Kythnos is an island that offers you endless activity options. You can either get involved in various activities or simply relax on one of its nearly 100 beaches, or even all of them if you have the time, and enjoy the sun and the crystal-clear waters.
Advice from locals and people who know the island well reveals ten things you will truly enjoy when you visit:
- Visit the island's dairies and get trimma, tyrovolia, and other fabulous cheeses produced on the island. The culinary landscape of the island includes several attractive "points," but the famous cheeses of Kythnos stand out more. Trimma (or zymoto, as it is called in Chora) is the leading product of the island's cheesemaking. With roots dating back to antiquity, when it was called Kythnian cheese, trimma is distinguished by its buttery taste, mild saltiness, and slight sourness. It is an ideal accompaniment for tsipouro and enhances many local recipes. From trimma, after proper processing, kopanisti is produced, the second most popular cheese of the island, with a peppery taste and an aroma that becomes more intense over time. In the list of the most characteristic cheeses of Kythnos, you will also find tyrovoli. This local variation of the classic kefalotyri, mainly produced in the northern part of the island, is one of its most recognizable products.
- Explore the island's beaches and caves by kayak. There are several kayak services available on the island.
- Take home with you, the incredible ceramics from Chora to use in your home and remember the island. In Chora of Kythnos, within its characteristic alleys, you will discover the Traditional Pottery Workshop of Giorgos Georgoulis, which has been honored with an award from UNESCO. The colors and glazes used in the workshop are eco-friendly, and whatever you purchase can be used in microwave ovens and dishwashers. There are many colors to choose from, and each handmade vessel, whether utilitarian or decorative, is a unique piece, as no two are exactly alike. Giorgos Georgoulis starts his creations from clay, shaping the objects on the wheel with his experienced hands. In the workshop, you will find traditional vessels, vases, jugs, basins, dinner and soup plates, as well as salad bowls painted with fish, platters, fireproof dishes, small pots, water jugs, and traditional Laïnia, large storage jars, small bowls, and casseroles for baking dishes. Each creation bears the unique signature and passion of Giorgos Georgoulis for art.
- Go for a fish meal at Aria in the bay of Agia Irini and enjoy your swims, for ouzo at Bairaki, at Katerina for cooked dishes and meat, at Koutsiko for ribs, at the coffee shop Thermia in Chora where you drink coffee but also eat appetizers, at Mama Do in Loutra for burgers, bao buns, beers, milkshakes, and cocktails, at the mansion of Margiora for breakfast and Cycladic flavors, and finally at Yaya Koukou and at the Chartino Karavi for food.
- Visit Dryopida with its whitewashed houses with red roofs, (as unlike what usually happens in the Cyclades, the roofs in Dryopida are made with tiles) the well-kept flower pots, and the two museums, the Folklore and the Ecclesiastical.
- Enter the Katafyki cave which is a conglomerate of tunnels and openings giving a spectacular, almost magical result. See the room with the stalactites and hear the names the locals have given them, depending on their shape.
- Swim at Kolona, the most famous beach of Kythnos, where a sandy isthmus connects two lands and separates two seas, with a length of 230 meters.
- Buy honey from Kythnos. It's the best you will have tasted!
- Rent a boat and tour the island to enjoy it from another perspective. VK Ribs and Baiocco Kythnos rental boats are in Loutra where the hotel is situated.
- Visit the churches of Panagia Flambouriani, Saint John, and the famous Panagia Kanala.
The island has very good food wherever you go, each beach has its own beauty, and Kythnos is filled with 130 chapels that you may like. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you will have a wonderful time because the island is magical!
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