Kythnos Syros Ferry

Kythnos Guide

Located in the western Cyclades group of islands, the Greek island of Kythnos lies between the islands of Kea and Serifos and is around 100 km from the port of Piraeus. The small island, with a land area of around 100 sq. km and a coastline of 100 km, has about 100 beaches although many of them are inaccessible by road. The main villages on the island are called Messaria or Kythnos (known as Chora to the locals) and Dryopis or Dryopida (known as Chorio to the locals). Both villages are characterised by steep, winding streets, often stepped, which are often too narrow for cars. The architectural styles of both villages are slightly different from each. Both are pretty but Chora's houses are mainly flat-roofed, typical of the Cyclades, while Chorio's houses tend to have sloping roofs. An interesting attraction in Chora is its large Greek Orthodox Church.

The island can be reached by ferry from Piraeus and Lavrio. The crossing from Piraeus takes around 3 hours by conventional ferry and 1 hour by high speed ferry. The crossing from Lavrio takes roughly 2 hours. Kythnos is also connected by ferry to the islands of Serifos, Sifnos, Milos, Santorini, Sikinos, Folegandros and Kea.

Syros Guide

The Greek island of Syros is one of the Cyclades group of islands and is unusual in that the island's architecture is more medieval rather than the more typical Cycladic. The island's capital is Ermoupolis and has some fine examples of Venetian mansions to see. In the Vaporia quarter of the capital visitors will find some lovely large churches and impressive neoclassical buildings, such as the Town Hall and Apollo Theatre in the central square. Also popular with visitors are the island's beaches which are well equipped for tourists and have a good range of facilities.

The island can trace its history back to the 3rd millennium BC where signs of inhabitation have been found in the Halandriani and Kastri parts of the island. Artefacts found indicate that there was some kind of metal workshop on the island which possibly had a trading relationship with Asia Minor. The Samians occupied the island in the 6th century BC and is when many of the island's inhabitants moved to the island. At that time, the important physician and philosopher Pherecydis was born in Syros and some years later he went to Samos and became the teacher of Pythagoras.