For our June holiday this year we decided to travel to Greece, somewhere we travelled quite soon after we arrived in the UK and we've always wanted to go back to.
Last time we visited in September, and chose the islands of Santorini and Paros in the Cyclades. It was harder to choose this time, we were tossing up between the Sporades, which are lesser known islands quite close to mainland Greece, and the Cyclades which have the classic beautiful Greek look with the white houses and blue roofs.
We originally decided on the Sporades islands of Skopelos and Alonnisos, so we booked our flights from London to Thessaloniki, which is the closest airport on the mainland. You can also fly to Skiathos, which is the biggest of the Sporades, but unless you're doing a package holiday we found that this was much more expensive.
Having booked our flights, we then changed our mind and decided to visit the Cyclades, due to the high percentage of wasps that visit the Sporades between June to October! The thought of battling wasps whilst trying to lie on the beach was not appealing, so we changed our plans about three weeks before we were due to leave.
Instead we booked cheap flights with Ryanair from Thessaloniki to Athens, and caught a ferry from Pireaus port in Athens to Sifnos, a beautiful island free of the hordes of tourists that frequent the larger Cyclades islands of Santorini and Mykonos.
Despite having to fly to Athens and then ferry to Sifnos, we actually ended up having extra time than if we'd chosen the Sporades, so it all worked out in the end!
Getting our first glimpse of Sifnos from the deck of the huge ferry, we knew we'd made the right decision. We were staying in the small port town of Kamares, which only ever seemed to be busy when a ferry arrived and departed. Aside from those times, it was a sleepy town full of mostly locals and only a few tourists.
We stayed at the lovely Xerolithia Hotel, located just outside the town, about a 10 minute walk to the pier. We chose a garden room, and had some amazing views towards Kamares from the pool area. The hotel offered a great buffet breakfast, and had a bus stop right outside, meaning we didn't have to walk into town to get the bus around the island. For such a small island, Sifnos has one of the best public transport networks on any of the Greek Islands. It's also known for having some of the best food in Greece.
This will never get old
Kamares town is very pretty and traditional, with lots of cafes and restaurants to choose from. It also has a nice sandy beach which seems to mostly attract families.
We stopped for lunch down by the beach, we both had variations of seafood pasta, which was excellent, but I always hate having to de-shell prawns. I never get as much meat as if they came already shelled. One day I might get the hang of it, but today is not that day.
We walked along Kamares beach and dipped our toes in the water, which was not warm at all being only the start of Summer!
We headed back to the hotel to shower and change before coming back down to Kamares for dinner. We were just in time to watch the sun setting over the town, it was absolutely beautiful and I think it could rival any of the Santorini sunsets.
The next morning we caught the bus across the island to the tiny town of Vathi, one of many lovely small towns on Sifnos. We chose to stay in Kamares mainly for the convenience, but if you had a longer stay Vathi would be a great choice.
We wandered through the town to explore before heading down to the beach. The bay is popular with sailors as it's protected from the elements, and there were lots of boats anchored offshore when we arrived.
Vathi beach is very long and sandy, so even when it's busy it's easy to find a small spot for yourself.
We wandered the full length of the beach and settled ourselves down the far end, away from everyone else. This end of the beach can be popular with nudists, and we did see a couple, but for us this is preferable to screaming children!
Being early in the season the beach was very quiet anyway, with only a few families and couples joining us on the sand.
After spending several hours lazing in the hot sun, we made our way back to the bus which dropped us off in Artemonas, a tiny town located just over a kilometre from the main town on Sifnos, Appollonia. Most of the buses originate here, and sometimes there can be a wait of 15-30 minutes before they head down to Kamares. Rather than waiting on the bus, we decided to walk from Artemonas to Appollonia and hop back on there.
It was an easy walk, only taking about 15 minutes, along winding alleyways and past beautiful old churches. We didn't see a single other person, so it felt like we had discovered this great secret, and that we were the only ones on the island.
Looking down toward Appollonia
Once back in Kamares, we decided to make the walk up to the Agia Marina Church, which overlooks Kamares Bay.
We were lucky to time our arrival for sunset, and again had an amazing view of the sun setting over the cliffs. Afterwards we made our way down for dinner. We ended up having Greek Gyros most of the nights we were there. They were so fresh and delicious, plus super cheap. I love how it's essentially a kebab with french fries in the middle. Definitely my favourite Greek food!
The next morning we decided to go swimming at the beach in Faros, an even smaller town than Vathi the day before. Due to the bus timings, we had 45 minutes to spend wandering around Appollonia. Appollonia is the main town in Sifnos, and is located high in the middle of the island. It is definitely the prettiest town on the island, very reminiscent of Oia in Santorini.
Appollonia is where most of the shops are located on the island, with an entire street dedicated to jewellery and clothing stores. We spent some time peeking into each window, and admiring the beautiful jewellery on display.
We stopped at one of the clothing stores and picked up some shorts, a t-shirt and a dress which were pretty much the only things I wore for the rest of the trip.
I can imagine Appollonia is a buzz of activity in high season as there are lots of bars and restaurants, so if you're looking for more of an evening scene, this is where you should stay. We were happy with the sleepy feel of Kamaraes, but it's easy to pop between the two. It's only about 20 minutes on the bus, and they run regularly in Summer.
Afterwards we hopped onto the bus down to Faros, a small seaside town with three beaches all within a short walk of each other.
There's not much to do in this tiny town, though it has a couple of good restaurants and safe swimming. We started the day at Glyfos beach, along with a few other families. From Glyfos you can follow a path along a cliff face that leads to the beautiful old Church of Chrisopigi.
Feeling lazy we opted out of the walk, and instead decided to stay on the beach in the shade before dragging ourselves away for lunch.
We jumped back on the bus and arrived back in Kamares in the late afternoon. We were leaving the next morning, taking the ferry to our next stop of Milos, so we enjoyed a wander around the village before watching the sunset one last time.
We really enjoyed our time on Sifnos - friendly people, great food and easy access to everywhere on the island, I think it's one of the best in the Cyclades.
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