I’ll be honest, Kos was never top of my list of Greek islands to visit. It doesn’t really have a reputation for anything much other than affordable beach-focused package holidays, but I quietly enjoyed my time here (at the beginning of a island-hopping jaunt) and feel it’s unjustly underrated.
There was a big package holiday boom in Kos in the 70s-90s that has since receded but has left the island with excellent tourist infrastructure. Vibe-wise, some of the coastal areas and hotels still feel a little dated, but they’re slowly getting a glow-up. Kos is an island with great bones and I think, for an island with international flights, it has a lot of untapped potential.
So is Kos worth visiting? Yes, as long as you have the right expectations. I think if you enjoy lazy days by a sandy beach and you find a hotel at a price point you like, then absolutely. It’s a great gateway to the Dodecanese – I prefer it to Rhodes, which is too busy and commercial in the summer for me. On Kos, you’ll still find lots of family-run businesses and people with time for a chat. You can still find quiet unorganised sandy beaches, and it has some great historic sites and activities.
If you’re a devotee of traditional Greek villages, and of getting out and about exploring, then it might not the best island for a long stay but there’s definitely enough to occupy a few days.
I’ll go into all of this in a bit more detail below, as I go over my 7 favourite things about Kos:
The Amazing Sandy Beaches
I’ve been to many Greek Islands with great beaches but I wasn’t quite prepared for the beaches on Kos. The sand here is so fine and powder-soft, it almost feels like walking in ash. And it’s not just one or two beaches, it’s most of the beaches on the island (though there are also some intriguing volcanic beaches and thermal waters if you need a change).
The sands at northern resorts Tigaki and Marmari are fantastic. You can have a great couple of days lazily cycling around here and picking spots to your taste, whether that’s uncrowded or has cabanas and cocktails.
My absolute favourite though was Golden Beach. It has a few beach bars but long expanses backed by cliffs which feel wild and private.
However, the beaches around Kos Town are shingley so I do recommend getting out to explore the beaches around the island even if Kos Town is your base.
If you enjoy staying in resort hotels right near the beach, Kos is particularly good for this. It’s not something that can be said for many Greek islands to be honest, due to strict planning laws thankfully protecting the beaches. Even on Rhodes, most of the bigger hotels are not that close to nice sections of beach.
The nicest of all is Ikos Aria in Kefalos Bay, next to the beautiful Agios Stefanos Beach which has ancient ruins and a picturesque island with a chapel on it.
Read more: 10 Most Beautiful Beaches on Kos
Read more: Where to Stay on Kos: Ultimate Beach Resort Guide
Fantastic Historic Sites
For some reason, Kos is often left off the list when talking about ancient sites to visit in the Greek islands. But Kos was the home of Hippocrates, no less! There’s a plane tree near the harbour that he was said to have taught underneath (it’s signposted from the harbour).
Kos Town’s ancient and medieval historic is woven into the fabric of its streets. The ruins of Nerantzia Castle (the Castle of the Knights) dominate the harbour area, but there are plenty of small ruins scattered around the outskirts of the Old Town including the Ancient Agora (my favourite – don’t miss) and the Roman Odeon.
The blockbuster site is the impressive ruins at Asklepion, which is just outside Kos Town (there are frequent buses).
Around the island, some highlights are the beachside ruins at Agios Stefanos, Paleopyli fortress, Antimachia Castle, and the abandoned mountain village at Haihoutes which has been turned into an atmospheric taverna.
It’s Easy to Get Around
One of my favourite things about Kos was how easy it was to get around. Buses in Greece aren’t always as useful for tourists as they are for locals (see me Rate Greek Islands by Public Transport), but the coastal towns here are well-served by bus. The bus station is pretty easy to figure out, and the buses are frequent enough that plotting day trips isn’t an issue.
Most of the bus routes fan out from Kos Town, but there are also some links to the airport which is on the other side of the island.
Read more: How to Get Around Kos by Bus
Kos Town
Kos Town is a bit of a mixed bag in all honesty, but it has all the essentials and there’s something really liveable about it. Parts of it do feel intensely touristy and a bit Eurotrashy – a hangover from its package tourism boom in the 80s and 90s. Obnoxious pirate boats clog the harbour, and the town beach is lined with beach bars catering to Northern Europeans on cheap breaks.
But the rest of the town has a better mix of locals and low-key tourism. Medical and wellness tourism is becoming a thing here (as is befitting for the island of Hippocrates), and a wave of gentrification is slowly updating bars and restaurants here.
Kos Town has a picturesque Old Town which draped in vines and wisteria, and scattered with historic buildings and ruins. It doesn’t feel as suffocatingly busy as Rhodes Town. Tall palm-lined backstreets and easygoing cycle paths add to its appeal. I usually stay in the south side of town which has a more relaxed vibe than the north, and plenty of family-run businesses.
It can help to get food recommendations from your accommodation – I’d avoid the establishments in Old Town with photos on their menus. There’s plenty of good food on the island – many families have small farms up in the mountains and there is some great produce.
Read more: A Quick Guide to Kos Town
Relaxed Activities
I loved that cycling is so accessible in Kos – rare feature in Greece. There’s a cycle path which runs through Kos Town, where there’s no shortage of rental shops, and up to Lambi. From there, you can follow the quiet rural backstreets to Tigaki and beyond. Kos’ coastline is mostly flat and you’ll see plenty of families out and about.
For the more hardcore cyclist, there are some trails in the hilly interior.
There are several stables around Tigaki which offer horse rides on the beach, and there are watersports available in most of the resort areas.
Read more: Beach Hopping in Kos (By Bus and Bike)
Mastichari
I’m a sucker for a sandy beach town with a relaxed island vibe – and Mastichari ticks all those boxes. It’s not big or fancy, it’s only 10 minutes from the airport, and it’s the kind of place where you inevitably meet a lot of regulars who’ve been coming here for 20+ years. Some of them might be rock climbers travelling onwards to Kalymnos.
Read more: A Quick Guide to Mastichari
The Boat Trip Options and Ferry Connections
Kos is in the middle of the Dodecanese island chain which means plenty of options for boat trips by ferry or by excursion boat. The surrounding islands all have a completely different feel, and it’s also possible to nip over to Turkey.
Most of the boat trips run from the big harbour in Kos Town (you can walk along the promenade in the evening, collecting leaflets and chatting to the staff). There’s no need to book ahead unless you want a particular boat, especially the smaller and more exclusive ones.
The most popular itinerary is the 3 island cruise which go to Pserimos, Vathy – a striking fjord-like inlet on Kalymnos, and a swim stop at the uninhabited Plati – here’s an example on Getyourguide, but there are many boats running this route.
Some boats also run from the harbour at Kardamena on the south coast. From here, you can get to the intriguing volcanic island of Nisyros. Think of it as Santorini’s little brother, with much less tourism. There are some really beautiful villages. I usually prefer a DIY trip but in this case it’s easier to take one of the excursion boats due to the lack of transport options on the island though.
If you want to take the ferry over to Kalymnos you can do that from Mastichari, although I think it suits an overnight trip better than a day trip.
So, those are the upsides of visiting Kos. How about the downsides?
Lack of Atmospheric Coastal Villages
Most of the coastal settlements on Kos are purpose-built beach towns where you’ll find a mix of Greek tavernas and tourist businesses like sports bars, mini-markets, etc. There are no historic buildings, scenic harbours, or atmospheric little beach villages.
The older villages are all inland, in the surprisingly lush and mountainous interior. I really recommend visiting if you can (which is easier with a car). There’s a really cool abandoned village which has been turned into a taverna (look for Kos Ghost Town Taverna), or there are sunset village tours to Zia.
If you prefer the traditional Greek village vibe then Kos probably isn’t the island for you, I’d recommend instead a night or two in Kos Town before catching the ferry to a nearby island like Nisyros, Lipsi, Kalymnos, or Patmos.
The Wind
There’s no getting around it, Kos is a windy island. There’s a reason it’s so popular with windsurfers and kitesurfers. The north coast beaches, whilst gorgeous, are unsheltered and get a blasting when the wind blows from the north. The solution to this is to head to the south coast when the wind is blowing from the north, and vice versa. Whilst this is true for pretty much every Greek island, it seems particularly exaggerated on Kos. The northerly wind (the meltemi) can blow for a few days at a time before switching direction, so it’s good to have a plan in case this happens on your holiday. You can use websites like WindGuru or Windy to check the wind forecast.
Read more:
Where to Stay on Kos: Ultimate Beach Resort Guide
Beach Hopping on Kos by Bike and Bus