Serifos: bare hills, long sand and two hours from Piraeus
Bare hills, fertile valleys and long sandy beaches, two hours and twenty minutes from Piraeus and still largely to itself.
Serifos, just 2 hrs. 20 mins from Piraeus by fast ferry, is a small island of bare hills, fertile valleys and long, sandy beaches. The small, cosy port of Livadi is where all ferries dock. Set in a deep cut bay and with its pine-fringed beach backed by cafes, tavernas and tourist accommodation, Livadi is home to most of the island’s tourist facilities including a bank and shops. Livadaki, a better tamarisk-shaded sandy beach, lies a short walk to the west of the harbour, offering snorkelling possibilities, water-sports and a taverna. Overlooking all this is the appealing, dazzling white Chora, set high above Livadi on a steep hillside. Quiet and atmospheric, Chora can be reached by using either the municipal bus or walking the cobbled 2 kilometres mule path. With breathtaking views across the valleys below, Chora’s alleyways lead to several tavernas near the village’s central square. All is topped by a ruined 15th century Venetian Kastro.
Serifos’ most recent claim to fame is that one of its beaches, Psili Ammos, was voted as one of Europe’s most beautiful beaches in the Sunday Times. This sheltered, white sand beach with its two excellent tavernas can be reached by walking 50 minutes north of Livadi. There are at least seven more beaches dotted around the island, a reward to keen walkers seeking seclusion.
Getting there
Travel between the mainland and Serifos is by ferry (2 hrs. 20 mins.).
Getting to Serifos
Leg
By
Roughly
London → Athens
flight
—
Athens (Piraeus) → Serifos
ferry
2 hrs 20 min
Crossing times are the scheduled durations of the route, not a timetable. Sailings vary by
season and operator.
By ferry from Piraeus, about two hours twenty minutes on a fast service, which makes it one of the quickest Cycladic islands to reach without flying. All ferries dock at Livadi.
Port or Chora?
Livadi has most of the island's rooms, the bank, the shops and a pine-fringed beach backed by cafes. Chora sits high above it on a steep hillside and is the quieter, more atmospheric half, reached by the municipal bus or a cobbled mule path of two kilometres.
Which beaches are the good ones?
Livadaki, a short walk west of the harbour, is better than the port beach and has a taverna, snorkelling and watersports. Psili Ammos, a sheltered white-sand bay with two tavernas, is a fifty-minute walk north of Livadi and has been named among the finest beaches in Europe.
Is there more than that?
At least seven further beaches are scattered around the island, most of them reached on foot and quiet because of it. Chora's alleyways lead to several tavernas around the central square, topped by a ruined fifteenth-century Venetian kastro.
Do you need a car?
Not to see Livadi and Chora, which the bus and a walk cover. For the outlying beaches a car or a scooter shortens the day considerably, and on an island of bare hills in August that matters.
