Greece Travel Guide
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • Crete Island Guide
    • Cyclades
      • Amorgos Island Guide
        • Amorgos Beaches
          • Aegiali Beach
          • Levrossos Beach
          • Kalotaritissa Beach
          • Katapola Beach
          • Psili Ammos Beach
      • Andros Island Guide
      • Folegandros Island Guide
      • Ios Island Guide
        • Ios Beaches
          • Agia Theodoti Beach
          • Gialos Beach
          • Kolitsani Beach
          • Magganari Beach
          • Mylopotas Beach
          • Psathi Beach
      • Koufonissi Island Guide
      • Mykonos Island Guide
      • Milos Island Guide
      • Naxos Island Guide
      • Paros Island Guide
      • Santorini Island Guide
      • Serifos Island Guide
      • Sifnos Island Guide
      • Sikinos Island Guide
      • Tinos Island Guide
    • Dodecanese
      • Astypalea Island Guide
      • Karpathos Island Guide
      • Kos Island Guide
      • Rhodes Island Guide
  • Guides
    • When to Visit
    • Island-Hopping
    • Ferry Travel
    • Travelling Greece on a Budget
  • Trip Reports
    • Greece 2022
    • Greek Odyssey 2021
    • Western Cyclades 2020
    • Cyclades 2019
    • Amorgos 2019
    • Mini Cyclades 2018
    • Cyclades Tour 2017
  • Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Travel Gadgets
  • Gallery
  • About

Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)

August 6, 2021November 16, 2021, Kos Trip Reports
  • Prev
  • Next
This post is part of a series called Greek Odyssey 2021
Show More Posts
  • An Exciting Journey Begins
  • Touring Greece Without a Plan
  • Day 1: Crete Arrival
  • Day 2: It’s Windy in Palaiochora
  • Day 3: Palaiochora Morning Exercise
  • Day 4: Exploring South-Western Crete
  • Day 5: Grammeno Beach Again
  • Day 6: Finally the Wind Dies Down
  • Day 7: Elafonissi Beach
  • Day 8: Last Time at Grammeno Beach
  • Day 9: Last Day in Palaiochora
  • Day 10: Road Trip Across Crete
  • Day 11: Preveli and Agia Galini
  • Day 12: Phaistos and Matala
  • Day 13: Gortyn, Heraklion and Sitia
  • Day 15: Karpathos Arrival
  • Day 16: Karpathos Beach Day
  • Day 17: Karpathos Beach Day…Again
  • Day 18: Ammopi Beach by Bus
  • Day 19: Exploring Karpathos by Car
  • Day 20: Rhodes Arrival
  • Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town
  • Day 22: Rhodes Town Beach
  • Day 23: Rhodes to Tilos
  • Day 24: Cutting Tilos Short
  • Day 25: Kos Town Beach Day
  • Day 26: Kos Car Hire
  • Day 27: Kos Beach Day Again
  • Day 28: Kos Town Hotel Move
  • Day 29: Why I’m Still on Kos
  • Day 30: Ed Arrives on Kos
  • Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
  • Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)
  • Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain
  • Days 34-36: Nothing But The Pool
  • Day 37: Back to Kos Town
  • Days 38-41: Living Life in Kos Town
  • Day 42: Visiting Tigaki
  • Day 43: Moving Hotel Room
  • Day 44: Moving Hotel Room Part 2
  • Day 45: Last Gym Session on Kos
  • Day 46: Kos Final Full Day
  • Day 47: Kos to Amorgos
  • Day 48: Amorgos to Naxos
  • Day 49: Relaxing in Agia Anna / Plaka Beach
  • Days 50-51: Agia Anna
  • Day 52: Exploring Naxos by Car
  • Day 53: Naxos to Ios
  • Day 54: Exploring South Ios Magganari Beach
  • Day 55: Ios Agia Theodoti Beach
  • Day 56: Ios Chill Day
  • Day 57: Ios Psathi Beach and Palaiokastro
  • Day 58: Ios Last Full Day
  • Day 59: Ios to Sikinos
  • Day 60: Relaxing on Sikinos
  • Day 61: Sikinos Sightseeing
  • Day 62: Sikinos to Sifnos
  • Day 63: Sifnos Cloudy First Day
  • Day 64: More Clouds Over Sifnos
  • Day 65: Sifnos Sunshine
  • Day 66: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
  • Day 67: Mum and Dad’s First Full Day on Sifnos
  • Day 68: Bus Trip to Apollonia
  • Day 69: Sun, Sand and Sea on Sifnos
  • Day 70: Exploring Sifnos by Car
  • Day 71: More Sifnos Sightseeing
  • Day 72: Our Last Full Day
  • Day 73: Homeward Bound
  • Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective

Friday 6th August 2021

Forgetting to Hire a Car

After our full-day boat trip yesterday, Ed and I had planned to hire a car today so we could see some more of the island as well as a hike to the summit of Mount Dikeos: the highest point on Kos. However, we’d neglected to actually reserve a vehicle in advance and, given it’s now peak season, I wasn’t confident we would actually be able to rent one at such short notice.

Maintaining a sense of optimism, however, we left the hotel after an early breakfast and set off in search of any rental companies that might be able to accommodate us. I figured it made sense to start off by returning to ML Rent a Car, where I’d hired a vehicle from last Saturday. It must have been our lucky day, as they had one vehicle left and I even managed to convince them to let me take it at the same price I paid last time – €45 instead of €50.

Back to Kefalos and Beyond

After filling out the paperwork for the vehicle, we jumped straight in and got moving. Although Ed has visited Kos before, he’s never seen Kefalos so despite my having seen it a few days ago, I was happy to start there again so that Ed could see it for himself.

From Kefalos, we took a different route and headed North to a small beach called Limnionas – it’s not much more than a small strip of sand with a little harbour on the northern end, with an even smaller bay to the west. There is a restaurant and plenty of parking, so I guess it’s not a bad spot if you wanted somewhere quiet to lay and sunbathe for the day.

The small bay behind Limnionas main beach

To reach our next destination, Kohilari Beach, we had to retrace our route south and back through Kefalos, before heading north again further along the coastline. On arrival, we both expected it to be pretty busy as it looks like a very large, sandy beach when viewed on Google Maps. However, it was almost deserted, possibly due to the waves and large quantities of seaweed that seem to get washed up on the shoreline. We didn’t hang around.

Antimachia Castle

After a brief stop in the village of Antimachia for a snack (and beer), we turned off the main road and headed southeast to Antimachia Castle. The castle is mostly ruins of an outer wall enclosing open ground that is largely overgrown with grass, but there are a couple of buildings and some foundation walls still visible.

One of the buildings at the site of Antimachia Castle

It was a hot day again and with little shade available at the castle, we made our visit quite brief and were glad to get back into the car and fire up the air conditioning as soon as possible!

Kardamena

It’s not far from Antimachia Castle to the popular tourist resort of Kardamena on the south coast of Kos. We took a small road that leads from the castle and joins the main road into Kardamena from the north, then parked up along the seafront just north of the marina.

Ed had been here a few times before on family holidays, but it was my first time at the resort and I’ll admit to being surprised at how relaxed it was. I’d heard that Kardamena was a real party destination, but this was from many years ago and it seems the resort has matured into more of a family-friendly place in recent times.

We considered stopping here for lunch as it was still early afternoon and we didn’t have anywhere else on our itinerary until our hike later on but decided to return to Kos Town instead as I wanted to take Ed to the Sunburnt Arms, having spent so much time there over the past week. On arrival, we both had a beer (mine small after my earlier drink and still having to drive the car back to the hotel) and I had a chicken burger. We sat chatting for a while, then opted to return to the hotel for a couple of hours rest in preparation for our hike.

Climbing Mount Dikeos

Ed had climbed the mountain before on a previous trip to Kos, so he was confident we could reach the summit and get back down again within a couple of hours. Trusting his judgment, we set off for the nearby village of Zia and arrived just before 6 pm. Our plan was to get the hike done and be back in the village in time for sunset and, more importantly, get our rental car back to the shop in Kos Town by 8:30 pm.

As we began our journey through the village of Zia, Ed stopped to check we were going in the right direction by asking a lady shopkeeper. She seemed very surprised that we were planning to climb the mountain at such a late hour, which I found slightly disconcerting, but gave us directions anyway. It then transpired that Ed had based his time estimate on Google Maps and when I checked it myself, realised that Google had no idea of the path up to the summit and was merely guessing an approximate duration as-the-crow-flies!

Realising we might have underestimated the task at hand, we set off from the village at a brisk pace and were soon dripping with sweat! After 45 minutes of hard ascent, we were still what looked to be some way off the top and I was convinced we wouldn’t make it – even stopping to record a YouTube clip lamenting our likely failure.

The view from almost the summit of Mount Dikeos

When Ed caught up with me, however, he was adamant that we weren’t far from the top and persuaded me to carry on. Sure enough, we reached a plateau and from there the final short climb to the summit, in just over an hour from leaving the car:

Strava data from the Mount Dikeos ascent

Not bad considering we climbed over 1,700 feet in 4.2 kilometres! After a few minutes to take in the views and recover our breath, we began the journey back down which was much easier and less stressful knowing it should take less time than the climb.

Feeling the joy (and sweat) on top of Mount Dikeos!

Sure enough, we got back to the car in less than 60 minutes and just ahead of the sunset – thankfully, as it meant the large crowds that gather to see it from Zia were not yet ready to leave, giving us a clear road down from the village.

We returned the car just after 8 pm, though from the look on the face of the lady who runs ML Rent a Car, she would’ve been happier had we been back sooner! Oh well, we got value for money from our €45!

More Dinner, More Drinks

Despite the fatigue from our unexpectedly intense hike, it was Ed’s last night and we were determined to make the most of it! After a quick – but desperately needed – shower and change at the hotel, we walked to a nearby taverna called Casa della Pasta. I had eaten here before on my second night on Kos and wasn’t that impressed, but it was conveniently located just around the corner from Hotel Sonia, and the food hadn’t been so bad that it wasn’t worth a second try.

This time, I had a pizza (as did Ed) and they were both pretty good, though admittedly not a patch on MamaRosa. The carbs were much welcomed after our earlier efforts and would also help soak up the alcohol that we intended to consume throughout the rest of the evening – starting with a litre of house wine with our meal!

After settling our bill, we headed straight back to Sitar as we’d decided it was the best place to sit and drink while enjoying the views of the passing crowds of attractive ladies! I had a few cocktails, while Ed stuck to Ouzo after one cocktail. In spite of our enthusiasm for a ‘big night’, we still only made it to just past midnight before deciding we’d had enough to drink and it was time to sleep it off!

Posted in Kos, Trip Reports
Tagged Antimachia, Hotel Sonia, Kardamena, Kefalos, Kohilari, Kos, Kos Town, Limnionas, Mount Dikeos, Sitar, Zia
Leave a comment
Will Appleby
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Plus
  • Pinterest

Post navigation

   Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain   

You may also like

Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective

Continue Reading

Day 73: Homeward Bound

Continue Reading

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Author

Will Appleby

Listen to my ramblings about Greece and why I keep going back year after year.

Search

Tags

2020 amorgos beach Crete Cyclades hotel reviews hotels Ios kamares Kos Kos Town Naxos reviews sifnos

Popular posts

Western Cyclades 2020: Trip Planning Overview

August 5, 2020September 22, 2020

Touring Greece Without a Plan

July 3, 2021July 3, 2021

An Exciting Journey Begins

July 1, 2021July 3, 2021

Categories

  • Amorgos (10)
  • Andros (7)
  • Articles (2)
  • Crete (20)
  • Cyclades Tour 2017 (18)
  • Featured (9)
  • Folegandros (4)
  • General (4)
  • Guides (1)
  • Hotel Reviews (41)
  • Ios (8)
  • Karpathos (5)
  • Kos (17)
  • Koufonissi (4)
  • Milos (5)
  • Mini Cyclades 2018 (12)
  • Mykonos (6)
  • Naxos (23)
  • Paros (3)
  • Rhodes (4)
  • Santorini (6)
  • Serifos (3)
  • Sifnos (19)
  • Sikinos (3)
  • Syros (1)
  • Tilos (1)
  • Tinos (1)
  • Travel Gadgets (1)
  • Trip Planning (6)
  • Trip Reports (68)

25 Islands visited
47 000 KM traveled
6,300 Photos taken
112 Hours recorded

© 2021 Greece Travel Guide. All Rights Reserved.