Samos is big and even though I have been there a couple of times I had only seen a small part of it until 2007. The island is situated close to the Turkish coast and in the east of the island you can see the mainland of Turkey. I used to stay in Pythagorion, a delightful fishing- and tourist-resort in the southeast of the island. It's a nice small village, and my absolute favourite time of the day to be there must be in the morning when it's very, very quiet (where are all the tourists??), and you can sit down with your sleepy face and have your coffee and your breakfast (bacon and eggs) while listening to the waves and looking at the boats in the harbour. It's the best way to slowly wake up. It's surprising how quiet it is at that time of the day considering the amount of tourists that fly to Samos on a package-deal. I have no idea, but I think most of them are in the hotels outside of Pythagorion-town and they only come to town in the evening to have dinner and a cocktail or two, three... We stayed in the Pythagorion-hotel the first couple of times. Nothing really fancy, but it's the only hotel in Pythagorion itself that is situated directly on the (pebble-)beach. I just wanted the view and the possibility to be in the water as soon as possible. In 2007 we noticed that the hotel was closed down though and it was falling apart on its beach.

There are some other nice holiday-destinations on Samos. A nice one is the smaller next door neighbour of Pythagorion, the village of Ireon, where we have stayed at the Eleana Apartments. Kokkari is also a popular destination. It has got a large pebble beach and several other beaches in the neighbourhood. In the village is a wide choice in hotels and restaurants and there is a naturist beach nearby (organized, so with parasols and beach beds).

Karlovassi I first saw from the ferry on my way to Mykonos, because it made a stop there on the route. It's pretty big and it looked quite interesting, with a very beautiful big church. On inspection it turned out to be a village nice enough to take a brief look at, but not a village where you want to linger for a long time. It is close to some beautiful beaches and interesting places though, like the beach of Potami and the Potami waterfalls.

We've also stayed for one night (or more: one day, because we arrived at eight o'clock in the morning after a 9 hour boat-trip, and we just had a little nap there to get some of our energy back) in Samos-town: not really our cup of tea. The town looked nice from the boat, but once we started to explore it we thought it missed the charm you find in some of the other capitals of the Dodekanese island. The buildings in the harbour-front looked pretty impressive, but it was only in the front. In the streets behind the harbour they were less attractive. About the beaches of Samos town: you find a couple of them on the edge of the town and some more a bit outside of the town. We decided not to stay long and go back to Pythagorion. Samos-town on that moment was not for us. Pythagorion on the other hand is very nice, but nowadays it can get quite busy - especially in the evenings.

Update 2010: Samos Town is looking a bit better in recent years and it has become a bit more cosy. The main street along the sea front boulevard is still quite busy and the city itself is still not totally my thing, but it is nice to go here to have a look around. Starting from the main square with the lion statues just behind the harbour promenade is a nice and narrow parallel shopping street where all kinds of things are offered, from vegetables to souvenirs and clothing. In the street are quite a number of small tavernes as well. There are also some nice churches to visit in Vathy / Vathi.

I was told by several people that the upper part of Samos town is quite different and more attractive so we checked that part on our visit in May 2007, but for us, lovers of the quiet places, it is still too large a town for us, and we prefer the smaller villages. Samos town is convieniant for people that want to go places by bus though, or in case you want to go islandhopping. I wouldn't recommend to take a hotel right in the middle of the city. On the edge of Samos town are four small beaches and more beaches you find just outside Vathy - this might be a better plan (Gangou Beach, but you also can book hotel with a swimming pool off course). We visited Ano Vathi again in 2010 we thought it was actually pretty nice ... well, one man can change his mind, right?

Samos has got high mountains, like the Kerketefmountain in the west, which is with its 1437 meter one of the highest mountains in the Aegean sea, and the 1150 meter high Ampelos mountain in the middle of the island. If you want to see pictures and read about a couple of mountain villages (Ampelos, Pirgos and Koumaradei)you can click here. There is also another very picturesque village close by that is called Vourliotes, with its colourful painted houses and churches. You can follow the signs in the area of the northern coastal villages of Kampos, Avlakia and Agios Konstantinos to get there.

In the west are the villages of Paleochori, Kallithea and Drakei which are destinations for the people that are looking for the isolated beaches. In the east of Samos the roads from the village of Palaiokastro with its many churches leads to a district with plenty of beautiful churches and the monasteries of Agia Zoni en Zoodochou Pigis and several pebble beaches (see the extra long beach section in the menu).

The landscape of Samos is very green, especially in the north along the coast and in the west of the island. Around the mountainvillages of Pirgos and Koumaradei there are still the visible scars of recent bush fires, and naked tree-trunks stand in the middle of green bushes, small new trees and flowers. In Samos there are many pieces of pinetree forest and olive groves, and also many wild flowers and wild herbs grow on the island. It is an exceptionally green island.

Between the villages of Pythagorion and Heraion, old historic places that are on the Unesco world heritidge list, there is a regular busservice. The village of Pythagorion was named Tigani untill 1955 and is situated at the southeast coast, near the airport of Samos. The villages of Vathy and Karlovassi are in the north of the island.

Samos can be easily reached from other Greek islands by ferry, for instance from Rhodes and Kos. Some Products of the island are tabacco, wine, olive oil and citrusfruit. Especially the sweet white wine of Samos is famous.

Most of the hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Samos are in the coastal villages like Pythagorion and Kokkari, but also in the capitol of Samos, Vathi, and in other villages along the coastline there are hotels. All these hotels, with the exception of the 4 and 5 star hotels, are usually not very expensive. We were looking for nice hotels on Samos for the month of May in 2007 (1 week). The hotels that we usually go for are the smaller hotels, preferably with a seaview. A quiet location is a big plus. A studio or an apartment with a kitchen(block) inside would be the ultimate best. We have an open mind to any hotel where-ever on the island of Samos, but our first thoughts went to a hotel in Kokkari or Pythagorion. A quiet small holiday-house / villa in the middle of nowhere also sounds to our taste. These are the hotels on Samos that we ended up visiting or that we like the look of.

For all hotels, apartments, studios, villas and holiday houses on the island of Samos in Greece - click here.

From Samos there are regular ferries (as well normal as socalled "superfast ferries") to other islands in the surroundings, such as Ikaria, Lipsi, Leros and Patmos.

You can check the times and prices and if you like you can book a ticket ahead on the site of Ferries-booking.com. Especially if you want to be on a superfast ferry during the high season this could be a good plan.

Samos has also got an international airport with regular flights from several countries during tourist season, and good connections from Athens served by Aegean Airways and Olympic Airways, which have been voted best European airline for years at a stretch.