Holidays in Samos are usually not much trouble to organise. The airport at Pythagorio on the south coast takes all the island charter traffic and domestic flights while the main ferry port is Samos Town in the north. Ferries link Samos with the Dodecanese and Cyclades islands as well as other islands in the north-eastern Aegean. Ferries also run from Samos to the port of Kousadasi in Turkey. Once there visitors soon discover that Samos is large and that regular public transport only goes to the most popular resorts. A car or bike is a must for those on a Samos holiday who want to see the whole island.
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Samos International Airport (SMI), offically titled Aristarchos Airport, is located about 3km outside Pythagorion in the south of the island and about 10km from the capital port of Samos Town.
The international airport was opened in 1960 and it is relatively small but it was upgraded in 2003 so services are generally good, although delays can be expected in the high summer.
There are taxis and buses available, although the bus service is not a dedicated airport shuttle bus so you may have to wait for it to arrive.
Olympic Airways have three flights daily (five in summer) from the Greek capital of Athens. Flight time from Athens is about 45 minutes.
There are twice weekly flights to Thessaloniki and Air Manos also flies to Athens, Thessaloniki and the islands of Mykonos and Santorini. Aegean Airlines also has flights to the capital.
There is a regular daily Samos bus service operated by KTEL that serves the airport: Samos Town – Pythagorio – Airport – Ireon and back five times a day and a service direct to Samos Town three times daily. There are details here.
Taxis are available to various resorts and drivers will display fares on placards. In the high season it's best to book in advance to get to the airport as taxis will be difficult to find.
There is short-term and long-term car parking. available and several car hore companies have offices at the airport so car hire on arrival should not be a problem.
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Samos has good daily ferry connections. The main port of Samos is at Vathi (Samos Town) with other ports at Karlovassi in the north-west and Pythagorio in the south.
Ferries from Piraeus (Athens) and the Cyclades island usually call at Karlovassi and at Samos Town. Ferry services from these two ports go to the neighbouring islands of Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kalymnos and Kos.
There are also regular links to Samos from Paros and Naxos via Ikaria, Fourni by GA Ferries. Samos Ships run services to nearby islands almost daily and both Kallisti Ferries and Hellenic Seaways have routes to Syros and Ikaria.
Hydrofoils to the Dodecanese islands depart regularly from Samos Town and Pythagorio. The Nissos Kalymnos sails from Pythagorio to Agathonissi, Arki, Patmos, Leros and also from Lipsi to Kalymnos.
Aegean Flying Dolphins run fast services from Pythagorio to Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kalymnos and Kos. There are further ferry links to Rhodes and Symi and north to Chios, Lesvos, Limnos and the mainland at Thessaloniki, Alexandroupoli and Kavala.
Samos is on the main North Aegean and Dodecanese routes from Alexandroupoli to Rhodes. Also Samos has daily ferries to Kousadasi in Turkey for visitors who want to see the ancient monuments of Ephesus.
Samos is a popular island and offers a wide range of accommodation for both tour groups and island-hoppers. Luxury hotel complexes are found on the south coast around Pythagorio along with plenty of basic rooms and self-catering studios. The big hotels are usually block booked in advance by package tour operators so you will need to book ahead in the high summer months. You may also struggle in the capital Samos Town in August when rooms are most heavily booked. The cheapest rooms can be found in the hillside area of Katsouni, above the Samos Town ferry port as the waterfront hotels tend to be booked well in advance.
The popular port of Kokkari on the north coast has pretty well surrendered to the package holiday industry and you will be lucky to find rooms to rent here in the main season. Pythagorio, in the south, has plenty of hotels but little for independent travellers. Room owners do meet the ferries as they pull in but the numbers are usually small. Visitors should try the tourist information booth on the main street of Logotheti for any vacant rooms.
Hotels and self-catering studios are plentiful along the south coast beach resorts beyond Pythagorio, including Ballos, Ormos Marathokambos and Votsalakia. The main north coast port of Karlovassi may not be the most attractive town but there are usually plenty of budget hotels and cheap rooms available.
If you rent a car or bike you will find the main roads in good repair, but this is a big island and cross island journeys over the mountains can be tiring. There are fairly good bus services between the main resorts. .
KTEL runs excellent services on the Pythagorio - Samos Town routes and the Samos Town - Kokkari - Karlovassi routes, but for smaller resorts services can be infrequent and not particularly geared for tourists.
KTEL runs full day round trips of Samos each Sunday starting and finishing in Samos Town and calling at Pythagorio, Ireon, Hora, Monastery of the Holy Cross (Timiou Stavrou), Koumaradei, Pyrgos, Koutsi, Votsalakia, Karlovasi, Valley of Nightingales and Kokkari. Tickets at € 20 must be booked in advance of the Samos Town information office.
There is also a half-day round island trip on Wednesday calling at Monastery of Spilliani, Evpalinos Tunnel, the Monastery of Megali Panagia, and the Mytilini Paeleontology Museum. Samos Public Buses provide details of bus routes, timetables and prices. Samos Online also has a KTEL Samos bus timetable but it is a a 2007 version which may be a tad out of date now.
The major resorts of Samos Town and Pythagorio are well served by taxis. The main taxi station in Samos Town is on the main waterfront and there are always at least half a dozen taxis waiting there. It is the same in Pythagorio where the taxi centre is on the main street just at the junction with the harbour waterfront.
Water taxis are
