So I have a little confession to make about Ios….. we almost didn’t make it!!! We were so blown away with Santorini, we actually thought about trying to stay one more night in Santorini and then head straight to Mykonos but as fate would have it, it didn’t work out for us to stay an additional night and boy am I glad it didn’t now! After getting to enjoy only a small portion of what Ios has to offer I would highly recommend if time permits for everyone to put it on their list when they are visiting Santorini.
Ios is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Santorini, your hotel can organize tickets for you or similarly you can get them at the port also.
From the moment you step off the boat, Ios has a different feel to it especially after coming from Santorini. I would say it has more of a backpacker feel to it but in a really good, laid back way if that makes sense. The demographics of Santorini and Ios are very different and they reckon that up to 90% of Santorini’s visitors are American but you will find Ios is made up more of Australian, Irish & American. With Ios you definitely don’t have the same choice of accommodation as you do in Santorini but you get a lot more value for money.
Ios is renowned for its beaches, which Santorini doesn’t really have to offer so you will find people will visit Ios for 1 or 2 nights whilst visiting Santorini to get their beach “fix” and also to party it up!!
Most visitors stay near the port (handy for the ferry but an uphill walk to the Chora and a bus ride to the beach), the Chora (great for nightlife and restaurants, bus to beach), or Mylopotas Beach (one of the best beaches in Greece, handful of pretty good restaurants). We chose to stay in the Chora knowing we could take the quad bike to visit the 2 best beaches on Ios; Mylopotas and Manganari.
Hotel
We stayed at the Liostani Hotel & Suites – https://www.liostasi.gr/ which I LITERALLY cannot recommend more. I think we knew we were in for a treat when they picked us up from the port and below was inside of the mini van (yes that is a white, quilted leather interior mini van fit out).
Check in, what a fab experience involving being brought out to a table beside the pool area, overlooking the bay, being prepared a fresh welcome cocktail and once you have relaxed they sit down and talk you through the best of what Ios has to offer and providing assistance with whatever they can do to make your trip more enjoyable. A big bonus for us when we checked in was to find out that the restaurant at our hotel was ran by Lefteris Lazarou a Greek celebrity chef & the first Greek chef to be awarded a Michelin star, so safe to say that made our decision for dinner very easy that night.
Click below for Video
Check In Video
I need to put it out there now that the service once again was impeccable here, literally could not fault one thing but the stand out and leading this incredible service was the F&B Manager Minas Kassavitas. Talk about someone who is 200% committed to customer service and ensuring that every guest gets 7 star service. We felt so looked after the whole time we were there and it was certainly a talking point on numerous occasions during this stay for myself and Mark at just how incredible the service was. It was that next level of service, where he noticed that a certain husband may have been suffering from the night before when we were recovering at the pool and he made a “hair of the dog” frappe coffee complimentary to help him on the road to recovery.
Click below for Video
Resort Video
Restaurants
Grandma’s Liostasi Restaurant
Recommended you start with the best type of apertiveo – which comprises of your own signature cocktail made especially for you while watching the beginning of the sunset at the pool bar. What’s not to love!
Click below for Video
Sunset Video
Dinner was incredible and it’s fair to say we had one of the best seats in the house. We both went for the lamb (a Greek stable) but this was certainly not like I had ever tasted before and had been recommended a really gorgeous full bodied red wine to accompany it and with that view, what more can I say!
Moziak – East meets West
https://www.facebook.com/Mozaik-ios-Greece-877717375658816/
Stumbled across this restaurant when we were looking for a nice lunch option and I can really recommend it. It faces out onto the road but don’t let that put you off the food was really good and the serve mini magnums complimentary with the bill #bonus. They have a really good rooftop bar for sunset cocktails too.
Koubara
A very quick quad bike ride out of Chora you will find Koubara. Its set right on the beach, lovely chilled out vibes and I would highly recommend you try it for lunch or at the very least drinks.
Pathos – Restaurant & Sunset bar
This has a day club / pool party feel to it. Known for having a great view of the sunset with cool DJ’s.
Bar’s & Nightclub’s
After dinner in Liostasi we made our way to and started at Lotus bar and as luck would have it we got talking to a gem of an Australian lady behind the bar that has worked and lived here for the past six summers. When we mentioned that we only had one night she epic-ally made us a list of what bars to visit and more importantly at what time. She explained Ios bars are all about timings and hitting each particular bar at the moment it was at its peak time and my god was she right. I can honestly promise that if you follow the below list & timings you will have the most incredible night in Ios.
Lotus Bar – Best timing (12-1am)
Outdoor bar, in the town center. Seems to be the place famous for Absenth shots!
Click below for Video
Lotus Bar Video
OZZO Time
Alt – Best Timing 1am-1.30am
Shot bar, and I’ve never seen shots like it… lighting the bar on fire, toasting marshmallows the list goes on. just watch the videos below to see just how cool this place is.
Click below for Video
Alt Shot Video 1 – Must Watch
Alt Shot Video 2. – Must Watch
Circus 1.30am -2.30am
Fantastic live music, such a brilliant lively place. So good in fact you may end up running slightly over the time plan 🙂 Videos below showing just some of the (censored) fun!!
Click below for Video
Circus Live Music Video 1
Circus Live Music 2
Coo – Best Timing 2.30am -3.00am
Known for the best Espresso Martini
Shush – Best Timing 3am -3.30am
Known for their Silent Disco
Slammer – Best Timing 3.30am – 4.30am
As the name might suggest, but you don’t really believe until you see it with your own eyes. This is a bar where you see where a slammer shot involves you getting hit over the head with a fire extinguisher or skateboard (wearing a helmet off course :)). DJ was class here.
Pash – Best Timing 4.30am – 6am
Great nightclub, with really good music!
Sweet Irish – Best Timing 6am onwards
The coopers of Ios, but no Irish connection at all no matter what the name might suggest.
Tip – for people travelling from the UAE some quad/car rental places may not accept your UAE license as they say they are not able to insure you so this might be something to consider before you travel to get an international license http://www.atcuae.ae/mobility-and-travel/international-driving-license. This wasn’t an issue we encountered when hiring a car in Santorini but maybe best to be on the safe side in case other places in Greece have a similar set up to Ios.
To sum it up, I loved Ios, so so delighted that we didn’t miss out on one of the highlights of our Greek adventure and would completely advise anyone to add it to their bucket-list when travelling the Greek islands.
As always any questions or advice don’t hesitate to get in contact, Santorini blog is coming up next, so make sure to keep an eye on my Instagram!!!!
S x
