THE DESTINATION

The "Milos-Athens" route connects all the western Cycladic islands to Athens. It is an excellent parallel with 'classical' holidays abroad in a new place (country), with vacationers first main focus being in sun and beaches, followed by local gastronomy, and finally total resting and exploration of cultural and other contents. The only difference is that we do by boat, and not in one town but rather a region of islands.

This route is full of typical islands and villages, and represents the best the variety of Greece and its richness in offers. From very popular and scenic spots to secluded and isolated beaches, from rustic tavernas to luxury restaurants, from fresh open waters of the Aegean sea to hot thermal springs, from ancient sites to never habited islands, from fishing villages to art galleries...

The ideal traveller for this offer would be someone willing to split time into sailing & swimming, and discovery & relaxation.

The Cyclades archipelago

The Cyclades are considered to be one of the most beautiful archipelagos in the Mediterranean. The islands offer an amazing mix of wilderness and cosmopolitan places, and is best suitable for vacationers looking for peaceful holidays, sailors seeking laid back cruising with countless destinations, families in quest of relaxing slow tempo of the Mediterranean lifestyle, foodies willing to discover local delicacies, art, culture or fashion addicts searching for unique gems... All of that enhanced by hospitable people, uncrowded rustic places, scenic blue-white architecture surrounded by beautiful weather, deep blue waters and clear blue skies.

For those interested in history or geography, ancient ruins, myths and natural wonders are a particular delight.

Island hopping

Here is the list of major islands and towns/villages on our route. Their details, suggestions for ports, towns/villages, anchorages, bays, places of interests, cultural events, gastronomic ideas etc, together with useful links are made discoverable for you on their linked pages /Links available soon/.

This route has a limitted number of islands for us, and only one deserted (Poliegos) while all others are properly inhabited. And even more, pretty active throughout the whole year. All the islands we will encounter are offering very land and seafood product, with an abundance of various fish.
In the first part of the trip (Milos, Poliegos, Kimolos) we will concentrate more on beaches, swimming and laid back behaviour, while in the second (Sifnos, Serifos, Kythnos) some classical island hopping and discovery of local interests will be done. Two quite different modes of having holidays...

Once sails set, we will keep around the spectacular Milos in order to visit its numerous beaches, coves and cliffs. The triangle of the three islands, Milos-Poliegos-Kimolos is, actually, full of such spots. You can expect several nights under the sky, on anchorages, in this part of the journey with the wide Aegean sea in front of us. Poliegos is a properly deserted islands, today only with goats living on it, whileKimolos is an unspoiled, quite island with a little typical greek fishing port.

Once we had enough of the turquoise beaches and sea (if ever), we will slowly start moving towards Sifnos, a small cosmopolitan yet deeply traditional island famous for its crafts and high quality ceramics (good place for bespoke souvenirs to bring back), gastronomy and for having more than 350 churches and monasteries. Several towns to visit here while enjoying the stunning views, or just to wander in the lovely Apollonia and its art galleries,...

Seriously hilly and rocky Serifos is home to probably the most beautiful island capital Chora in the Cyclades.

For its beauty, the seriously hilly and rocky peaked landscape Serifos is among the Cyclades’ more famous islands. The stylish Chora is not among the most beautiful capitals of all Cyclades. Famed for its sugar-cubed houses, incredible number of pristine beaches and steadfast traditions, and essentially unchanged, Serifos is another hidden gems of the Aegean. Serifos simply needs to be visited!

Before heding to our ending destination Athens, and its remote port of Lavrio, we will treat ourselves with one more delight, Kythnos. The choice gets quite complicated here, as one side of the island we have a famous landmark 'Kolona' beach, while the other offers famous thermal 'Loutra' springs which are said to have curative powers. Then again, maybe we will have time for the two notorious spots...

/Link available soon/).

Private, uninhabited, or deserted islands

One of the most interesting part of any sailing route in Greece are islands where nobody is living. Some may require a special permission to be visited, or even to be approached, and usually demand a particular behaviour due to special regulations. The reasons for that is that they are either privately owned, part of national or marine parks, or under some other major state governance. We have several on our route, and namely Peristera, Kira Panagia, Skantzoura, Delos...

From	To	Distance (nm)	Time (hrs)
Milos	Poliegos	6	1
Poliegos	Kimolos	11	2
Kimolos	Sifnos	9	2
Sifnos	Serifos	12	2
Serifos	Kythnos	29	5
Kythnos	Athens	25	4-5

Note: Distances and sailing hours are to be taken as approximative

ACTIVITIES

...or what one can expect to do and see during this trip. The locations and the activities will make every day of the trip different from the previous but we could still, however, define a 'typical day' on a sailing holiday.

In the morning, after slowly waking up (usually 8-10 am), having a nice swim, coffee, breakfast, or one more quick town visit, we get the boat ready for leaving. Around 10-11 am we will set sails towards our next destination.

After a bit of sailing, around noon or very early afternoon we plan a swim stop. Usually it is in a nice, calm bay or in open waters, and that is also a good moment for having lunch or a quick byte.

After raising the anchor, we continue in the afternoon, for a bit more sailing and this is usually the most relaxed moment when everybody finds some typical holiday activities, like sunbathing on the deck, napping, reading... Our planned location is most often reached around 4-6 pm.

Once the yacht is properly docked, the late afternoon and evening are left for some refreshments, walks, town or island exploration, local beach swimming, and finally dinner.

The night period is left to any kind of action or fun you like.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, in the remaining section on this page, you can see few photos, from past year sailing holidays, that will present you some of those daily activities.

Discovering Greece

Picturesque towns and villages

Historical, religious or cultural sites

For crew interested a bit more in history, tradition, religion or festivals and events, as this area of Greece has been a big interesection from ancient times (Greeks, Byzantines, Venetians...) until nowadays, there is a lot to discover. You will soon find more on the linked island pages, the Milos one for example... /Links available soon/

Local dishes and spirits

Sailing

Participating or getting introduced to the basics of sailing, navigation, metereology...

Interesting spots

There are numerous interesting things to see, spots to explore or activities to enjoy on the route. My personal one are beautiful anchorages, both for a daily swim stop or for a night under the stars, and traditional villages.

Some other, most ususal, activities:

• Bicycle (or scooter, quad, car) rental for town and island exploration
• Hiking
• Exploring caves, lakes, waterfalls, cliff jumping spots...
• Visiting antique site, settlements, queries...or shipwrecks
• Photography wise, the locations are offering more than enough... magnificent landscapes or the sunset 'golden hour' for example...
• Getting to know the islands with local guides
• Shopping or paying visits to art galleries and workshops
• Discovering regional tastes of food and spirits in local tavernas or gourmet restaurants
• Visiting local production farms and facilities (olive and oil, goat or sheep farms...)
• Doing a bit of extra sports (diving, yoga, wind or kite surfing...)
• Or just sitting around...in local cafes, squares, piers, fishing ports...

Water fun

As enjoying the water is a particular pleasure when having yacht holidays and water toys available...

Chillin'

Relaxing is, after all, a major part of any vacations...

Wild life

Whether fully wild or domesticated, there is a number of our various friends that we can encounter on our route, on land (donkeys, mules, goats, horses, dogs, cats...), in air (seagulls, birds), in water (daulphins, seals, turtles, jellyfish...), or somewhere in between (flying fish). Please note that you are not suppose to approach or touch some of the wild life, as seals can be particularly dangerous, turtles extremely protected, while it can be painful to hang around some jellyfish types. If in doubt, ask the skipper for further explanations.
This route, Skiathos-Mykonos is stopping at the island of Skyros, where a rare and endangered horse breed lives, the Skyrian pony. It is said that it dates from ancient times.