From Wikitravel

Ios is a small island of the Cyclades group.

[edit] Understand

The island of Ios, in Greece, is a part of the Cyclades Islands in the south of Greece. Ios is a short ferry ride for Santorini making an extended holiday or even a day trip a viable option.

Over the last few years,Ios has developed into an island that has something for all ages to enjoy. For many years Ios was known as the party island, however, there is so much more that Ios has to offer.

Ios has regularly been voted in Various polls as having one of the "Top 10 beaches in Europe" and it in fact boasts 75 kilometres of beautiful,white sandy beaches and turquoise coastlines. The architecture of Ios is typically Cycladic and features whitewashed buildings perched beautifully on hill tops and dotted around valleys.

Ios still maintains a lively nightlife,the likes of which you will not see on the other islands.Unlike the "package resorts",the nightlife of Ios is concentrated in one place, Hora. The nightlife is very cosmopolitan and still quite traditional. The main meeting point is in the main square. By day, Hora reverts to a beautiful tranquil traditional Greek village where you can see the locals chatting in cafes and playing backgammon.

For those not wishing to experience the nightlife, Chora is wonderfully peaceful in the early evening and is awash with clothing and jewelry stores, souvlaki shops and excellent restaurants. Yialos or the Port,is an excellent place to escape the crowds in the evening as is the beautiful Mylopotas beach.

Regular Buses or Boats are on offer to take you on various excursions to the other beaches on Ios, where you can find real peaceful areas and avoid the crowds.

All in all, Ios has lots to offer for all age groups. It is a stunningly beautiful island and will be an unforgettable experience.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By sea

Ios can be reached best from Santorini or Naxos or directly from Piraeus.

Ferry boats and Highspeed catamaran services run daily from Piraeus. The cheapest lines is HELLENIC SEAWAYS , but there are many others like BlueStar(more expensive)or GAferries.

From May 2008 Easyjet are now operating flights to Mykonos and Crete...with daily boat connections to Ios.

www.flythomascook.com have direct flights from gatwick to santorini ,only 35 mins away with highspeed ,

For more informations about ferry lines in Greece: Ferries.gr

[edit] Get around

The islands has three major villages : Ormos or Yialos (where the ferry port is), Hora (main city) and Milopotas a beach (one of the most beautiful beaches on Ios) close to Hora. In summer buses operate between those three villages. Additionally you can rent cars and motorcycles in Hora. Boats also run between major coastal towns on the island.

[edit][add listing] See

• Hora or Chora - The main village of Ios is very scenic with its small alleys and white-washed houses. During day Hora is a peaceful, quiet place while during night it is the main party zone on Ios.
• Homer's tomb
• The open air theater
• Archaeological museum
• the Old castle (Paleocastro)
• the marina in the port

[edit][add listing] Do

• Party - If you have decided to go for Ios, simply party. Hora has plenty of bars and clubs to have fun all night long.

• Watersports - In Milopotas,Yialos and Maganari Beach you can go diving, do wind-surfing, water-skiing or on blow up "donuts" behind speed boats.

[edit][add listing] Eat

In Ios there are a number of good to very good restaurants. Here are the restaurants that you must visit...

• Piperri Tapas and Meze Dishes (formerly old Byron's) (just off the bottom square behind the pharmacy and astra bar), ☎ 00306978192212. Serves tapas and meze an eclectic mix of Mediterranean and fresh fish. edit

• Ali Babas (on the same street as the Emporiki). Superb authentic Thai menu (with real Thai Chefs), also has a small selection of international dishes. Pre-book a "birthday special" party of 10 or more and the birthday guest gets their main course free! edit

• Far Out Village. Lovely bar/restaurant facing the beach, and quieter than the next door Far Out Camping pool bar, where the main action is checking out the opposite sex. edit

• Harmony. Funky Mexican restaurant with great views along the beach. edit

• Katogi (beneath No Name bar). Serves wonderful, unique Greek dishes, Mezze style. edit

• Lord Byron (opposite Pomodoro and Disco 69). Wonderful small Greek restaurant with fantastic ambience, also renowned for its cocktails and home-made desserts. edit

• Pomodoro (next to Disco 69). Brand new and very popular, can cater for groups of up to 40 people. Two floors including a roof garden with spectacular views of Ios town. Serves real Italian wood fired pizza and wonderfully tasty Italian and Mediterranean dishes and mouth watering desserts. edit

[edit] entertainment and nightlife in ios

IOS has everything to offer wether your young or old. fantastic nightlife with sounds from every corner of the planet, since the 70s hippys flocked to ios for there summer solstice , nowadays people from all over the globe converge on ios during the summer months, ios bars and clubs offer a huge variety of entertainment 7 nights a week 24 hours a day , Drinking in Ios is very reasonably priced compared to Santorini and Mykonos.

In the main village there are bars such as Red Bull, Flames, Slammers, Disco 69,Circus Bar, Bulldog, Shooters,Pegasus,Orange bar,Coo,Ammos,Satisfaction,Click,Astra bar,Stellas champagne bar,Barmacy Bar, Shamrock, No name, Jonnys electric, Louies, Blue note, Ios blue, Balsamu,La cuva,Lotus,Agelos,Frankies,Fun Pub.Voodo,Liquid,and Dolca Vita.

Night clubs in the village include REHAB , KANDI , DREAM NIGHTCLUB , SCORPION and FINARI.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• Hotel Hermes is situated between main village and main beach within walking distance of both. Reasonable prices with fantastic view and swimming pool.
• Francesco's in the town is also very popular.
• Yialos Sandy Beach (near the port and not far from the town) is the alternative way for quiet holidays.
• Brothers Hotel 5 minutes walk from the beach.
• Glaros Hotel on the beach.

[edit] Camping

• Far Out Camping, in Milopotas. The most popular, has plenty of attractions during high seasons.
• PurplePig Star, in Milopotas. Cheaper than Far Out; the owners comes from Holland.

[edit] Get out

You may want to go for Manganari, a white-sand beach in the south-east of the island.

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