Out of Focus: The Magic of Milos
The Magic of Milos
When we started our ‘Out of focus’ series we wanted to deliver a series of switch off spaces, places and practices that might improve all of our general well-being. Slowly as our blog series has evolved we have found ourselves seeking out lesser known hide outs, and stretching ourselves beyond our idyllic West Country shores. Our most recent destination of discovery was Milos, a small Island in the Ionian Sea, a bit of a faff to get to, but wow is it worth it.
Milos has very little economic output beyond what can only be described as a subsistence fishing industry, albeit todays fisherman have mastered the art converting their waterside properties into air bnb’s. The rest is tourism, but a carefully managed tourism at that.
The quickest way onto Milos for those of you that are time short is to fly. There is a daily flight to the island from Athens, but if you’re travelling on a budget there’s a couple of ferry options from the mainland which follow the general rule of thumb; the more you pay, the faster you get there. Time poor… we decided to fly.
30 Minutes after taking off from Athens our propellor plane screeched up the scarily short runway on Milos. The island handles no international flights so the process of getting on or off a plane is incredibly straight forward, and the airport incredibly basic. Already, we were relaxing. We hired a car at the airport (pre-booked but not needed), and 5 minutes later we were driving, having taken all of 50 steps from plane to 4X4.
Our journey to our accommodation took about 30 mins (you can cover the entire island in 45), it wasn’t far, but it was certainly windy. If you’re not great at driving, or scared of heights, then don’t bother with this place! We actually would recommend quad bikes over cars here, mainly because the roads have a habit of disappearing into sand dunes, or off the side of a cliff edge. (NB take it slow). Once we settled into our new environment, and accepted the hope of getting our car deposit back was doomed, we really started to enjoy it.
The drive to Echos, our air bnb, certainly got the blood flowing post travel, but when we stepped into our suite, the horizon took over, and extreme relaxation kicked in. The suites are basically a collection of huge glass boxes, blended discretely into the hillside, overlooking the breathtaking Bay of Milos. So much thought has been put into the design of each suite that nobody has a view of anyone else, and ironically nobody has to communicate with anyone else, because there’s no need to. There’s no loud music, no ‘signs of any neighbours’ (they are there), no roads, no bar, no nothing. “There’s no tv here, because the view is your tv” the girl checking us in commented. My initial thought was, that’s a bit budget, but as I settled into our new home I realised no expense had been spared on the construction of this property, the lack of tv was intentional, and 24 hours into my stay, I was grateful for it. Echoes take the concept of ‘air bnb’ a little further than we expected by offering a daily cleaning service, a small breakfast hamper with coffee pods, and the best perk of all was the concierge service by whatsapp; they will get you the best tables at the best restaurants, on whatever day you should desire! Given the language barrier, this was a dream.
The suites at echoes capture the afternoon sun, so we recommend getting up and out to explore before returning for an afternoon siesta on what has to have been the comfiest loungers either of us had ever tried. The island has a few “must see” hot spots, namely the white cliffs of Sarakiniko, the mountain top village of Plaka and the now instafamous (but don’t worry not inundated) fishing villages of Klima and Mandrakia. One thing that caught us by surprise by such a small island, so detached from presentism is the outstanding array of restaurants. Nothing was over priced, and every meal was magnificent (even the 2.5 euro souvlaki we got one day for lunch).
If you’re in need of a genuine switch off, then let Milos be your gold mine. We cannot recommend this place enough… it’s absolutely worth the journey!
STAY - Echoes
EAT - Astakas
DRINK - Utopia (get there bang on opening and enjoy the sunset)
GETTING ABOUT - Quad bike or 4x4 car rental
PACK - Linens, Caps and plenty of books
LEAVE BEHIND - Social Media, Stress, Bloomberg
We hope you love it as much as we did.
