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Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Cyclades

Lavrion via Kea & Kythnos.

Sail a 7-day round trip from Lavrion through Kea, Kythnos, Sifnos and Serifos: thermal springs, quiet quays and the finest cooking in the Cyclades.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Kea
Day 1

Lavrion → Kea (Korissia Harbor)

A gentle 18-mile reach southeast off the mainland to Kea, your first night either on the free Korissia quay or in sheltered Vourkari.

Distance

15 NM

Sailing

~3h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep, meltemi Jul – Aug)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Lavrion

Sailing area

Cyclades

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Kea
1
Day 1

Lavrion → Kea (Korissia Harbor)

The first afternoon out of Lavrion is an easy one: eighteen miles east-southeast across open water to Kea, a warm-up leg to let the crew settle into the boat. Korissia, the main port on the island's northwest corner, offers a free town quay, though it sits open to the north and turns lumpy once the Meltemi climbs past eighteen knots. When that happens we duck a mile north into Vourkari, where holding is better and lazy lines make going stern-to painless. Aim to be tied up by four, because the swell at the Korissia mouth stiffens through the afternoon. Ashore, the seafood ouzeris along the Vourkari waterfront are why most crews stop here at all. Walk up to Ioulida before dinner and lose an hour among its marble lanes.

Things to do

See the 6th-century Stone Lion of Kea

Dive the Patris wreck off Koundouros

Octopus and ouzo on the Vourkari front

Wander the marble lanes of Ioulida

Mooring tip

Korissia's town quay is free but wide open when the Meltemi turns northerly. Above eighteen knots, shift a mile north to Vourkari for lazy-line berths (roughly EUR 25-35) and steadier holding.

Kythnos
2
Day 2

Kea → Kythnos (Loutra Harbor)

With the Meltemi sitting on the quarter, the twenty miles down to Kythnos is the sort of sailing you charter for: a steady following breeze and the boat rolling gently south. Break the passage at Kolona, the thin sand spit that joins the main island to the Agios Loukas islet, and drop the hook for a swim where the water shelves from turquoise to deep blue on either side of the bar. Loutra, over on the northeast coast, is the night's prize. Natural thermal springs run down into the harbour itself, so once you're berthed stern-to you can walk a few metres and sink into water sitting near thirty-eight degrees. Nothing loosens a day's sailing out of your shoulders quite like it. Berths go for around EUR 25-40 with lazy lines, well sheltered from the north.

Things to do

Soak in the Loutra thermal springs

Swim the Kolona double-bay sandbar

Ride the Chora-to-Driopida ridge road

Sfougato cheese pie in Driopida

Mooring tip

Go stern-to with lazy lines inside Loutra's little harbour (EUR 25-40), well protected from the north. If it fills in high season, Merichas on the west coast is the fallback.

Kamares
3
Day 3

Kythnos → Sifnos (Kamares Harbor)

Twenty-eight miles today, a proper beam reach in the standard Meltemi that eats the distance quickly, with Serifos sliding past to starboard. Kamares, the ferry bay on the west coast of Sifnos, is where most crews aim. It shelters well from north and northeast, but the mouth faces west, and by late August, when the Meltemi picks up a westerly slant, swell curls in and the anchorage grows restless. On those nights we move round to Platys Gialos on the south coast and sleep properly. Sifnos earns its name at the table. This is the home of revithada, chickpeas left overnight in a wood oven, and mastelo, lamb slow-cooked in a clay pot with dill and red wine. Book a table up in Artemonas and eat the way the island has eaten for generations.

Things to do

Mastelo lamb up in Artemonas

Walk out to Chrysopigi monastery, Faros

Watch potters throwing clay in Vathy

Swim the long sands at Platys Gialos

Mooring tip

Anchor on sand at five to eight metres in Kamares, or take the short quay stern-to for EUR 20-30. When the wind clocks west and swell rolls in, run round to Platys Gialos on the south coast.

Serifos
4
Day 4

Sifnos → Serifos (Koutalas Beach)

A short day, just fourteen miles up the coast, which leaves the morning free. Anchor first at Koutalas on the south coast, where a headland blocks the northerly and the snorkelling over the rocks is worth an hour or two. Livadi, the main harbour, is the overnight, and it deserves respect: the bay acts like a funnel, accelerating the Meltemi as it pours off the hills. The holding on sand is good once you're properly dug in, but if there's one Serifos story every skipper trades, it's dragging out of Livadi in the small hours. Give it plenty of scope, dive down to see the anchor has actually bitten, and hold off sending anyone ashore until you're sure. When you do head up, the donkey path to Chora is half an hour of switchbacks, rewarded by windmills and a long view back over the bay.

Things to do

Snorkel the rocks at Koutalas Bay

Climb the donkey path to Chora

Revithada in a Chora kafeneio

Sunset by the Chora windmills

Mooring tip

Day-anchor at Koutalas on sand in five to seven metres. Overnight in Livadi anchored at five to eight with long scope, or stern-to on the town quay for EUR 20-30; either way, dive the anchor before you relax.

Kythnos
5
Day 5

Serifos → Kythnos (Merichas Harbor)

Turning north again, fifteen miles brings you back to Kythnos, this time to Merichas on the west coast. It's a homelier stop than Loutra: a modest ferry quay, a row of tavernas run by the families who own them, and a berth that's a good deal simpler to handle than the exposed Kolona anchorage when a blow is on the way. Break for lunch at Apokrousi, a wide sandy cove just to the north that stays calm under a northerly, and swim off the boat before you drop down to the port. Later, walk or catch a lift up to Chora. The climb from Merichas is a lovely bit of back-country road, and the ridge at the top throws open a wide view across the strait. Quiet tavernas, cold wine, an early night.

Things to do

Lunch and a swim in Apokrousi cove

Drive the Merichas-to-Chora ridge road

Ridge-top views over the channel from Chora

Sunset drinks on the Merichas quay

Mooring tip

Berth stern-to on the Merichas town quay (EUR 20-30), sheltered from the northerly Meltemi. It's a calmer, more forgiving night than Kolona if the wind is forecast over twenty-five knots.

Lavrion
6
Day 6

Kythnos → Lavrion

The run home is twenty-two miles northwest, and it comes with one last treat. Cape Sounion sits on the approach to Lavrion, and the temple of Poseidon stands on the headland above a good anchorage half a mile offshore. Drop the hook on sand in five to eight metres, sheltered from the north, and take a final swim with two and a half thousand years of marble looking down on you. Time it for the middle of the day and you will have the water to yourself before the tour buses arrive. From there it is a short hop into Lavrion. Tie up at the fuel berth on the way in and fill the tanks, so the boat is ready to hand back. Most bases at the Olympic Marina want you alongside by five the evening before checkout.

Things to do

Swim below the Temple of Poseidon

Anchor off Cape Sounion at midday

Refuel and rinse down at Lavrion

Farewell dinner on the Lavrion harbourfront

Mooring tip

Refuel at the entrance berth before you moor, then take a stern-to slot with lazy lines in the Olympic Marina (EUR 60-90). Confirm your handover time a day ahead and aim to be alongside by five the evening before.

Mykonos
7
Day 7

Lavrion → Check Out

Checkout at Lavrion is painless if you've kept the boat tidy through the week. Handover is usually before nine, so pack the night before and strip the bunks early. Walk the inspection alongside the base manager rather than leaving them to it, and photograph anything that gets logged as damage before you put your name to the form; the deposit should be back in your account inside a week. Then comes the ritual that closes every charter: a slow coffee at one of the kafeneia on the Lavrion front while the crew trades the week's stories. Athens airport is roughly fifty minutes away by road, though Friday traffic can stretch that, so leave a buffer if you're flying out the same day. And tip the dock hands if they looked after you.

Things to do

Walk the final inspection with the base manager

Photograph any logged damage before signing

Last coffee on the Lavrion harbourfront

Fifty-minute transfer to Athens airport

Mooring tip

Hand over before nine after a walk-through with the base manager. Photograph anything noted as damage before you sign, and expect the deposit back within seven days of a clean inspection.

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