Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING AND DRINKING
The quayside at Emborió is lined with six full-service tavernas, bars and cafés, filled with leisurely holiday-makers every
night in summer. There are also four well-stocked stores and a bakery.
Ì
Lefkosia's Paradosiako
Known for her TV
appearances, chef Lefkosia believes in making everything
- from her cheese to her pasta - from scratch. Baked dishes
are the highlights at her waterfont taverna, including a
delicious moussaka as well as her speciality “Halki pasta”,
baked with onions and feta.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Maria
T
22460 45300.
Well-shaded café, tucked behind
the post office, that's dependable for substantial portions
of island staples such as lamb stew, or pasta baked with
bubbling feta cheese.
Daily lunch & dinner.
Remezzo
T
22460 45010.
Simple little green-painted
taverna, with a cluster of little tables outside, which as well
as excellent
mayireftá
serves pretty much the gamut of
tourist-favoured cuisines, from pizzas to Mexican.
Daily
noon-late.
Theodosia's Zaharoplastio
T
22460 45218.
Also known
as “The Parrot Café” on account of its resident bird, this
friendly café, with a cushioned wooden bench facing the
base of the jetty, serves puddings and home-made ice cream
to die for, as well as good breakfasts.
Daily 9am-late.
Horió and beyond
Still crowned by its Knights' castle, the old pirate-safe village of
HORIÓ
, looming 3km
west of Emborió, beyond Pondamos, was abandoned in the 1950s. Except during the
August 14-15 festival, the church here is locked to protect its frescoes. Across the
valley, little
Stavrós monastery
hosts another big bash on September 14. There's little
else inland, though Tarpon Springs Boulevard continues all the way across the island to
reach the monastery of
Ayíou Ioánnou Prodhrómou
(festival Aug 28-29;
kantína
otherwise). The terrain en route is bleak, but compensated for by views over half the
Dodecanese and Turkey. The monastery itself has a certain charm, with its central
courtyard dominated by a huge juniper, and surrounded by an array of cells.
8
Trahiá and Aréta
Hálki's remotest
beaches
can be reached either on boat excursions from Emborió quay
- for example, aboard the
Kiristani
(
T
693 61 16 229) - or via demanding hiking trails.
Trahiá
, directly below Horió's castle, and served by a very rough path from Yialí,
consists of two coves to either side of an isthmus.
On the north coast,
Aréta jord
is an impressive, cliff-girt place where seabirds roost
and soar. There's some morning and afternoon shade, but only a brackish well for the
inquisitive sheep with which you may share the small-pebble beach, so bring plenty of
water. Experienced hillwalkers can get here on foot in around 1hr 30min.
Kássos
The southernmost Dodecanese island, less than 48km northeast of Crete,
KÁSSOS
is
very much off the beaten tourist track. Ever since 1824, when an Egyptian fleet
punished Kássos for its active participation in the Greek revolution by slaughtering
most of the 11,000 Kassiots, the island has remained barren and depopulated. Sheer
gorges slash through lunar terrain relieved only by fenced smallholdings of midget olive
trees; spring grain crops briefly soften usually fallow terraces, and livestock somehow
survives on a thin furze of scrub. The remaining population occupies five villages facing
Kárpathos, leaving most of the island uninhabited and uncultivated, with crumbling
old houses poignantly recalling better days.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
KÁSSOS
By air
The island's airport, 1km west of Frý, is connected to
Kárpathos (1-2 daily); Rhodes (1-2 daily); and Sitía on
Crete (1-2 daily).
By ferry
The island's port, Frý, is connected with: Anáfi
