Published: September, 2018
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Tinos, Greece

Tinos is filled with secrets; hidden beaches, dusty roads and surprise tavernas. We know we'll keep coming back to discover more!
— Taryn Elledge-Penner
  • More about your Oliver Guide:
  • Trip type: Family, Beach
  • Activity level: easy
  • Ideal length of trip: 7-10 days

to & from

YES! Tinos is a ferry ride away from Athens-Rafina port, which is closer to the airport than the Piraeus harbour in downtown Athens. If you want to avoid Athens you can line up your flight arrival with your ferry departure. But if you are staying the night it’s easy to find a place to stay near Rafina. Check the ferry schedules and buy tickets on greeka.com. There are fast ferries (around 2 hours), and slower ferries (around 4hrs), and prices aren’t always matched to speed. We recommend arriving a little early to print out tickets at the port, and if you’re in a cab have them drive you to the correct boat. There are a number of ferry companies, each with its own offices and boats and with everyone making a dash to get their tickets and get on board it can be pretty chaotic!

  • Renting a car is a must on the island. There are three main companies: Jason, Dimitris, and Vladis. They all were quite similar, and will send you a quote via email. Be prepared; this a very relaxed arrangement or at least it was with our guy. We've been here two weeks and all we've given them is an e-mail address! Hot Tip: we heard rumors of police stopping foreign drivers at the port and giving fines for lack of international driver's license. The car will be waiting for you with your name written on the dash when your boat arrives. Just get in and drive, and avoid the port till you're getting back on the boat and you'll be fine. Yay Greece!

Where to Stay

There are plenty of choices for accommodations, but we prefer Airbnb to hotels. Avoid Tinos’ main town. It’s bigger, noisy and lacks the charm of the smaller villages. Our favorite villages are Pyrgos, lively and charming and with a small grocery store, Isternia and Kardiani with their quiet streets, both built on the sides of the cliffs with beautiful views of the sea. We had awesome luck with our Airbnb in Pyrgos, and we would definitely stay here again. Most Greek homes are exceptionally clean (at least from everything we’ve seen), but finding the gems online can be difficult.

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