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Route · 14 days · one-wayYacht charter route · Cyclades

Lavrion via Milos & Sifnos.

A two-week sail from Lavrion through Andros, Tinos and the Small Cyclades, looping back via Milos and Sifnos. Remote anchorages and real island tavernas.

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 east from Lavrion to warm up the crew; tie up at Korissia's free quay or slip north to 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

14 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 / 14
Kea
1
Day 1

Lavrion → Kea (Korissia Harbor)

The first afternoon is really a shake-down: eighteen miles east-southeast, sails up, everyone finding where the winches live. Kea sits closer to the mainland than any other Cycladic island, so it fills with Athenian weekenders, but midweek the quay stays civil. Korissia is the obvious tie-up and costs nothing, though the entrance takes a nasty chop once the Meltemi pushes past twenty knots from the north. When that's the forecast, we duck a mile up to Vourkari instead, where lazy lines and a proper fishing-village ouzeri make the evening easier. Get in before four if you can. Ashore, the walk up to Ioulida rewards you at dusk, when the marble lanes go gold and the tavernas start smoking. Snorkellers should ask a local to point out the Patris wreck off Koundouros.

Things to do

Climb to the 6th-century BC Lion of Kea

Snorkel the Patris wreck off Koundouros

Octopus and ouzo at a Vourkari ouzeri

Wander Ioulida's marble lanes after sunset

Mooring tip

Korissia's town quay is free but rolls badly in a northerly; when the Meltemi tops 18 knots, take the lazy lines at Vourkari (about €25-35) a mile north. Aim to be secured by mid-afternoon before the entrance swell builds.

Andros
2
Day 2

Kea → Andros

Thirty-two miles today, so we like to slip the lines by nine and let the morning wind do the work before the Meltemi hardens up. Andros surprises people. Where most Cycladic islands are bald and burnt, this one runs with water: streams, old stone footbridges, even a waterfall or two up in the hills. Gavrio on the west coast is where the charter fleet ties up, a big easy harbour that shrugs off wind from any quarter. The island's real pleasure is inland. The Andros Routes trail network threads past springs and slate-roofed villages, and the hike up to the Pithara falls is worth a whole afternoon. Chora, over on the far side, keeps a good contemporary art museum and marble walkways that stay cool at midday. Order froutalia, the local herb-and-potato omelette, at any village kafeneio.

Things to do

Hike inland to the Pithara waterfalls

Walk Chora's marble paths and art museum

Try froutalia omelette at a kafeneio

Swim the north-coast sands at Vitali

Mooring tip

Stern-to in Gavrio is straightforward and holds well against any wind, roughly €30-50 a night with room to spare even in August. No need to book, but arrive by late afternoon for the calmer inside berths.

Tinos
3
Day 3

Andros → Tinos

The gap between Andros and Tinos acts like a wind tunnel, so expect the Meltemi to stand up mid-channel even on a mild day. The passage is short, though, and a reefed main handles it comfortably. Tinos wears two faces. Down at the port, pilgrims climb to the church of Panagia Evangelistria, some on their knees, and the waterfront hums accordingly. Head inland and the island goes quiet: more than a hundred ornate dovecotes stud the terraces around Falatados, and the marble workshops of Pyrgos still turn out carvers trained the old way. We usually berth in the new harbour, though the holding is only fair, so lay plenty of chain. When the wind really pipes up, the inner craft basin stays calmer. Save an evening for the boulder-strewn moonscape at Volax.

Things to do

Visit a marble-carving workshop in Pyrgos

Walk the dovecote trail above Falatados

Lunch on artichokes à la polita

Sunset among Volax's granite boulders

Mooring tip

Stern-to in the new harbour runs about €25-40, but the sand holding is moderate, so dig the anchor in well with a long scope. If the forecast tops 25 knots, shift to the calmer inner small-craft basin.

Donoussa
4
Day 4

Tinos → Donousa

This is the big jump. Thirty-eight miles across open water into the Small Cyclades, so we're off the dock at first light and watching the barometer. Donousa is the outlier of the group, an island of maybe a hundred permanent souls with room for only a handful of visiting boats. The little harbour at Stavros tucks into the southwest corner and holds you snugly once you're in. Turn up late and it may be full, in which case the bay just outside gives good sand at five to seven metres. The reward is Kedros, a curve of pale sand and improbable turquoise a short walk south, sheltered when the north wind blows. Hikers can push on to the stone hamlet of Kalotaritissa. Come evening, look for gouna, mackerel sun-dried on lines and thrown on the grill.

Things to do

Swim the turquoise sand at Kedros

Hike to the Kalotaritissa stone hamlet

Snorkel the Cave of the Wall

Grilled gouna at a beach shack

Mooring tip

Stavros harbour has only a few stern-to slots (around €15-25) with no lazy lines, so plan to anchor in the bay outside on sand at 5-7 metres if you arrive after mid-afternoon. Both spots shelter you from the northerly Meltemi.

Amorgos
5
Day 5

Donousa → Amorgos

After yesterday's slog, fifteen easy miles feel like a gift. Amorgos rises steep and dramatic, the island Luc Besson used for The Big Blue, and its signature sight is the monastery of Hozoviotissa: a slash of whitewash pressed into the rock face, three hundred steps above the road, founded back in 1088. Bring covered shoulders and knees or you won't get past the monk at the door. Where you tie up depends on the wind. Aegiali in the north gives the better lee under a standard Meltemi, while Katapola down south comes into its own when the breeze swings around. Divers with a card aboard can drop onto the Olympia wreck off Liveros. In the hill village of Tholaria we settle in for slow-cooked goat and a glass of psimeni raki, the local spiced spirit.

Things to do

Climb 300 steps to Hozoviotissa monastery

Dive the Olympia wreck off Liveros

Slow-cooked goat and raki in Tholaria

Walk the Aegiali-Tholaria ridge path

Mooring tip

Aegiali stern-to (roughly €25-40) sits in the lee of a northerly; switch to Katapola on the south coast if the wind clocks round. Charter berths are few, so confirm a slot ahead in peak weeks.

Koufonissi
6
Day 6

Amorgos → Koufonissi

Koufonissi is the one that's caught on. It's the largest of the inhabited Small Cyclades and, over the past decade, the smart-money anchorage of the cluster, so the harbour at Pano Koufonissi can feel busy by yacht standards. Get there early and it's still charming: a low white village, caïques nosing in with the morning catch, water so clear the keel throws a shadow on the sand. The swimming is the draw. Off the east end the shallows glow that unreal turquoise, and the uninhabited islet of Kato Koufonissi across the channel makes a fine lunchtime anchor with a single taverna ashore. Kayakers poke into the sea caves along the southeast cliffs. At dinner, order astakomakaronada, the island's lobster spaghetti, landed that morning by the same boats you watched come in.

Things to do

Lunch anchor and swim off Kato Koufonissi

Kayak the southeast sea caves

Astakomakaronada lobster spaghetti at the port

Walk Pano Koufonissi's whitewashed lanes

Mooring tip

Harbour berths at Pano Koufonissi (about €25-40) fill by five in high season, so plan an early arrival. If it's full, anchor on sand at 4-7 metres east of the village, well tucked from the northerly.

Schoinousa
7
Day 7

Koufonissi → Schoinousa

Barely five miles today, so there's no rush and no drama. Schoinousa is the smallest inhabited island in the group, home to a couple of hundred people, and it wears its quiet lightly. Boats tie up at little Mersini at the foot of the hill; the village of Chora sits above, a ten-minute climb that sorts the walkers from the loungers. Once you're up there, whitewash, a spine of a main street, and views back down over the anchored fleet. Tsigouri is the beach to aim for, shallow and sandy and sheltered from the north, an easy stroll from the port. Lunch is unfussy: tomato keftedes, a jug of the house red, a tamarisk for shade. If your legs are willing, the path out to the Panagia church rewards the effort with the island's widest view.

Things to do

Swim shallow, sheltered Tsigouri beach

Climb to the hilltop Chora village

Tomato keftedes under a tamarisk tree

Walk out to the Panagia church

Mooring tip

Mersini has only a few stern-to slots (around €15-25) and no lazy lines; if they're taken, anchor on sand at 4-6 metres just east of the harbour. Both give good shelter from the Meltemi.

Irakleia
8
Day 8

Schoinousa → Irakleia

Seven miles and you've arrived, which leaves the whole day for doing very little. Irakleia rounds out the Small Cyclades and takes the quiet crown: a hundred residents, one road, a single taverna down at the Agios Georgios harbour. The mainstream crowd simply never makes it out this far. Tie up, swim, walk. The cave above the village, the Blue Cave as everyone calls it, is a half-hour scramble uphill and worth a head-torch to see the stalactites properly. Livadi beach holds what may be the clearest water in the group. Up on the ridge, the crumbling kastro dates from the days when pirates worked these channels. Time your visit right and you'll land on a panigiri; the Saint Trinity feast in late August pulls in the whole island and half the boats at anchor.

Things to do

Hike to the Blue Cave stalactites

Swim the clear water at Livadi

Grilled gouna at the harbour taverna

Explore the pirate-era kastro ruins

Mooring tip

Anchor in Agios Georgios bay on sand at 5-7 metres, well sheltered from the northerly Meltemi. The few quay berths (around €15-25) have no lazy lines, so most crews settle for the hook.

Folegandros
9
Day 9

Irakleia → Folegandros

With the Meltemi on the beam this is a fast, exhilarating leg, thirty-two miles of the boat settling into her groove and eating the miles. Folegandros makes you work for its best bit. Karavostasi, the only real harbour, is a modest affair down at sea level, fine in a northerly and no place to be in a southerly. The town is another matter. Chora perches on the cliff edge a stiff kalderimi climb above the port, or a short taxi if the legs have had enough, and the walk out from the square to the Panagia church runs right along the drop with the southern Cyclades laid out behind you. Katergo, a boat-only cove, is the swim to save for the tender. At dinner, matsata, hand-rolled pasta under a goat ragù, is the plate to order.

Things to do

Cliff-edge walk from Chora to Panagia

Tender across to boat-only Katergo cove

Matsata pasta with goat ragù

Follow the kalderimi to Ano Meria

Mooring tip

Karavostasi is small and best in a northerly only; stern-to runs about €25-40. If the quay's full, anchor east of the port on sand at 4-7 metres, and stay away entirely when the wind has any south in it.

Milos
10
Day 10

Folegandros → Milos (Port Adamantas)

Twenty miles northwest and the character of the trip changes again. Milos is a drowned volcano, its crater flooded to form a huge natural harbour, and once you've motored up the long inlet to Adamas the water goes glassy no matter what's blowing outside. It's one of the surest overnights in the western islands. On the way in, if the sea is kind, drop the hook off Sarakiniko for a swim; the white volcanic rock there looks scoured smooth, closer to the moon than the Aegean, though the anchorage only works in calm air. Ashore, the old fishermen's syrmata at Klima glow in every colour at sunset, boat-garages built right at the waterline. Climb to the castle at Plaka for the long view, and set aside snorkel time for the Papafragas caves.

Things to do

Calm-day swim below the Sarakiniko cliffs

Snorkel the Papafragas sea caves

Climb to Plaka castle for the view

Photograph the coloured syrmata at Klima

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the Adamas town quay (about €30-50) is protected from any wind direction, the best shelter for miles. Pollonia in the northeast is cheaper but takes the swell in a northerly.

Kamares
11
Day 11

Milos → Sifnos (Vathi or Kamares)

Eighteen miles north brings you to the island Greeks send you to when the subject turns to food. Sifnos gave the country its most famous cookbook writer, and the cooking here still runs deep: mastelo, lamb or goat sealed in a clay pot with wine and dill, and revithada, chickpeas left overnight in the wood oven and eaten Sunday. Two anchorages compete for you. Kamares on the west is the bigger quay and the ferry port; Vathi, tucked into an almost land-locked inlet on the south coast, is the calmer swim, sand underfoot and salt flats behind the beach. When the Meltemi carries any west in it, we take Vathi every time. Walk the coast path at Faros to the little Chrysopigi monastery on its rock, and buy a piece of the island's celebrated pottery before you leave.

Things to do

Coast walk to Chrysopigi monastery at Faros

Mastelo lamb in clay pots at Artemonas

Visit a pottery workshop in Vathy

Swim the sheltered inlet at Vathi

Mooring tip

In Kamares, anchor on sand at 5-8 metres or take the small quay (€20-30); at Vathi, drop on sand at 4-6 metres for full shelter. Choose Vathi whenever the wind has a westerly slant.

Kythnos
12
Day 12

Sifnos → Kythnos (Merichas Harbor)

Today you pay for all that downwind fun. Thirty-two miles north into the teeth of the Meltemi, so we set up for two long port tacks and accept that lunch will be eaten heeled over. Break the beat at Apokrousi, a sandy cove on the west coast of Kythnos that gives a sheltered lee and a swim to reset the crew. Merichas, a little further on, is the practical overnight; it handles a building northerly far better than Loutra round the corner. If the clock and the wind are both generous, the sandbar at Kolona a few miles north is the island's showpiece anchorage, a ribbon of sand joining two bays, and worth every extra mile. Ashore in the old village of Dryopida, ask for sfougato, the local baked cheese-and-egg pie.

Things to do

Lunch anchor and swim at Apokrousi cove

Detour to the Kolona double-bay sandbar

Walk the Merichas-Chora ridge road

Sfougato cheese pie in Dryopida

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the Merichas town quay (about €20-30) shelters you from the northerly; it's a steadier bet than Loutra when the Meltemi is building. For a night at anchor, Kolona's sandbar to the north is unbeatable in settled weather.

Lavrion
13
Day 13

Kythnos → Lavrion

The last real sailing day, twenty-two miles northwest, and it's worth leaving something in the tank for the finale. Cape Sounion sticks out from the Attic coast just short of Lavrion, and the temple of Poseidon still stands on its headland where sailors have watched for it for two and a half thousand years. Anchor half a mile off in sand at five to eight metres, in the lee of the northerly, and take the crew for one more swim with those columns above the bow. It's the kind of stop nobody forgets. From there it's a short hop into Lavrion. Top up the tanks at the fuel berth by the entrance before you berth, so the boat is ready to hand back in the morning without a scramble. Dinner tonight is on the harbourfront, wherever the grill smells best.

Things to do

Anchor and swim beneath Poseidon's temple

Refuel at the Lavrion entrance berth

Farewell crew dinner on the harbourfront

Souvenir stroll through Lavrion town

Mooring tip

At the Olympic Marina, take the lazy lines stern-to (roughly €60-90). Refuel at the entrance berth before you moor, and confirm your handover slot with the base 24 hours ahead.

Lavrion
14
Day 14

Lavrion → Check-out

No sailing today, just the wind-down. Bases like the boat back on the quay by nine, so strip the beds, clear the fridge and square away the gear the night before rather than rushing it half-asleep. Walk the inspection alongside the base manager rather than leaving them to it: point out anything you flagged on handover, and photograph any mark before you sign for it, which keeps the conversation short if a question comes up later. With that done, the deposit typically clears back to your card inside a week. Lavrion is close to Athens airport, about fifty minutes by road, though on a Friday afternoon in season give it ninety to be safe. If there's an hour spare before the transfer, take a last Greek coffee at one of the harbour kafeneia and watch the next crew load their boat.

Things to do

Walk the final inspection with the manager

Greek coffee at a harbour kafeneio

Airport transfer, about 50 minutes

Tip the dock crew for good service

Mooring tip

Have the boat cleared and on the quay by 09:00 for handover. Photograph any noted damage before signing the inspection sheet; the deposit is usually released within seven days.

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