Walking, hiking and trekking on KIMOLOS
(Last update on the 13th of February 2010)
2. Chorió - Agia Kyriakí - Agii Anárgyri - Chorió
3. Chorió - Agii Anárgyri - Skiádi - Paleókastro - Chorió ***
4. Chorió - Agii Anárgyri - Sklávos - Agios Vasílios - Profítis Ilías - Chorió ***
5. Chorió - Dékas - Elleniká and back ***
7.
Chorió - Psáthi - Goúpa - Agios Nikólaos - Klíma - Xaplovoúni -
Chorió
WALKS of TEUN DE LAAT
1. Psáthi - Chorió - Agia Kyriakí - Panagía - Monastíria ***
Together
with the island of Mílos and the uninhabited Poliégos, Kímolos makes up
the group of islands south of Sífnos. The surface area of Kímolos itself
is 36 km2 – with regard to size this island can in fact be compared to
Folégandros, Antíparos or Anáfi. About 730 people live on this island,
of which 500-600 in the capital of Chorió.
Throughout
the year there are boat connections with Kímolos from the Piraeus,
usually with the Agios Geórgios. This line first stops on the islands of
Kýthnos, Sérifos and Sífnos, and after a trip of some 6.5 hours you
arrive at Kímolos. From there the boat continues to Mílos.
There is also a boat line continuing from these islands to Folégandros, Síkinos,
Ios, Santoríni and Anáfi – usually with the Romílda - which stops at
Kímolos twice a week.
Finally there is the Aiolos Kenteris (until 2008 it was the old Panagía
Choziviótissa...), connecting various Cyclades a few times a week, which
brings you from Kímolos directly to Páros, Náxos, Sýros and even to Tínos
and Kéa.
For a fast connection with the other islands you can also take the ferry from Psáthi to Pollónia, on the northeastern point of Mílos; this ferry – at the moment it is the Panagía Faneroméni – usually makes the crossing 5-6 times a day and the trip only takes half an hour. From the harbour of Milos, Adamás, there are many more boat connections.
In
contract with its large neighbour Mílos, the little and mountainous
island of Kímolos only receives few tourists. Nevertheless, the pleasure
boats making - really great - round trips around the islands of Mílos
in summer do stop at Kímolos. Chorió and the entire interior of Kímolos
have remained very authentic and there is still not a lot of construction
on the island. Based on our experience we would argue that at present Kímolos
might be the best preserved island of the Cyclades. The downside of this
is that it is quite difficult to find accommodation.
Psáthi is the only arrival harbour. It is really a tiny harbour with a few bars on the quay. Chorió is the capital of Kímolos and it is a typical Cycladic village, dominated by the row of mills of Xaplovoúni. There is also a beautiful kástro, of which many houses have fallen into ruins. The southeastern part of the island is most densely populated and the rest of the island can actually only be reached on foot or via dirt roads. In this southeastern part you can also find some fishing villages, such as Goúpa and Agios Nikólaos, with the typical boat garages you can also see on Mílos.
Kímolos
is a great place to hike,
especially on the western half of the island. Although the ancient trail
from Chorió to Paleókastro has partly become a gravel road, there are
still a whole lot of marvellous monopátia around this road, among others
in the mountainous region between the highest summit of the Paleókastro
(364 m), the Profítis Ilías and the Sklávos (358 m). By means of really
great hiking trails you can also walk to the magnificent beaches of Dékas
and Mavrospília or Elleniká.
For
the time being, the best map is map no.110 in the Road Edition, the map of
Mílos and Kímolos with a scale 1 : 50 000. However, this map is still
not detailed enough and especially the hiking trails are not well
indicated on the map.
Worth
mentioning is definitely the beautiful website established by teachers and
pupils of the gymnásio in Kímolos, as a result of a project set up by
the school in school year 2003-2004. Next to some historical and
geological information, the site (in Greek and in English) also contains
information on the fauna and flora of the island. Very interesting is a
description of six walks – with very decent maps -, of which one is
located on the nearby and uninhabited island of Polyégos. See http://gym-kimol.kyk.sch.gr/english/index.htm
In
the year 2006 Teun has explored the island for two days and you can find a
description of his hike from Psáthi over Chorió to the bay of Monastíria
and back. By means of this hike, you can perfectly cover the entire island
on foot, and you can choose between a difficult and an easier variant.
Teun does warn us that there are many snakes to be found on the island, among which a fairly dangerous one. It is a kind of viper that can bite with lethal poison. When bitten by this snake, antivenin should be given as soon as possible. Therefore, be careful when hiking and try to stay on the trails as much as possible – you should definitely avoid walking through dense bushes.
Raymond
discovered Kímolos for the first time in 2008. Really great walks are:
- the walk Chorió - Agii Anárgyri - Skiádi - Paleókastro -
Chorió and
- the walk Chorió - Dékas - Elleniká and back.
On
March 25th 2010 visitor n° 100 000 was on this site!
Since then, this Kimolos page got
visitors.
General view of Chorió
with the row of mills on Xaplovoúni
The kástro in
Chorió
The bay of Monastíria
Arrival at Kímolos
The little harbour of
Psáthi
The Skiádi