Kos is one of the easiest of Greek islands to get to as the island has not only an airport taking charter planes from all over Europe but also a major harbour on the main Dodecanese ferry route from Rhodes to Athens (Piraeus). Daily ferries arrive at Kos Town and then continue to other islands of the Dodecanese.
Public transport around Kos island is also good, the only drawback being no regular bus service between the airport, in the middle of the island, and Kos Town on the coast, 26km to the east. Taxis are plentiful but, of course, they cost a lot more.
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Kos island airport is in the centre of the island just south of Mastichari and some 26km west of the islands capital port at Kos Town. It is known as Hippocrates Airport or Kos Ippokratis and has all the usual facilities.
Olympic Airways operates the only scheduled flights out of Kos, these are routes to Athens (three daily flights) and to Rhodes (about three a week).
International charter flights push up passenger numbers to more than 2m annually and the airport opens 24 hours-a-day over the summer months to cope with the traffic.
EasyJet now has new summer flights to Kos from Gatwick and Ryanir has cheap flights from Liverpool.
The 12 check-in desks and three baggage belts aren't enough prevent queues at peak times. Long queues can be expected on those days scheduled for charter flight departures and many visitors can end up queuing in the sun.
Despite the high traffic the airport is not particularly well equipped. There is a restaurant, a health centre, some shops and a cafe/bar but not much else. There are no banking or postal facilities at the airport and no hotels nearby either.
There is no public transport direct from the airport and most passengers take package tour shuttle buses, hotel minibuses or taxis.
Public transport is available on the large roundabout outside the airport gates with a KTEL service to Kos Town and services to the ferry port at Mastichari. There is parking for about 200 cars.
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Kos lies on main Dodecanese ferry routes, both from mainland Greece and the north Aegean, so there are many connections from Kos Town or from the north coast port resort at Mastichari, although the later mainly has ferries to Kalymnos where other ferries can be picked up.
There are daily ferries from Kos to Athens (Piraeus) (journey time 5-6hrs) that usually leave Kos harbour in the afternoon. The main Dodecanese route runs from Rhodes - Kos - Kalymnos - Leros - Lipsi - Patmos with several ferries each way each day. There are also sailings to the islands of Syros, Samos, Thessaloniki, Ikaria, Fourni, Amorgos, Kastellorizo, Astypalea, Nisyros, Telos, Leros, Mykonos, Paros, Agathonisi and Symi throughout the summer.
The harbour area at Kos Town is packed with ferry agents and travel offices with offers of scheduled services, boat trips and day excursions both for Kos and for other nearby islands.
There are daily boats to Bodrum (journey time 45 minutes) in Turkey leaving around 8.30am and returning at 4pm. Check the offers in the Kos harbour. Excursion boats also go to many Kos island beaches as well as to outlying islets such as Pserimos, Plati, Nisyros and Giali.
Such a popular holiday island as Kos is bound to offer a good range of holiday accommodation, from luxury hotels to cheap family-run domatia. However, it's not a great idea to turn up without a reservation in the high summer as many hotels are block booked by tour operators and they also close down when the season ends.
One of the best places to find rooms is Kos Town which has a large number of small family-run hotels. Many offer excellent value for money as they try to undercut the big hotels.
A cheaper alternative can be found 3km east at the popular Psalidi Camping Site which is the only official camping ground on Kos. Site facilities including a swimming pool, taverna, mini-market and laundry, with regular buses to Kos Town.
Psalidi also has a large stock of hotels, as do the nearest beach resorts of Tingaki and Marmari on the north coast which cater mainly for British and German package holidaymakers but do also have a good number of smaller hotels and apartments, especially Mastichari - a little more Greek than its neighbour and with a ferry port here as well.
In the south, Kardamena is the biggest resort and, although packed with hotels and apartments, the high demand tends to push up prices. The beaches of Kefalos Bay, further west, tend to be cheaper and, although geared to the demands of the cut-price package holiday market, there are many good small apartments to be found, especially on the hillside in Kefalos village proper.
Roads are reasonably good between the resorts with the main road from Kos Town to the airport and then on to Kefalos being the only road on Kos you could reasonably call busy. Car and motorbike hire in Kos Town is expensive and visitors may be better off booking online before they arrive. You will be hard put to find any cheaper deals on Kos.
There are a couple of tourist trains operated by KTEL. A green one does a round trip of Kos Town and a blue train ferries tourists to the nearby ruins at Asklepieion. The trains are pricey and slow but it is the only public transport to the Asklepieion from Kos Town.
The Kos Town buses (DEAS) run routes around the town while KTEL buses take you everywhere else on the island. Bus services to the main resorts are cheap and frequent.
Most DEAS town buses operate from the bus stop on the south side of Kos Town harbour. The main bus station is in Kos Town, on Kleopatras Street. Tickets are sold on the bus but they are up to 30% less in the bus station. There are 10 buses daily to Tingaki, six to Kefalos via Paradise beaches, five to Mastichari and Pyli, three daily to Zia.
Buses leave Kos Town every 30 mins to Psalidi and to Agios Fokas, Mesaria and Platani. Latest schedules are posted at Kos Town harbour and at the bus station. Timetables are available free of charge, both in Greek and in English. Kos island buses can get very crowded at peak times.
Taxis are plentiful and found mostly around the Kos Town harbour area, beneath the minaret, or across from the castle. All Kos drivers are expected to speak English but some don't.
Taxis fares are fixed (see Greek info pages) but it is often a good idea to negotiate a price before getting in. Note that customers pay extra for pre-booking at taxi from the hotel. With so many taxis about, calling a cab when you need one is no problem - and considerably cheaper.
Kos is mostly flat and ideal for walking and cycling. It is also one of the few, if not the only island to have dedicated cycle lanes over much of the island. The only road that is busy is the one from Kos Town to Kefalos, all the others have little traffic and are usually safe for cyclists. Don't try to heave your bike onto a bus, they won't let you.
There are about 4,000 cycles for hire on Kos and bike hire is available in many places at reasonable prices and cheapest if you hire for several days. Cycles come with locks so no need to worry about security but beware — all the bicycles look the same. It's a good idea to tie a coloured ribbon on it so you can spot which cycle is yours.
Marengo Books has excellent walking guides and walking maps of Kos and other islands.
