been to Kos? info please

[Miss Potter]

I'm going to Kardamena at the end of July with my daughters. I'm getting a bit worried as when I googled it I ended up on a message board site which painted Kardamena as a kind of 18-30s place.

We're outside the town in a small apartment complex so maybe it won't be so bad but if anybody's got anything they can tell me - good or bad - I'd be grateful for any feedback.

Cheers

 

[Furvert]

i've been to the very same kardamena, and yes i'm afraid it is very 'brits abroad'. i was particularly horrified to see most of the bars show eastenders every night etc.

BUT don't lose heart because:

1) the beaches are lovely
2) on the outskirts of kardamena there some lovely quiet places to eat.
3) the locals are incredibly friendly
4) if you can drive, i'd strongly recommend hiring a car and driving to a village called pyli. me and a friend drove up there one night and ate at a little taverna which was purely full of locals. had a fab time, and ended up making friends with a lovely, lovely man called emmanuel who was about 60, and who ran his own taverna up in the hills near the pyli old town. me and the girls went to visit him the next night at his taverna, and we all got drunk together. Better still, on our last night emmanuel and his aged side-kick george drove down into kardamena looking for us. once again, we all got drunk together.

so even though the resort was very, very tacky, i actually had one of the most lovely holidays of my life!

my tip is to make an effort to chat to the locals. they're very friendly and more than willing to point you in the direction of a decent 'locals' bar/haunt should you ask.

hope you have a nice time, and if you should ever find old emmanuel's taverna in pyli ( i think it was called old pyli taverna) tell him the english girl who did the sheep noises says hello. don't worry, he'll understand!

 

[Private Storm]

I worked in Kos for a couple of months in 1999. It was the only place I've come across where they employ you simply to chat to people in bars - I do that for free anyway.

I'm sure you'll have a great time, but when I was there, the town seemed to be entirely populated by brits. However, there are some lovely places elsewhere on the island and it is not that difficult to get around. Kos town was very pretty and if I remember correctly, was where Hippocates came up with his oath. I don't recall the beach at Kardamena being all that, but there was a gorgeous one called bubble beach (not its original name I'm sure) that was really wide and flat - ideal for kids. The island has some great thermal springs as well.

There are some beautiful places on the island, as well as some crap ones - you just have to look for them.

Enjoy.

 

[Miss Potter]

Thanks both of you, I'll keep a note of what you say. Somebody else has mentioned taking a ferry to Bodrum for a day, so will add that to my list too.

 

[Furvert]

if you go to bodrum, whatever you do make sure they don't stamp your passport. if you have a turkish stamp in your passport, the greeks won't let back in. (i don't mean on that trip, i mean for future holidays.) no kidding!

there's plenty of boat trips you could do actually. i can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but there's an island nearby with an active volcano on it you can go to.

it's fab. me and my mate went, and actually stood in the middle of the crater. it was so weird, all hot and bubbling away, with steam rising from little holes in the ground.

the only down side is that the smell of sulphur was so bad, i was gagging and heaving something chronic!

well worth a visit though!

 

[Jessiedog]

I was there back in 1987.

Sounds like it hasn't changed much!

Deffo head to "Bubble beach". And rent a Mini Moke and head inland to the villages. Great food, great peeps, etc (Mmmmm! Yoghurt and honey......Greek salads.....Mmmmmm!).

If you're in Kardemena, watch out in the supermarket. Rumplestiltskin hangs around at the check-out and has a compulsive propensity for bottom-pinching (No. I'm serious. If he's still alive/around,) the repugnant little man.

Have fun.



Woof

 

[PearlySpencer]

I've only been to Kos Town, but would highly recommend it for a full days visit. It's a loverly place with loads of nice places to visit, wonder around and sit off chilling out. As Private storm said there's the tree under which Hippocrates first issued the oath, a castle, ampitheatre (sp?), and some nice bustling market streets and a great beach with tavernas opposite too.

Enjoy

 

[pk]

Kos town is a dive, but a nice one at that.

If you like drinking. Worth a trip or two from Kardamena.

It's not all Brits abroad - it's HUGE with the Scandanavians, which is a refreshing change.

Plenty of Swedes, Norweigans and Danes.

The castle on the harbour built by the Knights of St John, it's great, and yes, there is the tree of Hippocrates which is, well, a tree in the middle of a square in Kos town.

You must must MUST visit the old Roman hospital at Asklepieion!!!!!!

I'm really into my Roman stuff, and though it's not very well marketed, Kos town has lots of great sites, recent excavations of the ancient city brought to light building foundations of the Classical era (e.g. the Agora) and of Hellenistic and Roman times (the Gymnasium, Odeon, Roman baths, a Roman mansion with absolutely beautiful mosaics).

Also were found sections of wall from the Classical period, the foundations of a temple of Aphrodite (sadly most of the statues were plundered or made headless during the 2nd world war by Nazi fuckwits).

Other buildings include the Stoa (Colonnade), which housed Hippocrates' medical school and the Bomos or Great Altar (3rd century B.C.), which was decorated with sculptures attributed to the son of Praxiteles.

If you like that sort of thing.
I dig it, me. Not literally though.

Also, go to Thermes, with its hot springs and spa.

There ain't much historical stuff in Kardamena, so take the eastern bus and hire some pushbikes for 3 quid a day from the little glass fronted place opposite the jetski hire on the main road south from Kos town and pedal to all the old stuff (take water though!).

The nightclubs are crap. Chart crap on repeat play.
("Heeeeeyyyyy hey baby! Oooh! Ahh! I wanna knooo-oooooow will you be my girl?!")
*pk slowly loads shotgun and takes aim at the DJ booth*

I fucking HATE that song and all those who actually like it.

Ignore the famous club names (Cream, Ministry, etc.) - they're not the same and they're overpriced shite.
Even more so than the originals.

But do, please, take a boat out to Nisiros. It is truly beautiful.
A dormant volcano lies at the end of a heartstopping coach trip once you have made the hour long boat journey there from Kardamena.

It is SOOO worth the wait, like being on Mars or something...

Hope this helps!!!
Hope the picture of Nisiros volcano works!

You'll love it, I do, say hi to the old place for me.

 

[Epona]

Originally posted by Furvert
if you go to bodrum, whatever you do make sure they don't stamp your passport. if you have a turkish stamp in your passport, the greeks won't let back in. (i don't mean on that trip, i mean for future holidays.) no kidding!

I've had a Turkish stamp in my passport for years, and never had a problem getting into Greece But then I've never had my passport given a thorough check through, they only seem to look at the photo.

Kos - stopped there for a few days a few years back. Stayed in Kos town, which could have been a touristy nightmare, but was actually OK. I stayed at a friendly backpackers hostel called the Alexis - the bloke who runs the place was fantastic and gave me loads of tips on where to visit and good restaurants run by his mates, where if you mentioned that he'd sent you it would guarantee you loads of free ouzo and good conversation.

The Asklepion is worth a visit if you can get there, as is the nearby village of Platani which is one of the few remaining Turkish villages on the island. There are a couple of nice tavernas there serving turkish meze and it's a nice place to while away a few hours with a drink and some nice food.

It's also worth taking a boat trip to Nissiros to see the volcanic craters - sulphurous and bubbling, well worth a gander.

 

[Miss Potter]

thanks guys for the extra info. Unfortunately I won't be able to drink too much ouzo as I'll have my girls with me - they are 15 and 10 - and no husband. But there's lots of other ideas so we won't be stuck for things to do.

Saves me borrowing the Rough Guide from the library

 

[Epona]

alice band - I've got the Rough Guide for Rhodes and the Dodecanese (which includes Kos) if you want to borrow it - it's a few years old but a lot of the info will still be relevant - PM me if you're interested.

 

[Jessiedog]

Originally posted by Epona
alice band - I've got the Rough Guide for Rhodes and the Dodecanese (which includes Kos) if you want to borrow it - it's a few years old but a lot of the info will still be relevant - PM me if you're interested.

Nice one!



alice........


Enjoy.

(But watch out fer Rumplestiltskin.)



Woof

 

[SW9]

Hi,
I stayed in Kos town for two weeks,
The place I was in was totally full of scandanavians which was Ok except they kept on playing that "Hey Hey Baby" song. The good bit was that the hotel manager seemed to be be the only guy on the island that had weed (he grew his own). It also turned out that his his brother was a vet so he had access to Ketaset which we intruduced him to.
He had also never tried LSD so when we got home we sent him some which he never thought we would do. Unfortunately when he got the package the police came round to his house as it didnt have a return address they opened it up, and out came 4 Timothy Learys but he grabbed them before the police did.
He Called me and said thanks a lot,
He loved it

SW9

I like to help

 

[sparkling]

WE went to Kos a couple of years ago and stayed and Tinkagki which was big enough to have a street of bars and stuff and a nice beach at the end.
I agree with the others go to Nissoros and see the volcano its everthing PK said it was and the coach trip to it is pretty scary...hair pin bends and a mad driver...all adds to the excitment.

We hired a car and drove out to find some nice quiet villages but unfortunately they are few and far between.

I'm writing this in the middle of the night (insomnia) but tomorrow I'll see if I can dig out some old guides. I might also have some web links you can go to they were free and very useful

 

[Yoj]

me and a couple of mates went to Karmadena last August. Lovely place although full of Londoners and Northerners! Plenty of places to eat/ drink but be wary of every resturant on the beach trying to entice u in. Also try a this resturant called Koyros. It is on the beach. Lovely food - friendly waiters and reasonably priced.

Be wary that the sea bed is so stony and u have to go to another part of the island to get to a smoother sea bed. That is the only flaw in my opinion.

 

[Shelly P]

I flew to Kos 3 years ago, and my impression of the place was not great at all. It was better once we got away from Kos Town, but as soon as we could (a few days later) we boarded a ferry to Kalymnos, which was much more our sort of place. Less touristy, cheaper, friendlier and with some lovely walks. But I guess maybe your kids wouldn't want to be going on long walks everyday!

 

[Miss Potter]

my kids never want to walk anywhere! The youngest will be happy jumping in the pool and the eldest is taking a stock of books and just wants to sunbathe. Will have to work out a balance somehow - I'm happy to spend quite a bit of time relaxing on a lounger but no point going all that way and not seeing any of the local culture!