Cosmopolitan Ios, or "Nios" as it is called by the locals, with its picturesque bays and the windmills, is a typical island of Cyclades, with small white-wash houses and strewn with olive-tree and grapevine groves. Kea lies among other larger islands, such as Santorini, Naxos, Sikinos and Amorgos.

Chora, the present capital of the island, is built amphitheatrically, 2 Km from Yialos, a bay which is the wind-sheltered harbour of the island and one of the three largest natural harbours in the Aegean Sea. Here takes place every year the Agean Sailing Rally, with participation of sailing boats and crews from all over the world.

You must visit, the small church of Agios Nikolaos and the church of Panagia Gremniotissa, with the characteristic blue cupola. On the island, hard to believe but true, one can count as many as 365 churches!

A very beautiful area of the island is Manganari, with sandy beaches!

The most famous beaches of the island are: Mylopotas, Manganari (7 sandy beaches with small picturesque harbours where scenes of the movie "'The Big Blue" were filmed and a destination of world famous celebrities), Ormos, Tzamaria and Valmas, klima, Sapounochoma, Plakotos, Agia Theodoti and Psathi. Near Ormos there are the beaches of Kolitsani and Koumbara.

USEFUL INFORMATION

How to get there
By Ferry: There are itineraries from Piraeus port to Io.
By high speed boat: There are also departures of High Speed ferries from Rafina to Io.
Connection with other islands: Ios is connected with many islands of Cyclades