2024 Travelogue: Ios, Greece

Four nights in Ios were just what the travelers ordered! It was lovely to spend another few days (for a week’s total time in the islands) in the breezy climes of the Aegean Sea. Athens was behind us, but the dreaded heat and humidity were still raw wounds for the Capone boys.

Ios was a strange place, for this forty-year-old traveler. I was the oldest male in most every place we went where there were other people around. The average age of tourists, I’d say, was about twenty-two, and the average time going to bed was probably around four A.M. I didn’t know I was picking a party island, but I guess I did so. It was, though, not overdeveloped, and so it wasn’t like were were kept up at night by night clubs or shouting outside. The upstairs neighbors were oblivious, but we were okay, and I was glad that was the only real inconvenience of being surrounded by so many thoughtless idiots.

Near our temporary residence, the 2-star Corali Beach Hotel, was a beautiful and mostly tranquil beach. The real gems, though, were reachable by ATV, which we rented for two days and took all over the island. We spent all of day two on Ios traversing the island north to south and west to east and back again. Eight hours on the ATV and sharp breezes with astounding world-topping views from cliffsides unadorned with any buildings, a stop at Homer’s tomb, and two mostly secluded beaches were our rewards for long hours in the sun.

I wouldn’t go back to Ios, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a go. There were no places on the island that could be called “calm” in terms of the winds, and though it was easy to get away from the young and annoying crowd, they were unavoidable anywhere civilization was to be found. The beauty, though… it was not to be matched. I don’t think I’ve seen anything as beautiful, even in Corfu or St. Croix, two of my favorite islands (favored for their beauty).