Ermoupolis and Syros Island

Ermoupolis harbour (Syros Island) at night

We arrived in Ermoupolis at about 10pm; the harbour was quite spectacular at night, overlooked high over the town by two brightly lit churches. It had been a long day, so we were too tired to explore even a little bit. Happily, our little hotel Ostria was right across the street from the ferry, and Jessica the hotel owner was waiting for us. Our room, overlooking the harbour with a small balcony, was large, bright and comfortable, and had a small kitchen.

The next day, exploring Ermoupolis a little, we knew we would stay longer; we ended-up staying 7 nights (and later wished we had stayed longer).

Panoramic view of Ermoupolis town and harbour

We chose Ermoupolis because we read it is a beautiful (small) city with a vibrant local scene and very few tourists. All this turned out to be true. Ermoupolis is the administrative hub of the South Aegean islands; it is also a ferry hub, and has a large shipyard. So the town does not depend on tourism. It is a remarkably beautiful town, with streets and stairs (many, many stairs!) made of marble. The harbourfront is full of tavernas, cafes and travel agencies (selling ferry tickets). Behind the harbourfront are narrow streets filled with shops and tavernas... as well as more stairs. Unlike on other islands, almost all shops, cafes, and tavernas were open (i.e., not closed for the Winter). And the prices were low.

Ermoupolis

The stairs typical of Ermoupolis

Fruits and vegetables shops

Fish shops

Ermoupolis City Hall on Miaoulis Square (Statue of Admiral Miaoulis in front)

The Cathedral of Agios Nikolaos (Saint Nicholas), patron saint of the city

Syros is a fairly small island, with numerous very small villages and a few beach developments. However, there are no large resorts on the island, thus few tourists. Being November, the beach villages with small hotels were mostly empty (though we did see a few swimmers).

We did get out of town for some walks. 

On our first outing, we took the local bus to Galissas Beach, only to discover, too late as we exited the bus and the bus started driving away, that everything - - 100% - - was closed for the Winter. Oh well, we'll start walking... after about 15 minutes of walking, a nice local woman stopped her car, invited us in, and drove us to a point within 3 km of Ermoupolis. It was all downhill so we had an easy walk.

Our second outing, we decided to climb the steps up to "Ano Syros", the original 13th century Venetian settlement of Syros. This hilltop settlement is formed around a Roman Catholic Capuchin Monastery. Ano Syros is densely built, with a maze of narrow alleyways built on a steep hill, often with beautiful views down to Ermoupolis. (The main town of Ermoupolis, mostly Greek Orthodox, did not exist until the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, when it was populated by refugees from other Greek Islands. It became the leading commercial and industrial center of Greece, as well as its main port (until later eclipsed by Piraeus)).

Ano Syros (photo fom Vrodados Hill, Dili)

View from Ano Syros (Ermoupolis below)

Narrow "streets" of Ano Syros

On our 3rd outing, we took a bus to nearby Azolimnos Beach, a small beach village, with the intent of walking from there to Vari Beach.
A little less than 10 km, it was an enjoyable and easy hike with good views. At the end, we discovered our bus schedule was wrong and we would have to wait 2+ hours until the next bus. However, Jessica had told us just to call a taxi. We did, it came in less than 10 minutes, and returned us to Ermoupolis for less than 10€.

Looking back to Azolimnos

Walking towards Fabrica

Panoramic view of Varis Bay and Beach

Varis Bay

Varis Beach (end of hike)

After 7 nights in Ermoupolis, we decided to head back to the mainland for our final 6 nights in Greece. We had one last dinner in Ermoupolis, saying goodbye to its many cats. We quickly missed both (Syros and its cats).

The well-fed cats of Ermoupolis...

The plan was to pick up a rental car near the Athens airport, and head to the ancient site of Delphi. One last dip into classical Greek history.