We were excited to start the first hop of our island hopping trip, our destination from Santorini was the smaller and hopefully less touristy island of Folegandros. We had booked our tickets via the ‘Ferry Hopper’ app and they seemed like good value, however we still had to collect the tickets from the office ( for an extra Euro). Our taxi dropped us off at the port after a steep decent down the caldera. We snagged the tickets and walked rather than hopped onto the ferry which was waiting for us. In my mind I envisaged hopping on and off small boats, but in reality Greek island hopping is getting on and off large ferries. Never mind, we found a comfy spot on deck to enjoy the journey.
The boat soon sounded its horn and we slowly glided away from the dock. The first part of the voyage gave us views of Santorini on one side and the volcano on the other. We were glad that we hadn’t forked out for a boat trip as we were getting the views thrown in for free now. We were soon out in the vast open Aegean Sea and were marvelling at the incredible deep blue colour. We really enjoyed the trip and we made a couple of stops at Ios and Sikinos, both looked like lovely small islands so we were hopeful of getting our idyllic Greek getaway on Folegandros. We were soon puttering into Karavostasis port on Folegandros, a nice bay with a beach and a few whitewashed buildings scattered about. This looked more like it.
We were picked up at the port and driven 3 km up the hill to our accommodation on the outskirts of Chora, the main town on the island. The accommodation wasn’t as good as we hoped, or maybe we were spoilt by our luxury gaff on Santorini. Nevertheless, it had some nice views of the surrounding hills and was only a short walk to the town and the bus station. After dumping our luggage we were off to explore the town. We were not disappointed, the small town had a lovely square lined with vines and bougainvillea and quite a number of restaurants and tavernas. This is the Greece that we had imagined.
We really enjoyed wandering around the narrow streets of Chora finding lovely old buildings, churches and coming across expansive views of the coast. Plus there were cats everywhere, so that makes it a good place in our eyes. We also enjoyed trying different restaurants during our four days staying in Chora but we did keep coming back to the Slovaki Club for fantastic food and ridiculous portions. However, it wasn’t all eating and drinking, we planned to be a bit more active during this leg of the trip.
There are lots of hiking trails on the island and we planned 3 day hikes to various beaches around the island. Our first hike saw us heading back down the road to the port and then along a small road to Livadi. At the port a dog decided a day at the beach was just the ticket so he became our unofficial guide dog. At the end of the road we headed down a hiking trial towards the coast and before long we could see the small beach at Katergo. The final section was a steep drop down a rugged track but we quickly arrived on the deserted beach.
Unfortunately there was no shade and the sun was beating down already. We found a bit of shade near some rocks and settled down. The dog joined us and seemed to take great pleasure in digging up sand and covering us with it. I enjoyed a dip in the beautiful water, it was pretty chilly though despite the sunshine. We had the beach to ourselves, well except for our guide, for quite a while until a boat turned up and dropped off a bunch of tourists. However, it was still really quiet compared to Santorini. After our picnic we decided it was time to head back as the sun really was quite intense.
Our faithful friend guided us back but shot off once we were back in town without so much as a glance back in our direction, fickle friend. We had a look around the small port town and a couple of beers in a taverna overlooking the sea before heading back up the hill to Chora.
Our second hike turned out to be a much longer tougher trek. We headed North out of Chora with the aim of walking to Agali and onto the beach at Ag Nikolas. We followed the donkey track out of town and we already had incredible views of the mountains and the sea. We crossed the main road and found the trail to Agali. The trail was well marked and very clear so we didn’t understand why the person at our guest house had told us not to go on this path. We never do as we are told! The views were fantastic and we were really enjoying the walk. The landscape was very rugged and incredibly dry, not much rain around these parts. We headed down the path and found ourselves at a small cove, we then clambered over the rocks and descended into the bay at Agali.
Agali is linked to Chora by road and bus so there were a few people here and a couple of restaurants and shops. We stocked up on water and proceeded over the headland for another 20 minutes to the small bay of Nikolas. It was much quieter here and we settled down under the shade of the trees to rest up after the hike which was quite strenuous mainly due to the soaring temperatures. I cooled off in the ocean and we enjoyed our picnic before heading back to Chora.
We decided to take another track back to make it a round trip. You know I hate to go back the same way. It was quite a long drag up the path in the searing sun to the 3 windmills but the views made it worthwhile. We hit the main road and crossed over to check out the 3 windmills. Unfortunately they are in a bit of disrepair but if they were done up they would make amazing holiday accommodation as the views out to sea are spectacular. We dragged our weary feet back to Chora for a well-earned cold mythos in the main square after a really great walk.
Our final day hike was focused on the northern end of the island. We jumped on the bus and got off at the last stop in Ano Meria. From there we easily found the trail to a small cove called Livadaki, we were told it was the most beautiful on the island so we were looking forward to it. We were not to be let down. It was another lovely rugged trail down to the cove via a small church. When we arrived the beach was deserted and there were lots of trees to provide some respite from the beating rays. The bay was stunning with steep cliffs and deep blue ocean. There must be a seasonal river running into the sea here as there was a lot of vegetation in the valley. It was nice to see a bit of greenery as the island is quite beige really. Once again we enjoyed chilling on the beach and having another lovely Greek picnic of bread, feta and tasty ripe tomatoes.
After we had had our fill of the beach we continued the hike and once again we were planning a loop. We headed out of the cove over the opposite cliff and this afforded us great views looking back to our small private cove. Once again it was a steep hot climb up but we eventually hit the main road and strolled back to the bus stop. We had a while to wait for the bus, as you can imagine they were not that regular. However, there was a restaurant that wasn’t having a siesta so we ordered a couple of cold beers and enjoyed the view until the jalopy puttered into the village to take us back to Chora. We enjoyed our last night on Folegandros with a final feast at Slovaki Club in the main square reflecting on a wonderful time exploring the island. This was the Greek island of our imagination and we thoroughly enjoyed it and were slightly reluctant to have to more on, but hopping we must do.
