A week in Sifnos
Countdown to next summer
I included all my Sifnos spots in Amigo, a travel app I use a lot to discover new places when I travel. The app is free and you can use the code MELANIEGO to skip the waitlist and join.
Hi everyone,
I’m here to tell you about my favorite week this year, spent with two of my best friends doing absolutely nothing but devouring this book (highly recommend) in Sifnos (very highly recommend). My new favorite island in the Greek Cyclades.
I’m extremely particular, which could be why you read this newsletter. It’s definitely why I prefer going on trips I plan myself.
There’s a method to my madness: before going to any new place, I crowdsource recommendations, put them all in one big doc (+ each with the name of the recommender). I create a Google map (my gift to you here), so I can get a sense of distances, hot spots, and so I can use it to walk around once I’m there. I cross reference everything on Amigo (best travel app - use the code MELANIEGO to skip the waitlist), and from there, edit down to a “DO NOT MISS” list. The idea is to plan a loose itinerary: have one nice meal or activity booked per day, and plenty of time to get there and rest up. Build the day more spontaneously based on geography. For longer trips, I always leave a fully empty day or two at the end - to allow plans to get shuffled around according to the local recommendations, the weather or the market’s schedule.
I owe this special week in Sifnos to a few people whose taste I really trust: Courtney, Chloe, Laure, Monica. They generously shared their thoughtful lists and pins, since the best spots in Sifnos aren’t always listed on a Google Map.
For my short, computer free trip, I was looking for a place easily accessible from Paris, with a clear blue sea and good food, a low-key heaven that ideally also wouldn’t break the bank. (So, not Capri). There is no scene in Sifnos and that’s exactly the point. The language I heard the most after Greek was French, but it’s unclear which came first, the delicious food or the French.
I can tell that Sifnos is already changing by the fact that the places that came the most recommended turned out to be my least favorite - so take this as my personal Sifnos diary, and not a definitive guide to Sifnos, like in most best places, you don’t actually need one.
To / From Athens
Sifnos is an easy 3h ferry from Athens - pro tip: the bar of the ferry sells 3 euro passes for *actually* high speed wifi.
I packed my day to/from Sifnos in Athens: Stayed at the beautiful Mona hotel, and got an iced coffee at Anana. I got Ghia-coloured pants at cute linen shop B.Loose (a rec from Anna whose lists of recs are unparalleled - if you read this I miss you so much!) and sandals made at Olgianna Melissinos - do not trust the other sandal shops!
Lunch at DiPorto was as good as people said, and while my expectations were low (because everybody said it was so “authentic”) I appreciated that at least half the room was Greek. No menu, no problem. Lunch for 6 was 70 euros.
Note on visiting the Acropolis: It was 100+ degrees so I renounced on my plan to go visit the Acropolis. The best times to visit it are when it’s less crowded, early mornings (not always available as it’s the time they’ll use for any renovation and construction), and evenings after tourists from cruise ships head back for the night. The only official site to get tickets is on the Hellenic Heritage site and there is no such thing as “fast track”. Yolo Journal wrote a very helpful newsletter about this.
If you decide to stay away from the crowds, you can do what the locals do and walk around Philopappou Hill at sunset - there’s a sweeping view of the Acropolis and it’s a short walk to Taverna Oikonomou, a taverna that existed since 1930 but was recently taken over by the owner’s son, perfect white tablecloth restaurant. The walls are covered in gorgeous 20th century Greek art. I wish I was there right now.
I decided to see if the dairy in Greece also makes me sick with a yogurt break at Stani Milk Shop instead (it didn’t). Wow. The moussaka at Pharaoh was the best I ever had, and while I didn’t have it in me to go to Wine is Fine after dinner, it did seem super vibey. There is an incredible Cindy Sherman exhibition at the Cycladic Museum, and on the walk there I popped by the Ancient Greek Sandals flagship to buy Jelly shoes that won’t break, and Naxos Apothecary for nice shampoo and conditioner (sometimes hard to find on islands). For nighttime views, head to The Dolli, a fancy new hotel with sweeping views of the city.
I wish I had known about the Epidaraus festival, where concerts play in the ancient Odeon, and had time to got to Nolan, a Greek / Japanese restaurant that looks very good. I love all things Fusion except the word Fusion.
4 Perfect Days in Sifnos
I can tell that Sifnos is already changing and I hope I don’t regret writing this newsletter in a couple years.
I love a fancy vacation sometimes, but my real idea of a recharge is a shack on the beach, no english menus and a taverna name I can’t pronounce, shoes optional. I did not expect the beaches and coves to be so breathtaking, and the Cycladic wind to be so cinematic. I have thought about this island, this week, every day since I’ve been back!
Transportation
The island is small-ish but you must rent a car, there are only a few taxis on the island and they are pricey.
Stay
Get in to a cutie Airbnb, no hot water no problem. We’ll book something more comfortable for next year but for the price, this was great. Hotel Petali came recommended as “so euro and cute but it books fast”. Fancy Verina Astra was the most recommended place, but after going there for an epic breakfast-with-a-view, I was glad I saved the $: the place is extremely tasteful and gorgeous but entirely american-ized. My coworker stayed at NOS and said that the thorn in his week was spending so much money on the hotel and being there so little.
Beaches
The best swimming spots are small, hidden coves, a bit hard to access and require a climb down. Still, every beach we went to in Sifnos was wonderful, some more comfortable than others. I highly recommend bringing your own beach umbrella if you plan to spend the hot hours there.
Platis Gialos: The bay with all the restaurants and many hotels. We didn’t spend any time at the beach there as we found it quite touristy but it is still nice and comfortable for a family!
Apokofto beach: Left of the Chrisopigi monastery, has nice trees for some shade and is a 5 min drive to Platis Gialos for a nice lunch.
Vroulidia: So nice we went twice. A bit hard to reach but so worth it. Don’t try to park all the way down in your rental car or you’ll get in trouble. Everybody recommended the left taverna, so naturally I preferred the one on the right. We enjoyed being able to rent beach chairs, it was the most comfortable beach without being touristy. We were alone there for many hours a day.
Church of the Seven Martyrs / Efte Martyres: Gorgeous spot in Kastro, left of the beautiful church, for a swim.
Fikiada: A 45 min hike down to this beautiful beach, can be empty even on very hot days.
Seralia: A little concrete jumping point into crystal blue water, go early in the morning.
Cheronissos - North of the island, a local spot with the oldest ceramic shop in town - I bought two. Both tavernas looked great but we really loved the one on the left (again). This beach got crowded, and after lunch someone came to put their towel right next to mine, but I gathered the courage to ask “I’m sorry would you mind pushing your towel a bit so we can all have more space” and they obliged. This is the worst thing that happened to me in 5 days in Sifnos.
Poulati: The beach under Verina Astra hotel, absolutely beautiful.
Eat / Drink
All my favorite meals were the little tavernas on the beach - they sometimes have difficult names so I’ve added them to my Amigo profile (it’s free and you can skip the waitlist with the code MELANIEGO). Our lunch strategy was to pick a beach for the day, then go from there.
If you need somewhere to start or end your night, Loggia Wine Bar is the social nexus of Kastro, and an idyllic place to gather on steps overlooking the bay over a bottle of wine. The cuban bar Cavos in Kastro is also very famous and popular.
The three places that came the most recommended were Cantina, Omega3 and Pelicanos. Those are the places you must book early, and that cost about 3-4x more than pretty much anywhere else on the island. Now I’m not a restaurant reviewer but I could have skipped all 3 and just eaten at all the fish tavernas.
Omega 3 is a tiny, beautiful beach shack, and the calamari cacio e pepe was very special. The amberjack with smoked tomatoes and chocolate chili ice cream were my favs. Even the thunderstorm that rolled in was idyllic - with rows of Greeks, unbothered, crouching under the tables to finish their wine.
While Pelicanos was a little fancier than I expected, eating dinner here while looking at a perfect pink sunset over the bay was great and my friends really enjoyed the cocktails.
Cantina. Let’s discuss. This was the most recommended place by far (at least 40 recs, including visitors who went this season). It’s the only place in Sifnos I did not enjoy. The owner is LOVELY, and tried his best to accommodate a friend’s strict allergy restrictions. The setting is AMAZING: tables and chairs on a rocky hill over the water. This year, the establishment started a two-seating, 70 euros pp prix fixe (by far our most expensive meal). The menu featured things like “Bread Ice Cream” which feels overly unnecessary to me in Greece, where I really enjoyed the local dishes being quite healthy. All to say: you should probably go, book early, choose the 7pm seating to enjoy the view, and let me know that I’m wrong and I’ll try it again, or that I’m right and it felt like Tulum-in-Sifnos to you, too.
Captain George is right down the street, still on the water, and has a similar vibe in a simpler way (food is just ok!). Taverna Drakakis in Appolonia was a 10/10 - it’s famous for the pork legs, sauteed potatoes, aubergines (which I recreated the minute I got home with my new ceramics), and I also loved Maiolica (lunch on the beach) and Mosaico (dinner in town) which were maybe one notch fancier than a taverna but where the food was simply delicious.
Our last day, we aimed to have breakfast at Hotel Kamaroti, but it was closed for renovation. We went to Verina Astra instead, where supposedly Bostani, their restaurant is very good (too fancy for me I’m sure!). It is an incredible hotel with gorgeous views, and was also one of the fanciest things we did the entire time.
If in the land of espresso freddos you must have a coffee with alternative milk, good luck. We found matcha and american-ish breakfast at Palmira, next to the Omega 3 restaurant.
Do not sleep on the pastry shop in Appolonia with the 1 euro mini ice creams, and the local bakeries which all serve equally delicious spanakopitas (spinach pies, some with leeks or zucchinis for extra pzaz).
Ceramics
Sifnos is known for its ceramics, but I was a good girl and only bought two. Again, these are sometimes just a pin, so I added them to my Amigo. Keramika Kostas Depastas is the oldest store on the island, right on Cheronissos Beach (this is where I splurged for a 12 euros dish to bake eggplant in). Lembesis Ceramics was quite special, and has a little ceramics painting school for adults and children right next to it. Apostolidis Ceramics for colourful dishes and cooking tools. I’m sure you will stumble upon many more if you decide to go to this magical island!
Also you’ll appreciate I did meet a cute Greek man at the steps of Loggia, and he invited me for a drink back in Athens. I don’t usually go to strangers home but roped in a Greek girlfriend who was around to come with me. Well the universe rewarded me because this was the view from his apartment!!! That is, sadly, as juicy as the story gets.
So glad Sifnos is getting the attention it deserves! It's my favorite of all the islands.
this is so dreamy