July 2016 – 3 nights with extended family
Bike and walk to all 8 beaches on this quiet Greek island which only has a population of 400 people and very few cars. If there are still too many people for you, you can take a day trip via water taxi to the uninhabited island of Kato Koufonisia and find your own private beach.
Like the rest of our travel guides, this is not an all-encompassing account of everything we did. We do not want to make a list of ‘Best’ or ‘Must-do’ experiences since we know it depends on your personal preferences. These are only our personal favorites and they are divided into two groups: “Avventura Favves” and “Other Things We Liked”.
The Avventura’s Greek Islands Map
Overview
Our visit to Koufonisia was part of our family heritage trip in 2016 to visit Lynn’s dad’s home country with all of his children and grandchildren. We also made stops in Athens, Santorini, and Crete. Not a bad way to spend a vacation hearing about your grandfather’s youth.
Even to this day, we’re not sure how Lynn’s brother Mark found Koufonisia. At the time we planned our trip in 2016, our best guess is that he entered “what’s the least crowded Greek island to visit with a hotel” into the Google search bar. Sadly nothing this pristine and beautiful can remain a secret forever anymore and it has gotten more popular in recent years. However, because it is still reasonably difficult to get to and does not offer the conveniences of many of the other islands, we would still consider it off the beaten track.
There’s not much going on here except for the beaches and some really good gyros. If you are looking for peace and tranquility, this is the place for you.
Avventura Favves
Since we were on the search to see as few people as possible, we took a boat ride to Kato Koufonisia. This uninhabited island has plenty of beaches to hike to so we wandered to a few different ones including one that was “clothing-optional”. The beaches are expansive and remote and the views are spectacular. At one point, Mark exclaimed, “are we on Mars”?
Pori Beach – From the main town you can get to this top-rated beach on Koufonisia in one of two ways. There’s a boat service or you can take a long bike ride or hike. Since we were traveling with a lot of different ages, we elected to split up. The youngest and the oldest took the boat and the rest of us rented bikes. It was a long trek with many rolling hills, but well worth the effort when we laid eyes on this near-perfect beach. There was endless white sand with turquoise water, with cliffs in the background. After having lunch at Kalofego (a nice taverna a little off the beach), we set out on a short hike to the difficult-to-find beach of Gala. This is definitely the wildest and most natural part of Koufonisia. Although it had tricky terrain, we loved cliff jumping into the crystal clear waters.
Souvlaki Sti Strofi – We ate at this walk-up window restaurant two of the nights while in Koufonisia because the first night was just that good. They were some of the best gyros and souvlakis that we have ever had. If you’re lucky, you can snag one of the small tables on the street but if not, you can also sit on one of the many stone benches throughout the town. Perfect with a cold Fix beer.
Scholio Cafe-Bar – This is a friendly place that serves up craft cocktails and snacks in the main town. A perfect spot to share stories and sip rakomelo after dinner.
Phystíki – We loved the ice cream here. If we went back now, after living in Italy for a few years, it might not seem as delicious. But on a sunny day surrounded by the beautiful, blue sea, does it matter?
Logistics and Miscellaneous Notes
- There are no flights to this island so you have to take a ferry. We took a 2-hour ferry from Santorini to Koufonisia and then spent the day on another ferry from Koufonisia to Crete (we stopped for several hours in Naxos and had lunch in the port town).
- Myrto Hotel – We chose to stay at the Myrto Hotel because at the time in 2016 it was the highest-rated of the very few hotels to choose from. The location was good, as was the breakfast, but otherwise, it was not really that nice. One benefit of the island’s increased popularity is that there now seem to be several good choices.
Next Time We Go
- We were really only in Koufonisia for 2 days and it was not enough time to explore the other beaches. Finikas, Fanos, Platia Pounda, and Ammos beaches all boast the same characteristics of white sand, clear turquoise water, and spectacular views. They are all public and not crowded. It’s truly a beach-lovers paradise.
- There are so many Greek islands to explore. Although we loved this trip and definitely always enjoy a few days of uncrowded beaches, if we were looking for true peace and tranquility, we would probably choose eastern Crete again because you can easily combine it with some other vibes in different parts of the island.
The Avventura 