THE CYCLADES
About the Cyclades
The islands of the Cyclades form the biggest, the best known and the most central group. The 25 or so islands in the group would take a lifetime to walk and, at present, Walking the Islands... covers nine of them.
Landscape
The Cyclades are characterised by...
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grey rocky outcrops from brown hills above fertile, often terraced valleys
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deep natural harbours
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above the harbour you will often find a hill-top Chora, the fortified old town
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countryside that is more fertile than the Dodecanese
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delightful valleys and spring-fed farmed areas
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chapels everywhere, and clifftop monasteries too
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old kalderimia (mule-roads)
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summits with rewarding views
Coastline
An entire spectrum of seaside pleasures awaits you too, from watersports beaches on Mykonos and Naxos to hidden coves only accessible by boat or by long treks on all the islands.
The coast of Amorgos has a particular flavour as there are few sandy beaches and the entire south facing coast is a string of sea cliffs with only five places where you can get to the sea-edge.
Getting to the Cyclades
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Mykonos and Santorini have international airports with all year round flights to Athens and summer flights to many European airports.
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The ferry network which fans out from Piraeus serves the Cyclades comprehensively,
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Journey times from Piraeus are very vessel and route dependent and range from 2 hours (Sifnos) to 12 hours or more (Anafi).
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Rafina serves the northern Cyclades; Andros, Tinos and Mykonos and is very handy for Athens airport.
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Naxos has several daily connections with Piraeus all year round and moving on to most of the other islands can usually be accomplished the same day.
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Santorini is probably the most visited, with frequent visits from cruise liners..
Milos »
Mykonos »
Naxos »
(Serifos »)
(coming soon...)
Getting around the Cyclades
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Andros, Tinos, and Mykonos are well interconnected with several daily sailings from Rafina, as well as smaller dayboats. Santorini lies on the main Piraeus - Crete ferry routes.
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A comprehensive small ferry and day boat network based on Naxos allows you to travel between it and nearby islands, including the Small Cyclades, the islands between Naxos and Amorgos.
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Amorgos is not too far away from its neighbours for short inter-island hops, though day boats on both serve islets and beaches and there are some connections between its two ports Aeghiali and Katapola, though nowadays the tarmac road is used much more than the sea.
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As far as the actual vessel you select is concerned, there is a wide range of choices, from the newer fast ferries, through various older more traditional vessels, to the small Express Skopelitis, serving the Naxos-Small Cyclades-Amorgos run.
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Catamarans and fast ferries cover most of the crossings in the summer, too, and of course can save you time, perhaps sacrificing scenery.