Ferry from Symi to Kos

Symi Guide

The Greek island of Symi is one of the Dodecanese Islands and is located around 40 km to the north west of the island of Rhodes and 420 km from the Port of Piraeus. Symi's closest neighbours are the Datca and Bozburun peninsulars of Mugla Province in Turkey. The island's terrain is mainly mountainous and its coastline is made up of either beaches and secluded coves, or rocky cliffs. Located on the north east coast of the island is its main town, also called Symi. The lower town is the area around the harbour, called Yialos, and the upper town is called Horio or Ano Symi. There isn't a great deal to see or do on the island, and this is perhaps where its charm is. Apart from lazing on the beach or swimming in its crystal clear waters the Monastery of the Archangel Panormitis, which is an early 18th century Greek Orthodox monastery built on the coast in the south west of the country, is worth visiting. Overlooking Ano Symi is the Kastro which was built by the Knights of St. John as an expansion of a Byzantine castle on the same site. Quite a bit of the structure remains and there are also signs of an ancient citadel on which two later castles were built.

Kos Guide

Kos is a Greek island that lies in the eastern Aegean Sea and is situated to the south of the island of Kalymnos and to the north of the island of Nisyros. The island, which is only around 3 miles off the Turkish coast and sits in the Keramiko Gulf, or the Kos Gulf, is the third largest of the Dodecanese islands. Kos is a well known and popular holiday destination where visitors go to enjoy the island's beaches. Kos was also one of the first Greek islands to recognise the benefits of tourism to its economy and as a result many hotels were built along the island's long and sandy coastline in the east and south. Cycling is a popular activity on Kos as the island's terrain is quite flat and because there are many bicycle hire outlets throughout the island along with some dedicated cycle paths between some of the larger hotels.

There are daily services between Kos and Piraeus along with services between Kos and the rest of the Dodecanese, the islands of the north eastern Aegean and Turkey. The trip by conventional ferry can take up to 13 hours, depending on the intermediate stopovers, and the trip with a high speed boat can take between 5 and 8 hours.