If it where not for the fact my wife has booked us to go to corfu i`d be back on samos next year its a great little island.

ooh really borismab! Where did you stay when you were in Samos?

1) Chuck package brochures in the bin.
2) Book a 3 week return air ticket.
3) Go.
Samos is not unspoiled any more as there are quite a lot of charter flights from northern europe which has caused a considerable amount of development in their wake, fortunately not too much. If Samos is laidback nearby islands must be comatose....

On the north coast you could try Kokkari which is a fair size of place these days having turned from hippy haunt to mainstream tourism over the decades, losing it's charm a bit with samey cafes along the seafront and an ugly breakwater attached to the once picturesque rock with the wee houses, but still OK. Unfortunately these days Limonaki and Tsamadou beaches just to the west are now solid with sunbeds. You can easily reach Karlovassi from here, west of Karlovassi is good hike along the coast from Potami-Mikro Seitani-Megalo Seitani.

Kokkari is cheaper than Pythagorio for accomodation.

On the South coast Pythagorio is a harbour tourist town place, there are beaches to the west or rather beach as far as Ireon, boat to beaches at Psili Ammos (very good). It is also a good place to take the ferry 'Nissos Kalymnos' or hydrofoil to the islands to the South. Patmos and Lipsi are pretty close and quiet, both have a good selection of tavernas and beaches.

Samos is a good hiking island and is well known for it. Apart from the one previously mentioned, there are others starting from small N.coast villages up into the mountains, and many more.
There are daily ferries to Ikaria island, give it a try.

went to Samos last month and stayed in Samos Town

Loved it - different from other places really, very laid back, very friendly people

Book it

Dear Karen,

Went to Samos 3 years ago and loved it. Stayed in Kalami, just outside Samos Town. Hired a car and explored this large Island. Not many Brits, loads of Dutch and Germans.

Rhombus - really are there not many brits there? I don't really mind this but just as I don't want somewhere to be too British I don't want it to be too German either!!!

Ouzo - why chuck the brochures in the bin? Why does it matter whether I book with a package holiday firm or independently - either way it will be a flight landing on the island and tourism - doesn't matter which way I do it. Booking a package is just a bit easier for me, plus while we intend hiring a car and exploring and may well visit Patmos I don't want to travel around too much. My job is quite full on and I do like to relax on my hols!

Sorry not very exciting am I?

Dear Karen

Forgot to mention the Italians as well. Not a problem for us we like meeting others from the continent. A Dutch fellow I met had booked with Thomas Cook and payed far less for his holiday than ours booked in England. Don't worry you will find enough Brits but unlike somewhere like Skiathos, they are not in your face all the time. Mainly an Island for couples and those with younger children. I would imagine that if children were 15 or over it may be considered too quiet for them.
Go and enjoy !

Rhombus - thanks! It sounds perfect, just right for us.

You mentioned Skiathos, although Samos is my clear favourite at the moment I have been looking at Skiathos - do you not really rate it?

Samos is beautiful - certainly our favourite Greek Island.

We stayed at the Ino Village Hotel in Kalami just outside Samos Town. A lovely small hotel with very comfortable sun loungers. Bit of a trek into Samos Town but taxis are cheap if you can't face the walk. The hotel is available with Thomsons.

Pythagorio is lovely with many tavernas around the small harbour.

It has a very nice new airport as well - small but there are not many airlines that fly in from the UK so it is able to cope very well.

We will be back again some day.

Pippa

Dear Karen,

We have visited Greek Islands for the past 10 years. Skiathos was our first trip and back then it had everything going for it i.e. Direct Flights, Beautiful Beaches, Quiet ( perfect for young children ), Fantastic value for money, lots of choice of 2 Bedroomed Apartments, locals very hospitalble and good food.
We went to Skiathos ( koukounaries ) this summer and were very disappointed. Some of the locals had bad attitudes that were not apparent years ago, some areas of the Island have been massively developed
( Troulos/Aghia Pareskevi ). It was harder to find beaches that were quieter, this normally involved long walks ( 30-40 minutes ). But the worse thing was the lack of value for money. Everything was expensive, I am not relating it to England, but the rest of the Islands we have visited. Last year we went to Lesbos and found it to be like Skiathos used to be years ago.
So if you want my recommendation for another island to visit, go to Lesbos and stay in either Petra/Anaxos.

p.s. We still met people who loved Skaithos who were not concerned about expense and had been to other islands.

Karen we`ve stayed twice at the Anthis apts which is 2 mins from airport and a 20 min stroll from Pythagorion which is the islands buisiest resort,
if you go you will find a lot of skandinavians there as opposed to germans and brits,we like the island that much we`re looking to buy somewhere on the island in the not to distant future. as i said above Pythagorion is supposed to be the buisiest resort on the island but its not that busy to put me off and i hate crowds,there are plenty of good restaurents and bars there and theres two disco`s if you want that sort of thing

Rhombus - thanks for your help! I have already been to Petra in Lesbos and loved it - it had a rugged beauty to it and we spent loads of time walking and cycling. My favourite pastime was sitting in the square near the sea and watching the world go by....ahhh bliss!

Borismab, I am very keep on Pythagorion. And its a great advert for the place that you are thinking of buying over there!

My latest problem is that prices to Samos seem to be going up, I got a good deal on Thomson the other day and now the price seems to have shot up.....v. annoying!! Kosmar doesn't seem to be that cheap either.

So it is with a heavy heart that I might have to look at other islands that seem to be coming up quite a bit cheaper. (its been an expensive year so can only afford a cheap-ish holiday)!

Karen - we went to the Ino Village as well - as recomended by Pippa

fabulous place - we booked DIY

booked the flight with thompsons - same one as the package holiday and booked the hotel with Medhotels, saving over £100 per head (4 of us so £400 in total)

so a week B&B cost us £250 each in September

Have been to Skiathos as well, its more comercialised than Samos, but still ok, prefer Samos though.

I found there to be a good mix of nationalities, lots of Aussies funnily enough - dont worry about being too many germans - its not the case at all

went to samos in july we stayed in potokaki which is about 25 min walk from Pythagorion .
potikaki is a very quiet resort (apart from the odd plane) and very popular with the greeks. most evenings we walked into Pythagorion with its lovely harbour and water front tavernas(and some excellent ones in the side streets). i would recommend hiring a car to explore the island.
over the years we have been to many greek islands and would say that samos is the most "unspoilt " we liked it so much we hope to return next year

Karen. Try Parga. I've been to Skiathos (I thought expensive and commercialised (some people would say cosmpolitan ) - they have a McDonalds ) Nothing much other than loads of beaches. Loved Lesvos (Petra) but it was about 9 years ago so dont know what it's like now but we found it very Greek but a little barren. We love Parga for the the history, scenery, OMG I could go on and on. Kefalonia is also a favourite of ours but since we visited Parga, dont want to go anywhere else.

Pargaluvva shame on you

Don't tell anybody about how nice and pretty Parga is and how friendly everybody is there, they will all want to go

Graham (who wants to keep Parga a secret)

Graham. I couldn't help myself. I just love Parga :love2. I keep thinking I shouldn't go on how wonderful Parga is (like you say let's keep it a secret). Gail :

Guys - I have actually been eyeing Parga in the Kosmar brochure!!! It looks beautiful and is definitely on one of my "places to visit" list!!!

Any thoughts on Stoupa and Tolon?