Ios Chora

General information

Ios Chora or Ios Town is the main and only real village of Ios, build on the western side of the island, twenty minutes walk from the Town port. It is a real jewel, built amphitheatrically and shimmering under the sun.

It easily charms everyone with its little cube houses with flat-roofed houses and its narrow stone paved streets winding like a labyrinth of white lines traditionally painted around the large flat stones; arches and arcades are merging from a street or between two houses and contribute to the creation of a wonderful and magical atmosphere.

In this typical Cycladic village, one of the most beautiful town in the entire Cyclades, visitors will find many hotels, pensions, rooms for rent, restaurants, fine jewellery, gift and souvenir shops, mini markets and a great amount of bars and night clubs.

To enjoy the beauty and charms of Chora, it is better to wander around its magical streets during day-light hours, when most of the crowd is lying on the beaches, the bars closed and the locals out of their houses.

The breathtaking view from Panaghia Gremiotissa, the highest spot of the village, is worth seeing and truly unforgettable, especially during the amazing sunset. Behind the beautiful whitewashed windmills is the outdoor amphitheatre Odysseas Elytis (a famous Greek poet), where some concerts and plays are performed during summer.

The ruins of the Venetian castle which lie on the top of the hill and look over the village, are also very interesting to see. Despite the great amount of tourists and the frenetic nightlife, Chora has kept its traditional character and colours, as it has been proclaimed a preserved settlement.