Kythnos Guide

Located in the western Cyclades group of islands, the Greek island of Kythnos lies between the islands of Kea and Serifos and is around 100 km from the port of Piraeus. The small island, with a land area of around 100 sq. km and a coastline of 100 km, has about 100 beaches although many of them are inaccessible by road. The main villages on the island are called Messaria or Kythnos (known as Chora to the locals) and Dryopis or Dryopida (known as Chorio to the locals). Both villages are characterised by steep, winding streets, often stepped, which are often too narrow for cars. The architectural styles of both villages are slightly different from each. Both are pretty but Chora's houses are mainly flat-roofed, typical of the Cyclades, while Chorio's houses tend to have sloping roofs. An interesting attraction in Chora is its large Greek Orthodox Church.

The island can be reached by ferry from Piraeus and Lavrio. The crossing from Piraeus takes around 3 hours by conventional ferry and 1 hour by high speed ferry. The crossing from Lavrio takes roughly 2 hours. Kythnos is also connected by ferry to the islands of Serifos, Sifnos, Milos, Santorini, Sikinos, Folegandros and Kea.