Sifnos experiences, from cooking classes to boat days
Written by Elena Philippou, who hosts Villa Olivia Clara above Platis Gialos.Updated June 2026
Cooking classes, pottery, boat days, the old trails and the village festivals, and who we send guests to for each.
Guests ask us what there is to do here apart from swim. The potters still work, and more than 100 kilometres of old trails run between the villages. In summer the villages hold their festivals. And we would call it the food capital of the Cyclades, so people come to cook as well as eat. Elena will tell you who to call for any of it.
If you are still asking what there is to do on the island at all, start with the guide. Things to Do in Sifnos: Beaches, Trails, Food and Culture
Cooking classes & farm visits
A lot of people come to Sifnos for the food, and some of them want to learn to cook it. You cook the slow dishes, revithada (chickpeas baked overnight in a clay pot) and mastelo (lamb or goat in red wine). We send people to Narlis Farm, between Apollonia and Kato Petali. George and Dina walk you round the farm, you cook with them, and then everyone eats at one long table. Some days there is pottery too. The classes are small and they fill up, so book before you come.
Pottery workshops
Sifnos has made pottery for some three thousand years and around twenty workshops are still working, most of them in the villages on the coast. Vathi, Kamares, Faros, Platis Gialos and Cheronissos. Many of them let you in to watch and to buy, and some will put you at the wheel. Ring first, because they are working workshops and not shops. Atsonios in Vathi has been there since 1870, keeps one of the last old kilns, and the place is full of old pieces. A tsikali, the clay cooking pot, is the thing to take home.
More on Sifnos potteryBoat tours
Take a boat for a day. That gets you to the beaches you cannot drive to, and you see the whole coast from the water. Boats go out from Platis Gialos and Vathi. A full day to Poliegos (nobody lives there) and Kimolos next to it, or three hours along the south coast. We send people to A La Mer, in Platis Gialos.
Our Sifnos boat tours guideHiking the old trails
More than 100 kilometres of waymarked paths link the villages with the monasteries and the beaches, many of them the old stone paths. Some are a short walk, some take half a day. Go in spring or autumn.
Our Sifnos hiking guideIs there a gym on Sifnos? And yoga?
Yes. Apollonia has a municipal sports centre with two indoor halls, treadmills, an Olympic-size tennis court and an outdoor gym park that is floodlit at night, and Hatha Yoga is on the published class list alongside gymnastics and dance. It is a village facility, so ring +30 22840 33144 first and ask what is running that week and whether you can drop in. The rest of it is outdoors. More than 100 km of marked trails. The pool at the house is there for lengths before breakfast, and the sea stays swimmable into October. Yoga retreats run here in season, and you book those with the organisers themselves.
The 19 marked routesFestivals (panigiria)
The villages still hold their saints' day festivals, the panigiria, and the villagers run them themselves. Music, food, wine, and you pay nothing. The big one is for Panagia Chrysopigi, the island's patron, at the monastery on its rock. There has been a church there since the mid-1600s. It starts on the eve of Ascension Day, with a procession and a shared meal they call the table of love. And every September Artemonas holds the Nikolaos Tselementes Cycladic Gastronomy Festival. Three days, named after the chef, who was born here.
Just ask Elena
Tell Elena what you want to do (a cooking class, a morning at a pottery, a boat day, a walk) and she will tell you who to call. You book it yourself, directly with them. The classes and the boats are small and they fill up in July and August, so ask her before you arrive.
Things to do in Sifnos, the questions guests ask
What are the best things to do in Sifnos?
A cooking class at Narlis Farm and a morning at a pottery workshop. Then a boat day to Poliegos, a walk on the old trails, and a village festival if one falls in your dates. And the beaches, and Kastro, the medieval village.
Where can I take a cooking class in Sifnos?
Narlis Farm, between Apollonia and Kato Petali. George and Dina take you round the farm, then you cook with them and everyone eats together at the end. They keep the classes small, so book ahead. Ask Elena for their details.
Can you visit the pottery workshops in Sifnos?
Yes, many of them, in Vathi and Kamares and Faros among other villages. Ring before you go. These are working workshops and the potter may be at the wheel. Atsonios in Vathi has been going since 1870.
What festivals happen in Sifnos?
The village panigiria run all summer. The biggest is for Panagia Chrysopigi, the island's patron, and it starts on the eve of Ascension Day. In September Artemonas has the Nikolaos Tselementes Cycladic Gastronomy Festival, three days of it.
Do I need to book experiences in advance?
For the cooking classes and the popular boat trips, yes. They are small and they fill up in July and August. Tell us your dates and we will point you to the right people before you arrive.
Planning what to do on Sifnos?
If you are staying with us, tell Elena what you would like to do and she will recommend the cooking class, the pottery and the boat company. We host the house ourselves, so write to us directly.