Where to Stay in Sifnos

Kamares (the port)

Every ferry docks here, so it is the easy first or last night. The beach is long and sandy and organised, with tavernas behind it, and the water is shallow, like Vathi, so it is good with small children. It faces west. You get the sunset over the water while you eat. Dinner is a flat walk along the harbour front and you can do the whole stay without a car. It is a working port, though. Ferries come and go from early in the morning, and of the eight villages it is the plainest to look at.

Buses out of the port run roughly hourly from 07:15 to 23:15, with one long gap before the 09:30, and every one of them passes through Apollonia. The last bus back into Kamares leaves Apollonia just after 23:00. Apollonia is 5.3 km by road. Platis Gialos is 14.2 km, 20 to 30 minutes by car. Full timetable

Apollonia (the capital)

The capital, and where the island goes in the evening. Most of the restaurants and bars are on or just off the Steno, the narrow pedestrian lane, so you walk to dinner every night. Stay here if dinner matters more to you than the beach. It is also the easiest place to manage without a car. There is no beach. The nearest swims are a bus ride or a drive away. And in August it is the busiest place on Sifnos.

Nearly every bus route on the island passes through Apollonia. The first buses leave shortly after 07:00 and the last one toward the port goes at 23:00. 5.3 km by road from Kamares. From Platis Gialos it is 9 km, 15 to 20 minutes by car. There are free municipal car parks at the village entrances. Full timetable

Artemonas

Ten minutes uphill from Apollonia on foot. Neoclassical mansions and quiet lanes, and the bakeries are reason enough for the walk up. Go to Theodorou for the amygdalota. Stay here if you want quiet with the capital close. Perivoli cooks its own pasta in a garden and O Aggeles is the butcher's taverna for grilled meat, so dinner in the village holds its own. For the full choice you take the 1.3 km lane down to Apollonia, with a slower walk back up. No beach. The sandy beaches are all a drive or a bus away, though you can walk down to the rocks at Panagia Poulati in about half an hour.

The bus routes begin here. The first bus of the day leaves Artemonas at 07:00 toward Kamares. Platis Gialos and Vathi are served from 09:00 and Faros from 09:30. 7.7 km by road from Kamares. Full timetable

Kastro

The medieval village on the cliff. Steep stepped lanes, and the Seven Martyrs church on its rock below. It is the most beautiful place on Sifnos. It faces east, so you wake to the sunrise over the sea. Never the sunset. Couples and photographers love it. In the lanes, Loggia opens for wine at 19:00 and Dolci covers the sweet things, and Cantina sits in the cove at Seralia below, ten minutes down a stepped path. For the full choice of restaurants you go to Apollonia, 2.5 km on the old stone path or a short bus ride. No real beach at the village. Swimming means a climb down and a steeper climb back up. Places to stay are few, and the steps are hard work with heavy suitcases or bad knees.

A shuttle runs to and from Apollonia, ten buses a day each way, first at 07:25 and last back out of Kastro at 22:05. Roughly every two hours through the day, closer to hourly in the evening. 8.4 km by road from Kamares. Full timetable

Platis Gialos (the south coast)

This is where we are. About 700 metres of Blue Flag sand, one of the longest beaches on the island, with calm clear water. It faces south, so it stays sheltered when the meltemi blows from the north. The tavernas and shops are along the bay and you walk to dinner in sandals. Families come here, and anyone who wants to swim before breakfast. Our house, Villa Olivia Clara, is on the hillside above the bay, 700 m and 7 to 10 minutes' walk down to the sand. August is the bay at its busiest. And there are no Mykonos-style beach clubs, just sunbeds from the restaurants, first come first served.

On the main line via Apollonia to Artemonas and Kamares. Buses roughly hourly, first out of the bay at 07:40, last at 22:30. The last bus back down leaves Artemonas at 21:00, so a late dinner in Apollonia means driving. 14.2 km by road from the port. 9 km up to Apollonia, 15 to 20 minutes. Three car parks serve the bay. In August they fill by late morning most days. Full timetable

Faros

A small former fishing village with three sheltered coves and a flat coastal path to the Chrysopigi monastery, 1.5 km away. Couples and young families go there for quiet beach days. The water is easy and a handful of good tavernas sit by the sand. Dinner is a two-minute walk, and it is the same few menus each night. Faros is small. Any change of scene means the bus or the car.

The Faros bus runs from Artemonas through Apollonia about every two hours. Thirteen buses a day reach the village. The last one out of Artemonas goes at 17:30, and the runs after that start from Apollonia, the last at 21:30. 12.5 km by road from Kamares. Full timetable

Vathi

A deep sheltered bay of sand with some of the calmest, shallowest water on the island. When guests ask where to take small children, we say Vathi. The tavernas stand along the sand, so dinner is a barefoot walk along the beach. It is the quiet one. Near the end of the road, few shops, no nightlife. Apollonia is 15 to 20 minutes by car for anything more.

Six buses a day each way on the Vathi line via Apollonia, the first from Artemonas at 09:00 and the last out of Vathi at 21:30. 14.7 km by road from Kamares. Full timetable

Chrysopigi

A handful of houses around the most photographed monastery on the island, next to the sheltered beach at Apokofto. Stay here if the scenery comes first and you want to step out of the door onto the coastal path. Faros is 1.5 km one way and Platis Gialos 2.4 km the other. You swim at Apokofto. There is very little to eat on the spot and almost nowhere to stay, so you will drive for shops and most evenings.

The Platis Gialos bus stops at the Chrysopigi turn on the main road, about 10 minutes from the monastery on foot. The Faros bus leaves you the last 1.5 km, or come from Platis Gialos, 2.4 km on the coastal path or 3.2 km by road. Two car parks, one up by the monastery and one down by the beach. 13.4 km from Kamares. Full timetable

Where is the best area to stay in Sifnos?

For a first visit, Apollonia or Platis Gialos. Apollonia has dinner on foot along the Steno and nearly every bus route through town. Platis Gialos has about 700 metres of calm sandy Blue Flag beach with the tavernas along it. Faros or Vathi if you want quieter beach days, Artemonas or Kastro for the architecture. Nowhere is far. The island is about 15 km end to end.

Do you need a car in Sifnos?

In Apollonia, Kamares or Platis Gialos, no. They sit on the main bus line, which runs roughly hourly in summer from early morning until around 23:30 at the Apollonia end. Watch the evening, though. The last bus down to Platis Gialos leaves Artemonas at 21:00, which is early for a Greek dinner. For Artemonas, Kastro, Faros, Vathi or Chrysopigi, a car makes life much easier.

Which area is best for families?

With small children, Vathi or Kamares. The water in each is shallow and calm, the calmest on the island. With teenagers we would pick Platis Gialos or Apollonia, either the long Blue Flag beach with the tavernas along it, or the Steno with the island's restaurants and bars a few steps away. Platis Gialos has the most going on around it, about 700 metres of calm, clear Blue Flag sand with the tavernas and shops just behind. Faros has three sheltered coves on a smaller scale. Apokofto at Chrysopigi is a sheltered swim beside the monastery, but there is almost nowhere to stay there.

How many nights should you spend in Sifnos?

Four to seven nights. The island is about 15 km end to end, so that is enough to settle into one base, walk Apollonia, Artemonas and Kastro, and swim along the south coast (Platis Gialos, Chrysopigi, Faros, Vathi) without rushing. Villas, ours included, usually have a minimum stay in peak season.

Is Sifnos better than Milos or Serifos for where to stay?

Sifnos is greener and quieter than Milos, and it has the best food of the three. Milos has the dramatic beaches, and the crowds that come with them. Serifos is rugged and quiet. For food and the villages, Sifnos. We live here, so read that knowing it.

Which area of Sifnos is quietest in August?

Vathi, then Faros and Chrysopigi. Vathi sits near the end of the road with seven buses a day and stays calm even in mid-August. Faros is a small village with a few tavernas. Chrysopigi has almost nowhere to stay at all. Apollonia and Platis Gialos are the island at its busiest that month.

Where should you stay in Sifnos on a first visit?

Platis Gialos or Apollonia. The easier of the two is Platis Gialos. A long calm sandy beach, dinner a short walk away, and a roughly hourly bus to everywhere else. In Apollonia the restaurants and nearly every bus route are outside your door, and the beaches are a short drive. Go up to Kastro for a sunrise and to Artemonas one morning for the bakeries.

Where is Verina Astra on Sifnos?

In Poulati, on the east coast north of Kastro. It is one of three Verina properties on the island and they are in different villages, so check which one a listing means. Verina Terra is at Platys Gialos, and some roundups put it in Artemonas by mistake.

Where is Elies Resorts on Sifnos?

At Vathi, on the sheltered west-facing bay. It is the one resort on our list, and some of its rooms have their own pool according to its own site.

Where is Stamna on Sifnos?

In Apollonia, so you can walk to dinner along the Steno. Its own pages say some rooms have a private pool.

Which Sifnos hotels take bookings directly, without an OTA?

All 18 in the table above, and the 13 in the unverified list below it. The table is built on that one rule, covering any hotel, suite complex or set of residences on Sifnos that runs its own booking site. Every field was read off the operator's site, and where a figure is not published we say so.