

ANDROS island is one of the central Cyclades group of Greek islands. It is large island and a popular choice for weekending mainlanders. Andros has a character all of its own - if a little one-dimensional. Variety is not the island's long suit.
Andros has a single tourist resort at Batsi and a fairly humdrum capital at Hora. The island has its good points. Natural springs give rise to lush green valleys between the majestic mountain peaks, and the island beaches can be spectacular - if remote.
Then there is an extensive network of donkey paths criss-crossing the interior, making Andros an ideal destination for hikers, and although many are reasonably well maintained some are choked with scrub and thorns.
Andros is also easy to reach from mainland Greece. Ferries heading for Mykonos and Naxos leave Rafina every day and Andros is usually their first port of call.
But don't expect lots of traditional Greek friendliness on the island of Andros. The natives are a dour, monosyllabic lot and villages can be about as chummy as a Welsh village on a wet Wednesday.
Andros is a long, thin island running north-west to south-east just off the eastern coast of mainland Greece. A popular Greek island with the Greeks themselves, Andros can be neatly divided by a ridge that runs the width of the island roughly between the main beach resort if Batsi in the west to the capital town Hora on the east coast. The north of Andros has the main beach resorts of Batsi, with its long beach of golden sand on the south-west coast, and the island capital of Hora on the opposite north-east Andros coast which has plenty of shops and museums. Regular buses and taxi services connect the two resorts.


The island's main, some would say only, resort at BATSI is built on two hills overlooking a fine natural harbour with a splendid beach of soft, golden sand.
The Batsi sands are backed by shady tamarisks and a new wooden path has been built behind, lining the road. Along the road are a clutch of hotels and one of two tavernas. The water at Batsi is shallow and safe for children and there is plenty of shade at the northern end.
At the southern end, Batsi beach meets the harbour wall and a string of tavernas have grown up around the taxi rank in the small main square. On upper floors are more tavernas with fine views of the bay from their balconies. As a quiet family resort Batsi is almost perfect, although it can get crowded at weekends when Athenians swell the visitor numbers.
There are shops, bakeries, fruiterers, banks, a splendid outdoor cinema plus free information and booklets on the island from the Sun Travel office next to the Delefinia restaurant or from Andros Travel behind the main beach. As Batsi is so popular with weekending Greeks prices are jacked up accordingly so Batsi is not a cheap place to stay.
But hospitality is much in evidence in the Batsi tavernas all of which serve good food, though visiting Greeks head for the tavernas located away from the tourist beach.
The hillside alleyways of Batsi provide a maze of steep walks in pleasant shade with spring water streams pouring down gullies on either side of some paths. The resort is dominated by the church sporting a huge neon-lit cross and an automaton bell ringer.
To escape the crowds you can head around the bay to the small beach opposite Batsi at FANORMOS - within easy walking distance - or follow tracks over the headland

Just south of Batsi, and within easy walking distance, is a trio of small beaches at AGIA MARINA. The nearest is a narrow nondescript strip of gravel and stone beneath vertical cliffs.
Over the headland, and surrounded by a large hotel complex, is the best of the beaches, a small narrow strip of sand and stone with a summer cantina parked beneath the cliff at one end.
Access is down very steep steps from the hotel but Agia Marina beach barely has room for half a dozen umbrellas and is quickly filled in the summer.
The sea is strewn with rock slabs with deep water beyond so Agia Marina is not ideal for children. A small stream runs down to the sea at one end of Agia Marina beach.
The furthest beach of the three is an exposed and narrow strip of gravel and stone, with no facilities.

The coast road north out of Batsi passes a couple of small, sandy coves, best visited on foot as there is no place to park along the busy and twisting coastal road.
Overlooked by the coast road is an attractive cove at KIPRIANOS which is easily spotted because of the small blue and white chapel of Kyprianos which itself overlooks a tiny inlet of sand and stone.
Close up the chapel is nothing more than a cement block, a sort of garage with a bell tower, but it manages to look quite pretty partly thanks to its position on a rock outcrop over the sea and partly because of the lashings of blue and white paint.
There is room here to park a few cars and a short scramble down the cliff leads to a small beach of stone and sand.

The first decent stretch of sandy beach north of Batsi is found at PSILI AMMOS or CHRISI AMMOS depending which map you use.
A long stretch of pure white sand with a few stones at Psili Ammos is backed by low dunes that provide shelter from the wind and from the noise of the main road. which snakes round behind the beach.
There is a small, ramshackle beach bar at one end with sun beds and umbrellas. A sign at the beach bar calls for tourists to take care with litter yet the bar was a spectacular pile of rubbish when I visited in mid-May.
The beach gets cleaned up for the summer when duckboards are laid out along the shore between the rows of sunbeds. Better facilities are found at a couple of roadside tavernas - just a short walk to the headland and beyond lies another sandy strip at KYPRI which has a derelict, half-built restaurant complex at the northern end. Dunes bank up behind the beach and sunbeds are laid out in the summer months.



Beyond the headland is Kypri is a long stretch of scruffy sand bisected by a small stream at AGIOS PETROS. The long flat beach is littered with stones and various bits of rubbish.
The road runs close behind making it noisy on Agios Petros beach but its main advantage is that it is less crowded than the main Batsi beach to the south. Hotels on the headland offer facilities for eating and drinking.
The road inland leads up a narrow paved road to the village of Agios Petros with fine views across the valleys on the way. A kilometre or so before the village is the ancient Agios Petros tower.
A small layby on a sharp bend offers some parking. Paths to the Agios Petros tower peter out among the scrub and terraced walls and the ruin itself is difficult to reach.
The crumbling tower is about 20m high and very ancient, some say dating from the 4th century BC. It has five floors with a spiral staircase inside. There are entrances to old copper mining caves on the hillside and a small chapel next to the tower.
Agios Petros village has a large fountain but little else to impress. A moribund place there is little reward for the steep drive down an unmade track.
West of the Agios Petros village is the monastery of Sotiros. It was founded in 1596 by the monk with the impressive name of Maximos Magnentios. Unfortunately the ground was too soft to support its weight and it rapidly suffered serious damage.
There was a restoration attempt in the 18th century that was abandoned but work has restarted. It's a picturesque ruin on an impressive hillside spot.

Over the headland just south of Gavrio are a several small bays easily accessible from the main road that runs behind them.
Most are nothing more than small rocky inlets with a few scruffy patches of gritty sand. Nevertheless, they make for attractive spots for those who prefer quiet getaway places.
One of the more interesting is the beach at LIOPESI which is blessed with a distinctive and much photographed rock formation.
There are nearby coves to explore and the picturesque setting features heavily on all the island tourist brochures.


The main island port of GAVRIO is a scruffy, ramshackle sort of place that holds little of interest other than getting out of it.
Swathes of concrete have been laid for the docking ferries and a large car park adds to the delights. At peak time ferries pull in and out of Gavrio in droves, just like the buses that wait for them at the main gate.
A dozen or so utilitarian cafes and tavernas line the long main road behind the Gavrio quay, serving mainly as waiting rooms for ferry passengers. Menus are basic and you're obviously not expected to linger.
Roads in Gavrio can be busy with ferry traffic and there is little in the way of charm except a town centre dovecote that has been converted into a tourist centre.
There are plenty of rooms to rent in Gavrio so it's a useful, if dull, place to stay if you prefer to avoid the tourist honeypot of Batsi.
The surrounding hills at Gavrio are very pleasant and there are some good walks in the area and beaches can be found north and south, though you will need transport. There is a regular bus service from Gavrio heading south.


Beyond Gavrio, just to the north, are several decent beaches that are well worth a visit, especially for those staying in the port at Gavrio.
The road leads around the large bay to the small, but pleasant, beach at CHARAKAS. Alternatively you can take the road over the headland to the gorgeous beach at FELOS where tamarisks back onto a beautiful arc of golden sand.
The map marks a taverna near the beach here, but it is found a good 2km back from the beach and down a long and unsignposted dirt track. Best to take your own provisions.
There are more beaches to be found further south at KOURTALI and SELKI but they are small and also lack facilities and worth it only if you really do want to get far away from the crowds.
There are beaches that are even more remote along the barren north-west coast at PISOLOMIONA, LIMANAKI, KAMINAKI and VLICHADA but they are for the most part down unmade tracks and again without any facilities.




There are several remote beaches to the east of Gavrio. Access can be difficult and along long and winding mountain roads that require a 4x4.
A turn inland from the road that runs north out of Gavrio takes you up into the mountains past the villages of PANO FELOS and FROUESI before it peters out into a rough track that eventually drops gently to the coast along a river valley where there are several ancient Andros waterwheels.
At the end of the track is a splendid white stone beach at ZORKOS inside a small horseshoe bay. It is quite exposed, with the only natural shade provided by the steep cliffs on either side.
There are other small beaches in bays along this part of the coast but they are more rocky and swept by the prevailing northern winds. Most are only accessible by boat.
The mountain road inland from Gavrio that passes through Agios Petros runs across the top of the island between two mountain ranges and peters out opposite the village of VITALI which is strung out along the opposite side of a very deep valley.
It's relatively easy getting down to the Vitali bay but quite another getting back up. Vitali beach is most impressive with stony white sand surrounded by rock cliffs.
There are fresh water lagoons, a small taverna in high summer and a small white chapel is set on the headland that overlooks the beach.
There is a similar bay below GIDES, just over the headland, and now accessible from Vitali along a rough track
To the south is the small white sand bay of ATENI but it cannot be reached from Gavrio. It is best to head out from Batsi to the hillside village of Remata. Stay on the mountain road instead of dropping down into KALATAKILOS and you end up at Ateni after a long and tortuous drive along a seemingly endless stone and gravel roads.
Here there is tiny white chapel perkily perched above two sandy beaches. The smaller Ateni beach is the shallower and better for swimming. A cantina opens here in the summer.

Inland from Batsi is the monastery of Zoodoochos Pigi, a gaunt, geometric edifice that does little to enhance the surrounding countryside.
Once the most important monastery on Andros no-one is sure when it was first built but some say in 1325. Inside are good wall paintings from the 14th and 16th centuries but don't turn up without an appointment as you will be turned away.
Also inland from Batsi are the villages of KATAKILOS and PANO KATAKILOS on either side of a long ravine. The area has several springs which give rise to plenty of pretty waterfalls, especially at REMATA where it's accompanied by lush greenery in the steep valley. Remata is now best approached from Hora where a well surfaced road now snakes up high over the mountains before dropping down to the valley.
The road from Stavopedra to Hora pretty well splits Andros island in two. The main centre of interest here is Hora which perches along a long and dramatic promontory. Apart from a few scrappy beaches dotted infrequently around the coast there is not much more to attract the visitor to the south of the island. The southerly town of Ormos Korthi is a bit of a dull backwater, although inland village are pleasant enough and there are some very good walks to be had.



The island capital of ANDROS TOWN, known locally as HORA, completely covers a long, narrow headland of around 400m in length, ending at a small rocky islet.
The islet houses the ruins of a Venetian fortress and is connected to Hora by a picturesque, if precipitous, bridge that was rebuilt in 1956 after the original was destroyed in a storm. Further out to sea is the Tourlitis lighthouse, impressively built on a large rock.
The Hora headland is bisected by the a long traffic-free street of Georgiou Empirikou which is dotted with shops and cafes and small artists' studios. Three quarters of the way along is the main square with a fountain and cafes, chairs and table set out beneath the dappled shade of a huge plane tree.
Hora boasts many large neoclassical buildings, a quirky result of the wealth of its citizens. The Archaeological Museum was founded in 1981 and included some impressive exhibits including the statue of Hermes of Andros - a first century copy of the original discovered on the coast at Paleopoli.
Most bizarre is the funding of the Gouldandris family for a Museum of Modern Art with works by Greek artists as well as more eminent painters such as Picasso, Braque and Matisse. It hosts a regular summer exhibition of international art.
Near the museum is the much photographed chapel of Agia Thakassini built on a rock and frequently lashed by waves.
At the end of the Hora headland is the Maritime Museum which appears to enjoy opening hours that suit everyone but visitors and a large slabbed square dominated by a bronze statue to the Unknown Sailor donated by Russia - and it looks it.
Wealthy donors have also blessed Hora town with the Kairoa Library which has some 3,000 rare titles.
To the south-west is the pretty village of MENITES with marble fountains and lion head spouts and at APOIKA to the north-west is the SARIZA spring where mineral water is bottled and exported throughout Greece. At nearby STENIES, popular with wealthy Greeks, there is an attractive beach called GIALIA , backed by eucalyptus trees and with a good fish taverna.


The road south of out Hora eventually leads to Ormos Korthi but first passes the beautiful beach of SINETI with sharp white sands in a small bay.
It is here that the trail starts along the long narrow valley of DIPOTAMATA with a nature trail that takes in 22 watermills. Most are now ruined heaps of rubble, a couple of stone bridges and some delightful scenery
Limestone outcrops above the village of KOCHLOU are topped by the ruins of FANEROMENI CASTLE which can be seen for miles around. A dirt track leads out of the village up to the former fortress, now little more than a heap of rubble. Many of the structures are underground but now visible only because most of the roofs have collapsed.
Around here are with many fine houses, several dovecotes, a pretty church and some wonderful views down the valley. The road winds down to KOCHLOU, surely one of the loveliest villages on the island.
On the opposite valley slope is a road leading to the village of MESA VOUNI and a track to the monastery at PANACHRANTOU.The road snakes down through the mountain villages of LARDIA and PISKOPIO before reaching the bay at Ormos Korthi.

ORMOS KORTHI or simply ORMOS is the main town in southern Andros. It lies along the edge of a huge bay with splendid hills rising all around.
The town itself though is a rather dull and lifeless place. The road follows the curve of the huge bay, lined with a paved esplanade edged by a concrete sea wall. Over the wall a line of rocks has been dumped in the sea to act as a breakwater.
A few desultory cafes and tavernas try to relieve a monotonous row of rundown house fronts but its an uphill struggle.
At the far end of the esplanade are a number of concrete wharfs providing shelter for boats. There is a good folk museum which holds exhibitions in the summer as well as performances of traditional music and dancing

Just to the north along the coast out of Ormos Korthi are a trio of small beaches. Signs in Ormos point to the best at GRIAS PIDIMA, but the route through the back streets of Ormos is tortuous with a one-way system that appears to follow a river bed.
The road turns into narrow dirt track that hugs the vertiginous cliff making passing and parking a car a feat of driving and nerve. The first beach is MILOS, a favourite with windsurfers and home to a surfing school then VIDSI which has a small, nondescript shingle beach.
Finally comes GRIAS PIDIMA or Old Lady's Leap where a singular stone column stands above the sands. Legend has it that a pregnant woman was persuaded by Turks laying siege to Faneromi Castle to get the defenders to open the gates.
The Turks swarmed in and slaughtered everyone. The grief stricken woman threw herself from the cliff and the spectacular pillar of stone is the result.
It is certainly an impressive feature on a most impressive beach of shingle and sand, though the climb down is exceptionally steep and there is parking above for only a couple of cars.
Another beach at BOURO is no more than a thin strip of unattractive shingle and over the headland is another stony strip at MELISSA, accessible only by boat.


The main road south of Ormos Korthi takes a meandering trip through several villages along a wide, green and picturesque valley.
This is a region where the well-heeled have set up home when Ormos was a thriving commercial port serving ships heading for Istanbul and Smyrna.
There are many fine houses to admire here as well as many dovecotes and chapels. AIDONIA has a beautiful fountain with a vaulted roof and marble decoration.
At MOSKIONAS there is a delightful church and at AGIA TRIADA a complex of ancient stone houses built in the traditional island style which, unfortunately, seemed to be abandoned when I visited.
The road rises into the hills at APATIA where small villages like MEGALO CHORIO, MORAKES and TZEO sit amongst some breathtaking scenery.
This is one of the best places for views of the terraced fields that ripple down hillsides almost everywhere in Andros.
Along the valley floor are abandoned windmills and above TZEO one of the best examples of a dovecote on the island.
The more adventurous can take the pathway that leads right down the valley to join a dirt track below AGIA MARINA and back to Ormos Korthi.


The south-west coast of Andros has little of interest for the visitor. At STAVOPEDRA, is an ugly crossroads in the middle of nowhere notable only for the large amount of rubbish that seems to collect. Here the road forks, with Hora to the east, Korthi to the south and a small road leading down to the sea at the isolated and bare beach of stone and pebble at CHALKOLIMNIONA.
There is an important ancient site at ZAGORA, which was the main settlement on Andros between 900 and 700BC. The village was built on a naturally fortified promontory, overlooking the sea, and was excavated in the 1960s and 1970s. The sea views makes it worth the visit.
Models of the site and various artifacts are on display at the museum in Hora but entrance to the actual site is forbidden and there are fences and warning signs to keep people out.
There is also an archaeological site nearby at IPSILLI which unfortunately appears to be permanently fenced off with warnings against trespass. There are beaches here too at PRASINI AMMOS and at KOUTSI but they are only accessible by boat or by foot if you fancy a steep scramble through the wild undergrowth.
Nearer Batsi is the beautiful village of PALEOPOLI or PALEOPOLIS, built on a steep hill and with vegetation so lush you can hardly make out the houses. As the name implies Paleopoli was a major settlement in ancient times and the remains of the former town can be seen submerged beneath the sea.
Many artifacts unearthed at Paleopoli can be seen in the museum at Hora but there is a small archaeological museum in the village that opens on Wednesdays only. There are steps leading down from the main road to the long exposed Paleopoli beach but get fit before you tackle them - there are 1,039.
Andros is the most northerly and the second largest island of the Cyclades island group. It is about 374 sq km, about 40km long an 17km wide. The coastline is about 110km. Four mountainous hill ridges cross the island east to west. The island is also crossed east to west by four rivers which run all year round.
The coastline of Andros is very indented with many small bays. Cultivated areas are small and mostly found in the valleys where there is good soil and abundant water. Andros is known for its mineral springs, the most noted at Apikia and springs contain salts of sodium, calcium and magnesium and chloride salts of potassium, sodium, magnesium, aluminium and silicon oxide. The spring water is bottled and is sold all over Andros.
The main cross-island route is west out of Hora then north along the coast to Gavrio. Old donkey trails have been preserved and restored and now make for fine walking routes.

Although neighbouring Tinos has more and better dovecotes there are still enough intricately designed dovecotes on Andros to make them an island highlight.
Dovecotes are dotted all over the island and are a legacy of the Venetians who kept doves for both sport and for meat.
If the dovecote towers on Andros are nowhere near as impressive as those on neighbouring Tinos, they are still very fine nevertheless.
Most are two-storey affairs; the upper part housing the doves and the lower is usually used as a storeroom. Entrances for the doves were created by triangular arrangements of the slate-like schist stone that is found all over Andros.
The triangle motif is found everywhere on Andros island buildings as a decorative feature. On the quayside at Gavrio a dovecote has been turned into a tourist office.

The most northern of the Cyclades and just couple of hours from Athens by ferry, the island has become festooned with holiday homes and weekend cottages.
But many older buildings have used the island bedrock of crystallised schist in their construction, giving rise to some unique building methods.
This is nowhere more in evidence than in the walls that were built to contain the extensive terracing on many of the hills across the island, a legacy of when the land was tilled by hundreds of small farming families.
Some liken the walling to works of art while others think it a complicated mess. Large vertical slabs are often infilled with smaller, horizontally laid stones, giving the walls a stuttered, concertina look.
The technique in both interesting and effective as many of the walls, built on incredibly steep slopes, have lasted for centuries.
Fly from all major European airports.
Details in most European languages and currencies.
Andros has no airport so most visitors fly to Athens then catch a bus to Rafina in order to hop on one of the regular daily ferries to Andros.
Athens International Airport is located about 27km east of Athens. The airport was built in 2001 at a total cost of around €2.1 billion.
Officially, Athens Airport is called Elefterios Venizelos Airport and it handles about 11 million passenger every year.
There are all the facilities you might expect at a large modern international airport including more than 50 shops and 14 restaurants.
The airport has a particularly good Archaeological and Antiquities Museum. There is short and long-term parking for 4,800 cars
The problem is that connections rarely seem to coincide and many incoming flights will miss the last ferry.
This can often mean an overnight stop in Athens or in the port of Rafina. One UK holiday firm regularly left customers arriving in the evening to bed down on the airport floor for the night before boarding the early morning ferry to Andros.
Buses from Athens Airport to Rafina can be found just outside the airport terminal and services run daily between 6am and 11pm.
The journey time from Athens to Rafina is about 50 minutes so allowances have to be made for catching the ferry if you want to avoid a night in the airport or sleeping in the ferry port.
You can also take a taxi to Rafina and there are plenty of taxis available at the airport , but this is a very expensive option.
• The Liligo search engine finds hundreds of cheap flights to Greece and the Greek islands
• Flightline has been providing cheap flights to Greece, holidays and accommodation for over 20 years
Andros is on a major ferry route from Rafina to the Cyclades islands and the journey by boat takes about 2 hours, docking at Gavrio on the north coast. There are usually at least four ferries each day throughout the day. The main boats are the Super Ferry, The Penelope and the Athena Express.
The catamaran Haroula Supercat also makes a daily sailing. Other options include the Flying Dolphin and the Sea Jet catamaran. The faster ships do the journey in about one hour. There are regular connections to Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Syros, and Tinos.
There are also sailing from Mykonos with a journey time of just over 2 hours, quicker by Flying Dolphin and the Sea Jet. These faster boats don't sail during the low season.
Summer ferry schedules may not be confirmed until April or May, and not published until then.
The information is as accurate as I can make it but note that ferry schedules can change at any time.
Car or moped hire is highly advisable on Andros because bus services are limited and the island is too big to reach all the many places of interest on foot. There is a regular bus service between Gavrio and Hora, passing through Batsi. Buses usually meet the ferries and the service is quite reliable.
Cars, bikes and bicycles are available for hire in Gavrio, Batsi and Hora. Taxis are also available in these three main centres. Some of the beaches can be reached by water taxi. Water taxis connect all the popular beaches on the west and local travel agents will organise excursions inland for a price.
Andros is criss-crossed with many walled donkey trails or 'moni' but walking can be difficult as Andros is very hilly. Although the moni track system is extensive, some walls have collapsed and others overgrown with thorns. Information on local maps is not always reliable but the best are the Road Edition and also the Andros Touring and Hiking Guide which is sold in shops on the island. The scenery on Andros is particularly good as the island seems to be littered with old or ruined buildings and water mills, especially in the south, and a huge number of remote churches.
Andros has a good range of holiday accommodation, catering mainly for Athenian visitors who flock to the island at weekends during the summer. Most of the hotels and apartments are found around the island's only major beach resort at Batsi on the west coast. But there is also good accommodation at the port of Gavrio in the north and at the Andros capital town of Hora on the east coast.
Ferry passengers at the port of Gavrio can expect to see plenty of room owners touting for trade along the waterfront. There are plenty of rooms here and for those on a budget there is a camping site at Gavrio about 300m from the port.
Most visitors however head south to the beach at Batsi where there are plenty of hotels, apartments and rooms to let. Large hotels occupy the prime position at the back of the beach but there are several hotel complexes at small beaches along this part of the coast, with Agia Marina the most notable.
Andros Town, or Hora, on the east coast has plenty of rooms and small hotels as well as many family-run guest houses and self-catering apartments as well as upmarket hotel accommodation. It can cost a bit more here, especially in summer, as this is the preferred destination for wealthy visitors from Athens.
There are also rooms to be found at Ormos Korthiou, in the south-east , but there is little here in the way of beaches although this is a good base for exploring Andros with plenty of mountain trails in this part of the island. There are a number of traditional houses and villas to rent, usually through travel agents in Gavrio and Batsi, in peaceful areas well away from the tourist hotspots.
North-eastern shores of Andros tend to be very windy but overall the climate is mild and dry. June to September the daily temperatures can top of 26°C. May and October are a little cooler. It has a little more rain than most of the Cyclades and that, along with plenty of natural springs, make the island very green in the valleys.
| JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | Averages |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 15 | Day °C |
| 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 | Night °C |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 4 | Sun (hrs) |
| 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | UV Index |
| 91 | 66 | 58 | 29 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 50 | 66 | 95 | Rain(mm) |
| 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | Rainy days |