For those craving a Greek holiday, to walk through narrow cobbled streets fringed by striking white and blue buildings dotted with colourful bushes of bougainvillaea, this tiny Greek island may just be the perfect choice. What’s more, you can be assured that you will barely see another tourist, unlike Santorini or Mykonos.
Tucked between the renowned Greek islands of Rhodes and Kos, this tiny island actually lies closer to the Turkish mainland than Greece. The island of Tilos forms part of the Dodecanese group in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Boasting dramatic mountains, authentic villages and long sandy beaches, a holiday to Tilos ticks every box for the wannabe traveller.
Tilos has an unusual inverted ‘S’ shape, with a length of nine miles and a maximum width of five miles. Along with the uninhabited offshore islets of Antitilos and Gaidaros, it forms the Municipality of Tilos, which has a total land area of just under 25 square miles.
Today, the island is a quiet paradise home to picturesque villages and amazing beaches where you are guaranteed to have a peaceful and relaxing holiday.
It provides habitat for rare bird species such as the Bonelli’s eagle, the Eleonora’s falcon, the long-legged buzzard, the European shag and the European bee-eater as well as some four hundred types of flowers and herbs.
In antiquity, Tilos became popular for its herbs and it prospered during the Classical period. According to ancient myth, the island was named after Tilos, son of Alia, the sister of the Sun. When she fell seriously ill, Tilos went to the island to pick herbs for her treatment. When Alia recovered, Tilos returned to the island and built a temple to honour the god Apollo.
The island’s capital, Megalo Chorio, boasts iconic Greek architecture with stone-built houses and narrow alleys, perfect to explore on foot. The seaside village of Agios Antonios and its sheltered harbour is a must-see, especially if you’re planning to head out to see on a boat tour.
The village of Livadia on the southeast coast lies at the foot of mountains, with a horizon stretching so far you can see Symi island and the mountains of Turkey. Go for a swim at the large pebbly beach next to the harbour, and you may even be lucky enough to be joined by the European shag.
There are many breathtaking remains to be explored on Tilos, including the Medieval Castle, which perches majestically atop a hill to the north of Megalo Chorio. Constructed during the late Byzantine period by the Knights of Saint John, it offers panoramic views of the bay of Agios Antonios and is a favourite spot for visitors in the late afternoon.
For those that like their tourism a little darker, head to the abandoned ghost town of Mikro Chorio, home to crumbling walls and more goats that people.
It also stands as the final place to house the last elephants of Europe – dwarf elephants appeared on the island 45,000 years ago and disappeared about 4,000 years ago.
Sustainable tourism is a huge part of the island’s practice and has become the first island in the Mediterranean to be entirely self-sufficient in energy, with solar power, wind turbines and a battery farm. As such, it has been named “the Green Island of Greece”. What’s more, Tilos is also large nature reserve protected by international treaties.
Due to its size, Tilos does not have an airport. The best way to access it is via a flight to Rhodes (RHO) and then a ferry across. EasyJet offers flights from many UK airports, including Gatwick and Luton, starting at just £116 for flights in late April. You can also fly to Kos (KGS) and hop on a ferry from there. Ferries take between one and three hours from both islands for around £38 to £48.
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