Patmos, Greece: What Was Actually Worth It

Patmos isn’t one of the Greek islands you hear people talk about, or at least, I hadn’t heard people talk about it until I went. It’s one of the smaller islands; no crowds of influencers, no overrun beach clubs every 500 meters. It’s a lot quieter, relatively undiscovered (relative to Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, etc) and felt like a completely different kind of trip than the other islands. There weren’t any ‘must-see’ TikTok spots, everyone was chilling, living life slowly; meandering from the coffee spot in town to a few shops to a beach where you throw a towel down under an olive tree and read a book. Below is a full breakdown of my itinerary – and what I would do differently if I were to come back.

Getting There & Getting Around & Small Notes

Ferry arrival: landed in Skala around 10:30 AM.

If you want to rent a car- book it ahead. We didn’t, and had to scramble same-day, we were recommended AutoUnion but they didn’t have same day availability. Rent a Car Katerina ended up being the best price we found on short notice, and the staff were genuinely nice, but don’t repeat our mistake, book before you land if you don’t want to shop around and wait. That being said you don’t HAVE to rent a car, it really depends on where you want to go. If you plan on staying in town and only going to 1-2 places, there are taxis that seem to work pretty efficiently (and are allegedly around 10 euros to go most places).

Manual transmission is the cheapest option across most of Europe – worth knowing if you’re used to automatic-only rental fleets back home.

Use your credit card’s built-in rental insurance instead of paying for the rental company’s, a real money-saver most people don’t realize they already have. Please, please check your card terms! Some cards, *cough* Amex *cough*, don’t cover specific countries like Italy; so make sure you’re using the right card (if you have multiple with this benefit) in the right country.

Tap water is not drinkable in Patmos! Stick to bottled.

Skala: Shops, Cafés & Food

Skala is where you land and where we went to pretty much every day; for breakfast, coffee, desserts and any sort of shopping.

Shops worth your time (or at least were worth mine):

Tara (boutique) — loved it
Anamnesis Concept Store — really cool, carried some cool swimsuit brands
Citria Boutique, Citria Phos, and Citria Vintage — Curated, cool shop. Phos is the outlet store (I’m guessing last season) and vintage is the outlet/secondhand store for Citria. Would recommend checking those two as there were some great finds that were steals.

Food & drink (not including dinners):

Daphne’s — the portokalopita (orange cake) is a must, but very sweet, I’d recommend splitting it between two people at least (we split amongst 3 and that was enough for all of us). The ice cream is also excellent; the mastica and mango/passion fruit sorbet were standouts, I’m not a huge pistachio flavor fan but my dad had the pistachio and said that was also amazing.
Ferrogos (bakery) — good spanakopita, the first time I had it (right off the ferry) was fine, but was incredibly tasty when I got it again right before my ferry home, so I guess this depends on the day?
Houston — decent breakfast spot, nothing to write home about, but the yogurt bowl was tasty although I do wish it had had some granola.
Petrino’s — super chill café, central in town. Great spot to post up if you’re waiting on a ferry or on friends who are shopping, we probably sat here every day. Staff is super friendly, not pushy at all, and in general incredibly pleasant people.
Sklabenitis Supermarket — Easily walkable from the center of Skala, we went here a bunch of times during our stay. Cheapest place to load up on bottled waters, also recommend trying the Mastiqua sparkling water (unique to here). I also picked up some packets of mastica crystals from here to bring home because I have these hopes and dreams that I can make mastica ice cream at home, so we’ll see how that turns out.

One practical heads-up: Skala only has two pharmacies, and one is closed on Sundays. If you’re relying on beauty/skincare restocks (not just medicine), go to Daphni & Kleopatra Karafotaki – it has a decent selection, including Apivita and Korres. The other pharmacy had a weaker selection in terms of non medicinal items.

Chora

Chora sits on top of a hill, and is a lot smaller than Skala, but with its own vibes. Here, you have the iconic white walled houses with the gorgeous colorful doors, paths that seem like a maze, and a plethora of restaurants and bars. At night, this area is buzzing with people at dinner, or having drinks at one of the bars in the main square area. There are a few shops here as well, and art galleries strewn about the maze of alleys. We did not end up actually having any of our dinners here, but we were recommended Vaggelis by many people, and we walked by it later in the evening; the food and vibes looked amazing. I would say there was definitely a higher ratio of fancier (not taverna style) restaurants in this area, so I think Chora is a staple for dinner plans amongst the people. I would recommend getting here right before sunset and watching the views (I mentioned Benetos in Chora had a beautiful view of the sunset, or you can just watch the views from the walkways), and then getting a bite to eat at Vaggelis or Pantheon or a drink at one of the bars in the main square. Even if you don’t end up eating here, I think it’s worth it to come in the evening for a stroll around the shops and to see the vibes!

Beaches: Which Ones Are Actually Worth It

We beach-hopped more than we needed to; like, WAY more than we needed to. Honest takeaway: most of the beaches blend together after a while, pick one good one and settle in for the day rather than chasing new ones just to “see” them. Here’s how each of the ones we actually went to stacked up.

Grikos Beach — we stayed here, and despite going around many different beaches, this is what we felt was our favorite. We obviously had the convenience of our room close by, but also, it wasn’t crowded, water was clear and gorgeous, and it was protected from wind and waves. One useful tip: the stretch right after Hotel Aktis has shade trees but also road traffic passing right by. Walk past Aktis, follow the road behind the hill, and there’s a better, quieter stretch of beach back there (and if you walk a little further you get to Petra Beach!).

Atmos Patmos (beach club) — I wish we had spent a full day here. It’s a beautiful, high quality beach club and restaurant. We stopped by for a coffee and dessert, and both were really tasty. I asked the staff, and they said it was €60 for a set of a sunbeds (which, to me, would be worth it for a full day), but you can also come for lunch and take a dip (like we did). The food and drinks we ordered were quite tasty; the orange pie, ginger lemonade, and coffee were all great. I will add, the sand and shore line were prettier than most of the other beaches, but you’re not paying for a more beautiful beach, it’s more the comfort and relaxation aspect.

Psili Ammos — pretty and peaceful, but requires a ~35 minute hike over rocky hills to reach. I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘difficult’ walk but it isn’t exactly a leisurely stroll. Wear real shoes, not flip-flops! I learned that one the hard way. I honestly don’t think the scenery or beach justified the walk exactly, but the beach was peaceful and a bit less crowded (probably because of the walk there). There’s a bathroom, a small restaurant/cafe, and almost no service/wifi; so if you want to grab a book and unplug, it’s a great spot. Bonus: we saw some cute goats on our walk there!

Petra Beach — fine, but not worth a special trip. Nearly identical to Grikos, without the convenience of being close to our room (for us).

Lampi Beach — skip it for the beach itself. It’s rocky, and the supposedly “famous rocks” are just normal rocks — didn’t see what the reputation was about. (That said, Lampi Taverna looked like a cool spot for dinner, worth considering separately from the beach.)

Where We Ate (DINNERS!)

*Slow cooked lamb (or beef? I forgot) with Greek pasta*

*One of the tastier Greek salads I’ve had*

Plefsis (Grikos, at Patmos Aktis) — the best meal of the trip for me, no contest. Right by the sea, 10/10 service, and — despite being attached to a luxury hotel — didn’t feel hyped or overcrowded like some of the other well-known spots. Order the zucchini and shrimp fritters, the signature orzo, and the slow-cooked lamb with Greek pasta — all phenomenal. We ate here twice, the food was tasty but personally I loved how calm this spot was and that our table was literally right next to the sea.

Benetos (Sapsila) — mixed. The starters were excellent, especially the zucchini flowers, and the setting and views were a 10/10. The mains didn’t land the same way for any of us — not sure if it was an off night or we just chose the wrong dishes. Worth going for the vibes and apps; temper expectations on the mains.

Where We Stayed

Apanemo — super cute, great location, and the terrace has full sea views. The room was incredibly clean, and the owner/manager was super helpful and friendly; she gave us a lot of amazing recommendations and did her best to accommodate our every need. The only catch: the wifi was unreliable during our 3 day stay there, pretty slow most of the time. The owner said there was an area-wide issue, so this may have been just my bad luck. Otherwise, this was a great place to actually relax and we loved everything about it.

Aktis — the fancier, more expensive resort & spa option near Grikos Beach, if you want to splurge. The hotel has its own beach, so you’re freed from deciding which beach to go to, but not worth it if you plan on going to town/other beaches during the day since you won’t be making use of the hotel amenities as much.

Chora and Skala at night are both worth a walk regardless of where you’re staying; lively, cute bars and restaurants, good atmosphere, the sunset view from Chora were incredible (I hear the Benetos in Chora has a great view and is walk in only).

Heading Back (If You’re Continuing to Turkey)

Get in the passport line an hour early, and print your ferry ticket ahead of time rather than dealing with it last-minute. Good ferry snacks: spanakopita from Ferrogos, or the orange cake from Daphne’s.

What I Packed

Patmos (and Greece generally) is low-key enough that you don’t need much, but I have a few must brings that I always pack for summer vacations:

Apivita Hyaluronic Hydra shampoo + leave-in mask (the blue line) — a travel must for the last few years, makes a real difference. I actually buy a few of these from the Greek pharmacies and fly them home. I’m a huge fan of the Apivita products, would highly recommend their body moisturizer too (I love this jasmine scented one, I also got their body wash while I was there).
Chantecaille cleanser — my go-to when I keep skincare minimal in summer heat, also great for travel since it’s travel sized.
Beauty of Joseon Sunscreen – face; La Roche-Posay spray – body. I put sunscreen on any time I walk out the door and re-apply religiously, especially in the Greek summer, you don’t want to be sunburnt!
Birkenstocks – always. These are literally the ONLY shoes I wear when I travel in the summer (to Mediterranean countries). I can wear them all day and walk pretty much everywhere with them. My two favorite styles are: these and these. I will say everyone is different, my mom isn’t nearly as comfortable in Birks as I am, so please walk around with them before you commit to traveling with a pair!
Aveda paddle brush – for the wavy/curly hair girlies, I’ve used this one for 10 years and it always detangles my hair pretty easily!
Olympus mju Zoom 105 film camera, plus a few rolls of film – I got mine secondhand from a Japanese seller on Amazon, and I love it! It’s a little heavier than your casual disposable, but I love the quality of the photos and also the fun features of the camera. I linked one so you guys could see the model, but there’s always secondhand ones that pop up, and the prices fluctuate, so worth investigating!
AirTags for luggage – non-negotiable at this point, I can’t explain how many times airlines have lost my luggage, and my AirTag was the only reason they were able to find it quickly and fly it out in a timely manner. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with airline baggage representatives for answers about where your luggage is.
A portable router for secure, reliable wifi wherever I go
Tampons with applicators, not always available abroad so I like to keep a few in my luggage.
Bug spray, cortisone cream, arnica cream, zyrtec – I’m allergic to mosquito bites and need these on hand at all times.
A hat, a small packable towel, flip-flops for the beach, small hand held fan – I wish I wasn’t lazy about carrying the battery powered ones but I am, so I carry the foldable handheld fans when I know it’s going to be hot.

The Verdict

I’ve been to a handful of Greek islands, and I always feel like I have a list of things to see and check off, so they haven’t felt that relaxing for me. Patmos was different in a sense that I never got bored, but I wasn’t on a schedule to see anything. I would wake up, go for a swim right outside our room, go to Skala for coffee, have some pastries, walk around some shops, go lay down at a beach, walk into a random restaurant for lunch, have dinner by the sea and walk around town (the shops close so late here!!). It’s the perfect slow paced, relaxing vacation, and the food is delicious.

Patmos, Greece