Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Zoödhóhou Piyís
(“Life-giving Fountain”), crowns the cliff-edged hill above, and is
accessed by a stepped path out of the top of Kástro. The architectural highlight of the
village is the
kástro
itself, a quadrangle of eighteenth-century mansions arrayed
defensively around the blue-domed church of
Panayía Pantánassa
which opens for
evensong at around 6pm. Although tourists don't tend to stay here, eating options cater
for the locals and are surprisingly varied and better than in Aloprónia.
EATING AND DRINKING
HÓRA
6
Ì
Anémelo
T
22860 51216.
A friendly café-bar with the
only shade in town; it has only a few tables outside, but you
can share a table with strangers. Good cup of coffee and a
snack menu from omelettes (€5) to home-made syrupy
desserts.
May-Oct daily 10am-midnight.
To Stéki tou Garbí
T
22860 51215.
Unpretentious and
cheap with a first-class selection of traditional Greek island
cooking (€6), along with its own barrel wine, which is still
made in the same traditional way for generations.
March-
Nov daily noon-midnight.
Around the island
Ninety minutes' walk northeast from Hóra lies
Paleókastro
, the patchy remains of an
ancient fortress. In the opposite direction, another ninety-minute walk takes you by an
old path or higher road through a steeply terraced landscape to
Episkopí
, where
elements of an ancient temple-tomb have been incorporated into a seventh-century
church - the structure is known formally as the Héroön, though it is now thought to
have been a Roman mausoleum rather than a temple of Hera. Note the weathered
wooden door, and the cistern under long stone slabs in the courtyard.
The beaches of
Dhialiskári
and
Áyios Yeóryios
are reachable by road - though only the
latter is asphalted - while
Málta
is only reachable by
kaïki
from Aloprónia. A more
feasible journey by foot is to the pebble beach at
Áyios
Pandeleïmonas
: just under an
hour's trail walk southwest of Aloprónia, it is the most sheltered on the island, and is
also served by a small boat in season.
Folégandhros
The sheer cliffs of
FOLÉGANDHROS
rise 300m from the sea in places, and until the early
1980s they were as effective a deterrent to tourists as they had historically been to
pirates. Folégandhros was used now and then as an island of political exile from Roman
times right up until 1969, and life in the high, barren interior was only eased in 1974
by the arrival of electricity and the subsequent construction of a road running from the
harbour to Hóra and beyond. Development has been given further impetus by the
recent increase in tourism and the ensuing commercialization. The island is becoming
so trendy that Greek journalists speak of a new Mýkonos in the making, a fact that is
reflected in its swish jewellery and clothes shops. Yet away from showcase Hóra and the
beaches, the countryside remains mostly pristine. Donkeys are also still very much in
evidence, since the terrain on much of the island is too steep for vehicles.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
FOLÉGANDHROS
By
ferry
The recent popularity of Folégandhros has
resulted in a slew of new ferry routes to almost every other
port in the Cyclades. Ferries dock at Karavostási.
Destinations
Amorgós (1-2 weekly; 2hr 15min-4hr);
Anáfi (2-4 weekly; 4hr); Íos (4-8 weekly; 1hr 15min); Kéa/
Lávrio (1 weekly; 10-11hr); Kýthnos (3 weekly; 9hr); Mílos
(3-5 weekly; 2hr 30min); Mýkonos (0-2 weekly; 4hr);
Náxos (3-6 weekly; 1hr 30min-2hr); Páros (2-4 weekly;
1hr 15min); Pireás (2-6 weekly; 3hr 30min-10hr);
Santoríni (3-5 weekly; 3hr); Sérifos (0-2 weekly; 2hr
30min); Sífnos (1-3 weekly; 1hr 30min); Síkinos (3-5
weekly; 40min); Sýros (3-4 weekly; 3hr 30min).
Services
There is an ATM at Doúnavi square and the
island's post office is at Poúnda square.
Travel agents
Diaplous (
T
22860 41158) and Maraki
(
T
22860 41211) - both closed 2-5pm - are between
Doúnavi and Poúnda squares.
