attrillhelen
- May 19, 2022
- 7 min read

Marvellous, mindful Milos

Updated: May 21, 2022

After the buzz of crowds and history in Athens and the immensity of mountain hikes in Naxos and Santorini, I feared that my addition of the island of Milos to my itinerary might be end up an anticlimax. I was aware that Milos, also an island of the Cyclades was not known to be as slick as Santorini: forget hotels with individual swimming pools overlooking the beach, but also that Milos was far less touristed. I added Milos to my Greece itinerary through having learnt about it through a couple who stayed at my house through homexchange.com in January. My hosts Rod and Petrinella run a guest house and kayaking business they have explicitly noted on both the business website and the home exchange profile that the guesthouse is not directly on the beach. I guess many patrons expect that everywhere on the Greek islands should have a sea view. This did not bother me, however as I have experienced a plethora of sea views up until now and looked forward to a different experience. Upon arrival I was met with cheery welcomes from those both outside and inside the tiny bar. The combination of guest house with bar and small restaurant in the evening and breakfast in the morning is a winner for gathering people. Most of the people staying there when I visited were Europeans from Switzerland, Austria and Denmark who were keen on the kayaking. Rod would visit each breakfast table in the morning to explain their route and techniques for the day; wind was all important and dictated which of a series of routes was to be tackled. After an evening introduction, I was invited to go on a day’s hiking as a guest. Fearful of not being able to keep up with the experts, Rod reassured me that I would kayak in tandem with him.

Colourful fisherman's huts or cottages at Klima.

On my arrival afternoon, I went for a walk through the near silent town. An old gentleman was hand watering his giant field of tomato plants, carefully pouring water into each well.

A local farmer watering his plants by hand. In the background is the Castle on the hill at Plaka.

I was intending to visit nearby Plaka, but signs such as ‘Catacombs’ and ‘Ancient Theatre’ beckoned instead. The catacombs were closed but the walk down to the periphery was still worth the journey for the stunning sea view alone. The Ancient Theatre was not only open to the public and visible, but, at 6.30 pm, silent and uninhabited. After the throbbing crowds of Athens’ Parthenon and Santorini’s Fira to Oira walk, I felt privileged to have this place to myself and imagined what sort of theatre would have occurred here in the past. I noticed that there were special scene boxes and that distinguished this theatre from others. The theatre is said to date back to the Hellenistic period but has been developed during the Roman era, and this is what can be seen. There is a cavea with seven marble rows of seats, an orchestra pit, the floor of the stage building and elaborate architectural details. In its past, this amphitheatre would have held around 7,000 in its audience but has been reduced in size over the years. However, it can now fit around 700 and performances still occur here.

The Roman Theatre from the seating area.

One of the scene boxes at the Roman Theatre.

Looking down on the Roman Theatre and that wonderful sea view.

The Roman theatre, one of the frequent ferries and a looming storm.

On my first evening, after drying myself off from the rain, I joined the locals at Petrinella’s Guesthouse, and found an eclectic audience. Maybe it was the affordability. Wine was 1.50EUR per glass (around $2.30AUD)! Many of the patrons would order a round of ouzos which were accompanied with snacks including grilled octopus. I was fortunate to be invited to a table with other kayakers from Switzerland and got to join them with an after-dinner ouzo and conversation. The rest of the tiny pub was filling up (this was at around 9pm on a Sunday) with: old men, young men, who stood at the bar chatting with the barman, groups of young people in their 20s, families with young children eating the ice creams sold at the pub and a baby in a stroller. I plied Petrinella for information about closing hours and learnt that she is often open until 1am, sometimes even 3am, at all days of the week (except Monday, when they close except to provide breakfast for those staying at the hotel). Rod tells me she has an afternoon nap every day; I think this is well deserved!

On my second day in Milos, Rod let me off the hook from kayaking as the wind wasn’t right for the day he had planned. During my exploration of the Hellenistic/ Roman amphitheatre the night before, I had become so lost in the moment that I suddenly realised it had not only started to get dark but was raining. On Day 2 I walked to Klima, a pretty village I had seen in the guide to Milos, which turns out was right over a hill from the amphitheatre and catacombs, so I allowed myself yet another visit to these significant sites.

Various views of the colourful Klima huts.

Klima village has less than 20 permanent residents and a few cats. Most of the residents are either fishermen or those running the one restaurant and accommodation. The town is popular with tourists for the ‘syrmata’, the small, two-level houses used by local fisherman especially last century. The ground level was used for boat storage and the first floor was used as their residence. They are popular for being painted with bright colours. Historically, the first inhabitants of the area were Dorians who arrived there in the 7th century BC as evidenced by the Ancient Theatre and Catacombs, and also the discovery of the famous Venus Di Milo Statue in the area in the 19th century. The tiny town packs a punch!

Sitting in my apartment after my three-hour hike, was interrupted by the sounds of clucking chickens and crowing roosters, sometimes joined by church bells clanging. As I hung out my washing, an elderly neighbour over the road was doing the same and she gave me a knowing smile. As I was walking home, I noticed young teenagers walking home from a bus stop at 2pm. I learnt that students attend school from 8.30-2pm, then go home for lunch and maybe a nap. Maybe that’s how they can stay out late every night.

On Day 3 I knew there was no way of getting out of it; I was going to be kayaking with other experts. However, knowing that I was with Rod made me feel completely safe. Today’s trip that Rod chose for me, knowing it was ‘easier’ was evocatively entitled Klima and the bears. Sounding more like a Disney film than a kayaking trip, it is worth noting that the ‘bears’ turn out to be an amazing set of rocks, that, when looking at a particular angle, resemble a bear’s profile. But if that wasn’t enough, there were also rocks that resembled rabbits. This occurred around halfway along our kayaking. Fearful of losing my camera/phone into the sea, I did not take any photos on the excursion, but fortunately, Rod did and you can see them on his website: https://0.smugmug.com/Day-trips/All-2022-Photos/May-10-Klima-and-the-Bears/ Look out for some images of kayakers with what looks like caves in the background. These are catacombs. They are pumice stone cliffs in caves 150m above the surface of the sea. They were apparently used as a cemetery from the end of the 2nd century BC and are second only to the catacombs of Rome in dates. We kayaked through the gaps in rocks just before the bears. Rod is always aware of the ferries that occur several times per day, a they create the potentially dangerous ‘ferry waves’. Sometimes these waves occur several minutes after the ferries have passed so it can be a waiting game to see when the ferry wave has occurred. On this day, after waiting for some time, Rod assumed that the wave had passed, but suddenly a huge wave came, just as some of the kayakers were passing between the rocks. Credit goes to all of them though, as no fear was shown as they negotiated the rapids and passed between the rocks. Having always had a fascination with rapids I was thrilled to be kayaking with my safe instructor, and it was only when he pretended to turn the kayak over for a photo opp in the shallow waters that I squealed in fear! The bears are also known as Arkoudes in Greek.

Returning to the base was all hands on as kayaks were placed carefully back in the shed, gear was washed, and then it was back to Petrinella’s for an after kayak drink as we all squeezed into the tiny outdoors area at the front of the bar. For those on the one week package it would then be a case of repeating the program the next day, with a different journey.

During my mere four days in Milos I also visited Plaka, a nearby old town with a kastro (castle) on top of a hill. Once again, there were great views to be had from the top, but I found the streets and houses, some being rented for accommodation and some for sale just as interesting. I also visited Mandrakia, another fishing village, very similar to Klima. There were octopi drying outside ready to be served in the one restaurant there.

Although Milos , as an island of the Cyclades does not rank as highly for tourism as the big guns like Santorini and Mykonos, I found there were as many jewels to be found and enjoyed the less crowded aspect. All these islands boast some archaeology in addition to spectacular geography and the bluest seas. I only explored a very small part of the island in my four days there; if you are looking for a holiday to slow travel, without the hoards of tourists of other Greek islands, Milos is your spot!