TILOS - Dodecanese

Tilos is a small and very pleasant island between Nissiros and Symi. It is a blissful tranquil heaven inhabited by very friendly people. The food is excellent and cheap. The taverna Blue Sky served probably the best Stifado I have ever tasted, among other delicious treats. I actually had dinner there every evening (for four days), which is not something that tempts me often... But grave news have arrived, plans to vastly increase tourism exist, so if you want to see this island in its original state, you might have to hurry!

Tilos even has its small share of sightseeing. Most notably the hillside villages of Mikro Horio (deserted and in ruins) and Megalo Horio (the "capital" of the island), and some castles.

Tilos has some very nice paths left that will keep you busy for a few days, at least. Most of the paths are rather short and pretty undemanding, making this island a very relaxed experience. Many decent beaches can be found on the way, where you can enjoy a nice swim in more or less complete solitude.

Two walkers in the summer of 2001 has these recommendations: There are good and relatively cheap internet cafés in Tilos. The obvious place to eat is the Blue Sky. However, we would also heartedly recommend Sofias, which lies on the beach and away from the harbour.

Selected walks:

For walks, see Trekking in Greece by Marc Dubin (referred to below as /"Dubin/", now out of print). A newer book is Rhodes Karpathos Kos Southern Dodecanese by Dieter Graf (referred to below as /Graf/). Also buy the blue map Nisos Tilos, it is pretty good, all the useful paths are registered although their tracing may be a little off at some points (see below).

◉ 1 Walk from Livadia around the southeastern tip of the island, including the beach of Tholos (basic duration about 4 hours): This one variation of the "Eastern Loop" in /Dubin/. The basic walk is also walk 43 in /Graf/.

Just follow the book, or use the blue map. This path is easy to find and easy to follow. Waymarks are also good. Other sidetrips than Tholos beach are also easy to find.

◉ 2 Walk from Livadia to Amokhosti, Lethra and Mikro Horio (basic duration 3 hours, add your beach and sightseeing time): The start of this walk is the "Léthra Beach" walk in /Dubin/, my continuation can be found on the blue map. The very last part of the walk is the "Mikró Horió" walk in /Dubin/, but in reverse. The entire walk is walk 42 in /Graf/, but in reverse.

Find the sign in Livadia that points to the path for Lethra beach. Use the map to find the sidetrip to Amokhosti. The goat track down are also marked with piles of stone, and should be easy to find. After Amokhosti get yourself back up to the main path, and continue. The track down to Lethra beach is also clearly marked. After Lethra, again, get yourself back up to the main path, and continue. But after just a few meters the path dissolves. If you want to continue to Mikro Horio you will have to pick the best goat track you can find up and across the hill to your left. Use the map to get about the right direction for Mikro Horio. But beware the map tracing of the track, it is up the wrong hill, across the ravine to your right! You WILL have to cross a small ravine though, further up. An good spot should be easy to find as long as you keep moving up and in a south/southwest direction. After a while waymarks WILL start to appear (piles of stone). Follow the waymarks as good as you can, and they will take you up to a very narrow path. Just continue on this path as long as the waymarks tell you. After a while the path forks. Almost straight ahead, ascending up the steep hill, is the continuation of the path, but do as the stone piles tell you and take the right fork, down into a narrow, but green and fertile valley. When you are down, just follow this valley up towards the southwest on the obvious path. Eventually the valley splits in two. Do not follow any of the forks, just continue straight ahead up the bank, and you will reach a flat grass landscape. Waymarks will again show that you are on the right track. Now just follow the best track you can find towards the main road (and Mikro Horio). Cross the road and continue on your favorite goat traces. Eventually you must bump into an old stone "road", between stone walls, that will take you all the way up to the old ruined town of Mikro Horio.

From Mikro Horio you can reverse /Dubin/'s directions to this "town" to get yourself back to Livadia. You should confirm directions with the up to date map.

◉ 3 Walk from Megalo Horio to Eristos beach (duration 20 minutes of fast walking): Use the map and pick whatever road, dirt track or path you like!

◉ 4 Walk from Megalo Horio to the Castle (duration ?): I did not do it. Is it worth the effort? There are reportedly only remains of a few walls left...

Update I (Summer 2001):

Two walkers tried out these walks in the summer of 2001:

◉ Livadia - Mikro Horio - Lethra - Amokhosti - Livadia (This is walk 2 above, but in reverse - Ed. Note): We encountered some problems in finding the descent to Lethra Beach from Mikro Horio. The point of departure from the main road is not obvious. We had to ask our way. Even so, choosing the right side of the ravine was difficult enough, and it took some time before we ended up the right place. The right thing to do is to start on the right hand side of the ravine. We descended from Mikro Horio to the road by taking the opposite path/stairs than the dirt road from the main road to Mikro Horio. When you reach the road from the path, make sure you turn right on the main road, and follow it for about 15 minutes before a 5 minutes walk on a dirt road on the left takes you to the ravine. Albeit that it is easier to find the path from Lethra/Amokhosti beach, we certainly can recommend to reverse the trip, as we did. You will get a magnificent view of the sea when descending through the ravine and walking back to Livadia.

◉ Livadia - Agios Ioannis - Despoti Nero (This is another variation of the "Eastern Loop" in /Dubin/, see walk 1 above - Ed. Note): A nice alternative to Tholos is the Despoti Nero beach. The Despoti Nero is actually a source, but the beach is pretty close. You will almost be certain to have the beach for yourself. However, you will need a good pair of boots, as the hills are stony and steep. Bring enough water. No shelter from the sun is offered on the entire trip. Finding the place is easy: just follow the road along the beach in Livadia to the opposite end, take the ascending road to the right, then take the path further and start descending to the left where you se a smaller path. Bring along the Nisos Tilos map.

Update II (Autumn 2003):

The initial path from Livadia for walk 2 above has slid into the sea. Hopefully this can be repaired.

◉ Good starting points: • Livadia - most walks starts from here, bus to Megalo Horio • Megalo Horio - some (less interesting?) walks starts here

◉ How to get there: • By ferry from some islands • By ferry from the mainland • By hydrofoil from some Dodecanese islands

◉ More info: • Tilos - Home - Tilos Municipality website • Tilos Park - an international, environmental and non-profit NGO based on the island of Tilos • Tilos Travel Guide by Konstantinos Mentzelopoulos

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This page was last modified at June 25, 2008.