the easiest way to locate it is straight up those steps! It was fine during the holiday, but seemed an awful long way while dragging two suitcases!

George the hotel owner was a very friendly and helpful man and sorted us out with plenty of ideas for things to see and do, drawing good walking routes on the town map and pointing out the best of the beaches to visit. He'd have no doubt been able to suggest eating places too, but we really like to find our own, especially with us being vegetarian.

Next time we come to Syros it's highly likely that we'll stay here again, we really loved it.

Ano Syros

Ano Syros

Ano Syros was the original settlement here, built high on a hill (the western or left-hand of the two hills) in typical "chora" fashion and topped with a kastro as a defence against pirates. The street patterns are typical of other defensive villages found in the Cyclades, with narrow winding streets, passageways and arches that provide both places to hide and places that are easier to defend.

The very top of the hill is crowned by Saint George's Cathedral, which belongs to the catholic faith of the Venetians who originally populated Ano Syros. This is a strong, imposing structure that no doubt doubled as the last line of defence for the village.

As Ermoupoli grew, particularly after the war of independence, it became swallowed up by the city as a whole, but the district has maintened its primarily catholic population.

While all of Ermoupoli is pretty and elegant, Ano Syros still stands out, deriving a real old-world charm from its architectural style, the pretty pastel coloured houses with their ancient wooden doors & windows offering visual treats around every corner.

Undoubtedly the two best things about visiting Ano Syros though are the absolute peace and tranquility of the place and the views you get  from up there. Looking over the rest of Ermoupoli, over the harbour or out into the surrounding countryside it's a fascinating and beautiful view whichever way you look.

Looking over the western end of town

The harbour: Ithaki comes in while Kenteris II is docked.

The barren countryside behind Ano Syros

There are things to see and places to visit within Ano Syros. There's a kafenion or two, a taverna, a couple of museums and several churches and monasteries.

We're not really big on visiting museums, we prefer to be outdoors and admiring architecture and views rather than inside looking at displays of antiquities.

St George's Cathedral

We poked our head inside the cathedral of St George and visited one of the kafenions for a refreshing drink (after the climb up here, you'll be needing one!). It was from the panoramic terrace of the kafenion than many of the photos of Ermoupoli and its harbour were taken.

We didn't count how many steps we had to climb to get to the top, nor did we measure the actual height to the top. All we know is that it's a long, hot climb but one that we managed without too much difficulty, being fit, active people.

It's probably best to go before the sun is at its strongest, and if you're not up to he climb it may be best to take a Taxi. A road does go to the outskirts of the village, though the actual centre is traffic free (and impossible for cars anyway).

We really enjoyed our walk up to Ano Syros and back, and we'll make the journey again next time we go. Somewhere on the climb up is supposed to be a cemetery that contains some British war graves from a troop ship sinking during the war, but we didn't see that anywhere. I guess we walked the wrong route up to the top!

Tinos

Place Holder

Naxos

Place Holder

Formentera

Place holder

Ibiza

Place holder

Cyprus

Place Holder