Milos · Towns & villages

Towns & villages of Milos

Harbour towns, mountain hamlets and the places where island life still follows its own rhythm.

Plaka & the hill villages

Plaka

The white capital on its hill, crowned by a castle that watches the sun go down

Plaka is the capital of Milos, a white village on a hill above the north-west coast, with the old castle, the Kastro, on the rock behind it. Its lanes are narrow and paved, with the joints painted white, and they wind between small houses with coloured doors, chapels, little shops and cafes. The Archaeological Museum and the Folklore Museum are here, and the lanes lead out along the ridge to Tripiti, the catacombs and the ancient theatre. In the evening half the island climbs to the Kastro or to the church of Panagia Korfiatissa to watch the sun set over the Bay of Milos.

Sunset from the Kastro
The terrace of Panagia Korfiatissa
The Archaeological Museum and the Lady of Phylakopi
An evening walk through the lanes
The path down to Tripiti and the catacombs

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Plaka & the hill villages

Tripiti

Windmills on a ridge above the ancient city

Tripiti runs along a ridge just south of Plaka, a quiet village of white houses and old windmills with a view over the whole Bay of Milos. Its name means 'full of holes', after the tombs cut into the soft rock of the hillside. Below the village are the early-Christian catacombs, the remains of the ancient city of Melos, the marble Roman theatre and the field where the Venus de Milo was found in 1820. A path drops on from there to the fishing village of Klima at the water's edge. In the evening the tables on the edge of the village look straight into the sunset.

The windmills on the ridge
The early-Christian catacombs
The Roman theatre and the Venus field
The walk down to Klima
Dinner facing the sunset

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Plaka & the hill villages

Klima

A row of painted boathouses with the sea at their doors

Klima is a fishing village below Tripiti, at the mouth of the Bay of Milos, and the most photographed place on the island. Its houses, the syrmata, stand in a single row right on the water. The ground floor is a boathouse, cut back into the rock, where the fishermen pulled their boats up out of the winter storms; the family lived in the small room above. The doors, shutters and balconies are painted bright blue, red, green and yellow, and some of the syrmata are now rented to visitors who want to sleep with the sea under the window. There is a fish taverna, a little chapel and clear water for a swim off the rocks. The sunsets here, straight across the bay, are superb.

The painted syrmata on the water
A swim off the rocks
Fish at the taverna by the boats
Sunset across the Bay of Milos
The walk up to the ancient theatre and the catacombs

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Adamas & the bay

Adamas

The busy port on one of the great natural harbours of the Mediterranean

Adamas is the port of Milos and its liveliest village, on the inner shore of the huge bay that fills the middle of the island. It was founded in the 19th century by refugees from Crete, and it is still a working harbour, with ferries, fishing boats and the boats that leave each morning for Kleftiko. Along the waterfront are cafes, fish tavernas and boat-trip kiosks, and up the hill are the church of Agia Triada with its Ecclesiastical Museum and, by the water, the Mining Museum. Small beaches like Lagada and Papikinou are a short walk away, and buses leave from here for the whole island.

The Mining Museum
Boat trips to Kleftiko from the harbour
The Ecclesiastical Museum at Agia Triada
Fish by the water in the evening
The beaches of Papikinou and Lagada

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Pollonia & the north-east

Pollonia

A fishing village on a quiet bay, with Kimolos across the water

Pollonia sits on a shallow bay at the north-east tip of Milos, a fishing harbour that has become the island's favourite place to stay without losing its calm. There is a sandy beach shaded by tamarisk trees, a little harbour of painted boats, a chapel on the point, and a row of fish tavernas along the water. Small ferries leave from here for Kimolos, the island just across the strait. The Bronze Age town of Phylakopi and the cliffs of Papafragas are a few minutes away along the north coast.

Dinner by the fishing boats
The short crossing to Kimolos
The cliffs and inlet of Papafragas
The ruins of Phylakopi
A morning swim in the shallow bay

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The north coast

Mandrakia

A tiny harbour of painted boathouses in a fold of rock

Mandrakia is a little fishing harbour on the north coast, a narrow inlet between low volcanic rocks with a few white houses, painted boathouses cut into the stone, a small church and a single taverna above the water. The sea is clear and deep, and people swim straight off the rocks by the boats. It is only a short drive from Plaka and from Sarakiniko, and it is a good place to stop for grilled octopus in the middle of a day on the north coast.

Swimming off the rocks by the boats
Seafood at the taverna above the inlet
The painted boathouses
A short drive to Sarakiniko

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The north coast

Firopotamos

A sheltered bay with a white chapel on the rocks

Firopotamos is not quite a village, more a hamlet of a few syrmata and fishermen's houses around a small, sheltered bay on the north-west coast, below Plaka. A white chapel stands on the rocks at the mouth of the bay, and the water inside is calm, clear and turquoise, good for swimming and snorkelling. On the far side are the ruins of an old mining loading station. There are no hotels and only a canteen in summer, so it stays a place for a long swim and a quiet afternoon.

Swimming in the calm bay
The chapel on the rocks
Snorkelling along the cliffs
A quiet afternoon away from the crowds

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Regions

Where to base yourself in Milos

Plaka & the hill villages

The white capital and its castle on the hill, the villages that run into it along the ridge, Tripiti with its windmills and catacombs, and the fishing village of Klima below, at the mouth of the bay.

Adamas & the bay

The port of Adamas on the great natural harbour, the beaches of Lagada, Papikinou and Achivadolimni along the shore, and the airport and old capital of Zefyria inland.

The north coast

The white moonscape of Sarakiniko, the little harbours of Mandrakia and Firopotamos with their painted boathouses, and wild coves below the cliffs.

Pollonia & the north-east

The fishing village of Pollonia on its shallow bay, the boats to Kimolos, the cliff inlet of Papafragas and the Bronze Age town of Phylakopi.

The south coast

Long sandy bays below red and yellow cliffs, sheltered from the summer wind: Firiplaka, Tsigrado, Paleochori with its hot springs, Agia Kyriaki, Provatas and the old sulphur mines of Thiorichia.

Western Milos

The empty, green and mountainous west, called Chalakas by the islanders, with Profitis Ilias, a few monasteries and dirt roads, and a coast of caves and white rocks best seen by boat, Kleftiko among them.

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