SYMI - Dodecanese

Symi is a delightful and very pretty island close to Rhodes. Whatever you do, whether you like walking or not, you should give Symi a try! It is a VERY charming place. Symi may be a little more expensive than the average Greek island, basically because it attracts a lot of daytrippers from Rhodes. But if you pick your choices well (and stay out of high season of course), this island will be a real treat. Anyway, when the daytrippers leave in the afternoon, the island is always restored to its peaceful self.

Food is generally very good, even if a little pricey at some outlets. If you really want to splash out (and have an appetite for really good wine), you should try the Hellenikon Wine Restaurant, where you can choose between 140 very good Greek wines (70 reds and 70 whites!), at a price... At least take a look inside the wine cellar... You should also sample some home made pancakes (with liqueur!) at Pat's Bar. Delicious!

Symi has several excellent paths left (I am referring to the general experience, with beautiful nature etc., NOT the surface conditions, which in some cases are horrible! Good, solid mountain boots only, please!). Not all paths are suitable for the fainthearted.

Update (Two walkers in the summer of 2001 has these recommendations): There are good and relatively cheap internet cafés in Symi. With respect to restaurants, we would particularly recommend one in Horio called Taverna Giorgios. Be sure to get there early, as the place is widely recognized for its good cooking and good service. They take their pride in displaying their foods before orders are taken. Of course, any tourist having visited Symi simply must visit the Hellenikon Wine Restaurant.

Selected walks:

For all my walks basically follow Marc Dubin's directions in his book Trekking in Greece (referred to below as /Dubin/, now out of print). There is also a booklet by Lance Chilton called Walks in Symi (as /Chilton/). A newer book is Rhodes Karpathos Kos Southern Dodecanese by Dieter Graf (referred to below as /Graf/). On the web visit Symi Holiday and Travel Guides, Walks, photos, Beaches and Visitor Information for the Greek Island of Simi by Foxy's Island Walks.

◉ 1 Walk from Gialos to Agia Marina, Pedhi and back: (duration about 3 hours) This walk is Trek 3 in /Dubin/ and trip #6 in /Chilton/.

It is easy to find and easy to follow, although the path itself (to Agia Marina) is very stony and tough. Good boots are required! You can just forget the "BK" markings that Marc talks about, they are just confusing. The whole path to Agia Marina is marked with red blobs, anyway. You will enter the bay of Agia Marina by its right flank (as seen from the sea). From the left flank, the path to Pedhi is marked in blue. From Pedhi you just take the road back to Horio.

◉ 2 Walk from Gialos to Agios Emilianos (and back): (duration about 6 hours) This walk is Trek 1 in /Dubin/ and walk 40 in /Graf/.

Also pretty easy to follow from Marc's descriptions, the only difficult part is to find where to start. The local maps did not look helpful at all, either. Marc says to take off behind hotel Haris, the Rough Guide mentions another hotel name. But none of these could be identified in real life, there was no signs to see. Instead leave the main square of Gialos from its left upper corner (as seen from the sea), and follow this street until it starts to ascend and veer off slightly to the right. At this point stop following the street and turn 45 degrees left. Then follow this stair street up, up and up. You will then realize that you are finally on the right track! From here you can more or less pick whatever path, goat track or even road (from the top of the island) you fancy, via Agios Fanurios or otherwise. Just get yourself to Ayii Anaryiri the fastest way you can find, and follow Marc's directions from there. You may need your strength later.

◉ 3 Walk from Gialos to Agios Vasilios: (duration about 4 hours) This walk is Trek 2 in /Dubin/, trip #12 in /Chilton/ and walk 39 in /Graf/.

Also easy to follow from Marc's descriptions. But again: Where should you start off? Marc's directions turned confusing when my town map of Gialos obviously put the Kataraktis stairs in a completely different place than him. What he does mean are the pretty overgrown donkey type stairs that goes up towards the big cliff around its western side. Take off from the upper left hand side of the main square, walk up towards where it should be, and you will soon see it. From the top of the stairs, try to find the upper right hand street as Marc says. Where this street ends some suspicious looking partly overgrown steps go up. On the top of these steps the path begins! If you can't find it, use the same approach as for the previous walk. Get yourself to the "top" of the island (what I mean is somewhere close to Ayii Anaryiri), walk 5 minutes back the jeep track (from the helipad) to the main road. Then walk 10 more minutes back this concrete road, and you will be at Mikhail Perinliotis probably in better shape anyway. Follow Marc's directions from here. But please don't stumble! And be VERY careful at the last 70m drop down to the sea!

Update (Summer 2001):

Two walkers tried these walks in the summer of 2001, with the additional help from /Chilton/:

◉ Yialos - Emborio - Yialos: This corresponds to trip #8 in /Chilton/. Duration 1.5 hours excluding time spent on the beach. The point of departure is easy to find by following Chilton’s instructions. The landscape is picturesque and there are also a well maintained kalderimi parts of the way. The view to Agios Merkourios from Emborio beach before descending down to the main road is very nice, and you’ll also see the fish farms from here. The local taverna offers ok greek salads, although not as nice as the restaurants in Yialos. We would have been much more pleased if it were served with fresh herbs. We returned to Yialos by following the main road, which was ok, but not as nice as the inland alternative.

◉ Mihail Perivliotis - Agios Vasilios/Lapatos beach (This is walk 3 above - Ed. Note): This corresponds to trip #12 in /Chilton/. There is no need for additional information. We would like to offer you an advise, though. Bring enough water! We were two persons, carrying a total of 5.5 litres of water. That was not enough. The last 60 minutes down to Yialos, therefore, were, well… hot.

◉ Yialos - Horio - Agia Marina - Pedi (This is walk 1 above - Ed. Note): This corresponds to trip #6 in /Chilton/. We reversed the route, and had some difficulties in finding the point of departure from Horio. We had to ask our way. According to Chilton, the descent to Agia Marina from Yialos is stony and uncomfortable. We don’t agree. Albeit stony, the path is ok, as long as your boots are good. Most of all, the view to Agios Nikolaos and Pedi from Agia Marina is simply magnificent. If you don’t want to walk all the way from Pedi to Yialos, there’s a bus which leaves every now and then, at least in the tourist season.

◉ Good starting points: • Gialos - all walks start from here

◉ How to get there: • By tour boat from Rhodes • By tour boat (hydrofoil) from Kos (once a week or so) • By ferry from some islands, most importantly Rhodes, who has daily connections • By ferry from the mainland • By hydrofoil from some Dodecanese islands

◉ More info: • The Symi Visitor • Symi Holiday and Travel Guides, Walks, photos, Beaches and Visitor Information for the Greek Island of Simi by Foxy's Island Walks

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This page was last modified at June 25, 2008.