We obviously love the ones among the Greek islands, especially those within a ferry distance of our Aegean coasts.. Although Chios, Kos and Rhodes come to mind first, travelers like me who are after exploring different Greek islands have started to set foot on Kalymnos island.. That’s why Kalymnos trips to Klymnos with information such as how to get to Kalymnos, Kalymnos beaches and Kalymnos visa I prepared the guide.
The Turkish equivalent of the island of Kalymnos is mostly Kalymnos, but in some places It is possible to see it as Kilimli or Kelemez. If you want to spend a quiet holiday and relax, I think you will love Kalymnos.
How to Go to Kalymnos?
Where is Kalymnos, when we look at the map, we see that it is just across Bodrum, so to go from Turkey, you must first go to Bodrum. need to arrive. As of 2018, there were ferry services from Bodrum center and Turgutreis only on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but this situation may change in the coming years.. Best to check the current status by searching with keywords like ‘Bodrum Kalymnos ferry‘. Journey time is 1 hour and round trip ferry ticket price is around 25 Euros.
View of Kalymnos island from above.
If you want to go Kos to Kalymnos like I did there are more ferry options available every day of the week. Ferry tickets are about the same prices as flights from Turkey, and the journey time is half an hour.. I do not recommend buying your ferry ticket before the summer season starts, because new flights may be added and prices may decrease or those with more convenient times may come out.. That’s why I think you can buy it online as of June, or you can try to buy it at the box office if you risk not having tickets.. You need to show this printout to the ticket office of the company you bought and get your real tickets from there.. When we learned this after we walked to the ferry with the printout, my wife had to leave the bags to me and run to the ticket office in that heat.
Our ferry between Kalymnos and Kos .
Don’t think that there is no airport just because I mentioned the ferry, it does.. But since Kalymnos Airport (Kalymnos Island National Airport) only works for domestic flights, I haven’t heard of many users.. Of course, if you intend to go from Athens to Kalymnos, it may be useful for you, the flight takes an hour.. Airport code JKL.
Kalymnos Visa
The question of whether a door visa is valid in Kalymnos is definitely in your mind, but our answer is unfortunately no As of 2018, the door visa application is not valid for Kalymnos, as there is not as much demand as Kos island as of 2018, but this situation can change at any time.. If it doesn’t change, normal passport holders must have a Schengen visa to enter Kalymnos, while green passport holders can enter without a visa.
When we look at the terms of the Greece gate visa, it says ‘it is not possible to switch to another Greek island’, whereas there is no visa control on the transition from Kos island to Kalymnos.. If there are people who are very rebellious and say that they do not listen to the forbidden, let them know
Kalymnos Hotels & Where to Stay in Kalymnos?
The center of Kalymnos is the port area called Pothia, so you can consider accommodation options very close to where you get off the ferry.. The advantage of staying in the center is that you won’t have to pay the 18 Euro one-way taxi fare you have to pay to go to other places, and you will be in the busiest part of the island, especially when it gets dark.. Click here to see Kalymnos hotels and customer reviews and make a reservation on booking.com.
Apart hotel in Kalymnos (link is in the article) ) was one of the lovely blue-white Greek houses.
Hotel recommendations close to the ferry and the center (you can click on each hotel name I mentioned in the article and be directed directly to the booking.com page):
Evanik Hotel (2 stars, 150 meters from the port)
Villa Melina (2 stars, 1 km from the port, with swimming pool)
As we were looking for a quieter place, we headed to Masouri (Massuri), which we can call ‘the most touristic place on the non-touristy island’, the area is also called Mirties. We stayed at the apart hotel named Ariadne Studios, which we prefer, in July 2018 for two people for 4 nights for 142 Euros (35.50 Euros per night).. Thanks to its kitchen, we prepared our meal as we wanted, and we enjoyed watching the sunset view that integrates with the mountain on the island of Telendos right across from it every evening.. But like many places with a high and beautiful view, this place could be reached by stairs from the famous Massouri Beach and other places we needed such as restaurants, supermarkets, so for those with limited mobility, these 6 – 8 minutes of stair climbing and descending can be a problem.. We didn’t mind, since most of the scooters we rented were with us, we went up and down the steep slope with the scooter instead of the stairs.. If you do not want such an accommodation, it would be appropriate to choose the following hotels right on the beach (with few slopes and stairs):
Continental Hotel (2 stars, has a pool)
Hyperion Hotel (Just on the beach, new hotel)
Zephyros (3 stars, very good comments especially from Turks)
Our hotel in Kalymnos the terrace had a beautiful view, but the hotel was above sea level so it could be reached by climbing stairs.
How to Get to Kalymnos & How to Travel to Kalymnos?
Public transport in Kalymnos is practically non-existent, you can forget it completely. They set up a fixed taxi schedule from the port to Masouri, where we were staying, and to many other points on the island, and the price was 18 Euros.. I think there are basically two options to get away from the central port area; the first is to rent a car from the port as soon as you arrive and thus save the taxi money, the second is to pay the taxi fare to Pasha Pasha as we did and rent a scooter for the next days.. If you don’t have a suitcase/bag, scooters can be rented directly from the center, of course. Since such a thing is not possible with our backpacks, we rented scooters from Masouri only after we checked into the hotel.
Reservation for scooters You don’t need anything like that and you can find it as soon as you go, the rental price is in the range of 10-15 Euros per day.. For renting a car, I recommend making a reservation in advance to ensure yourself, the price starts from 35 Euros per day.. A B type Turkish license is sufficient for both scooter and car rental.
You can use a car or scooter for transportation in Kalymnos.
We paid 30 Euros for the scooter we rented for three days and 15 Euros for petrol.. My wife and I are 125 kilos in total and a 50 cc scooter was enough for us, but if you are overweight, I recommend you to consult if you need a vehicle with higher engine power when renting, otherwise you may have trouble climbing uphills.
Information About Kalymnos & What To Do In Kalymnos?
Kalymnos island, which is in the group of 12 islands like Kos and Rhodes, is neither Santorini so beautiful, how crazy as Mykonos, let’s start by telling the truth first. That’s why you should set your expectations correctly and seek ‘peace and calm’ when you go.. Maybe the island does not promise you such beautiful landscapes as you have never seen in your life; However, it has different advantages such as getting away from the tourist crowd, staying cheap despite the high Euro rate, and eating delicious and huge portions of Greek food for cheap.
Your primary expectation for a trip to Kalymnos should be peace and quiet.
As it is not a common activity among us Turks, you may have difficulty understanding the reason, but Kalymnos climbing (climbing) sport/ Famous for its activities and therefore young people from other European countries who are fond of climbing flock to Kalymnos.. In other words, although there are young people on the island, it continues to maintain its calmness, and I think it’s nice that Kalymnos is getting rid of its ‘nursing home’ consistency thanks to the young visitors.. You will see agencies that organize climbing activities all over the island, if you are interested, you can learn the conditions.. It didn’t interest me
Genuine sponges and thyme honey from the island of Kalymnos are also famous. Sponge is not something I will ever buy, but for those who want to buy it, the price is usually around 5 Euros.. I liked the thyme honey, it wasn’t much different from normal honey or I don’t understand it The price of a small jar was 4 Euros in the supermarket.
Famous genuine sponges of Kalymnos..
What kind of a place is Kalymnos and what is famous.. What to do in Kalymnos and how long to stay is a bit up to you, after all, a sea-sun holiday can be made between a day and a week depending on how much you want to relax.
If you are going to Kalymnos for a day and just to swim and eat, you can swim beyond the port and hang out in many cafes and restaurants in the port area, which is the center.
If you are going to stay in Kalymnos, it is recommended to allocate a day to Leros island, you can find ferry tickets from different points of the island. You can even plan a three-point holiday, such as going from Bodrum to Leros, going to Kalymnos from time to time, and then returning to Bodrum from Kalymnos.. Although we stayed in Kalymnos for 4 nights, that is, for a very long time, for some reason, we preferred to visit Kalymnos itself, not taking the island of Leros into the plan.. Of course, don’t do it like us, see Leros too It is said to be a cute little place.
As soon as you see the mountain behind me in the Kalymnos photos know that it’s the famous Masouri Beach.
You can also rent a car or scooter to see the island from the top, and the Monastery of St.. I recommend you to go to Sava (Saint Sava Monastery). Although visiting a church (or monastery) in hot weather does not seem like a very bright idea, I think the view here is worth a chance.. While navigating the harbor, look up and find the big cross on the hill and look at the domed building built on the rock a little to your right, that’s the monastery.. You can imagine how beautiful the view will be from there.
The photos I added to the post were from the Monastery of St. Sava, this is the monastery itself.
Kalymnos Beaches & What to Eat in Kalymnos
Beach I thought it would be appropriate to explain together what you can eat around which beach, although the food issues seem unrelated.. If you like to eat in Kalymnos as in many other islands, I recommend you to turn to seafood first, because they are extremely delicious and affordable.. But even if you don’t like it, fast food alternatives such as pizza and hamburgers are everywhere, in addition to the Greek dishes we know, such as moussaka (moussaka with bechamel sauce/gratin), souvlaki (shish kebab), gyros (doner).
In Kalymnos, it is possible to find both seafood and fast food everywhere.. What we ate at Masouri Beach Island Restaurant.
You can use my ‘Based on Greek Salad’ method to understand whether a restaurant is expensive or not I found Greek salad directly in the menus at the entrance and evaluated the restaurant as normal if 5.5 Euros, acceptable if 6 Euros, and expensive if more.. Similarly, soft drinks prices should be around 2 Euros.. Beers were around 4 Euros for some reason and I don’t think it was very cheap for such a cheap island.
In the places I have visited in Greece so far, as soon as you sit down, bottled water and bread are put on your table as a treat. I have seen it, but I have never come across a water event in Kalymnos.. They also took money for bread and brought it as a treat.. If they take money, they ask “do you want bread”, otherwise they come directly Last general information about restaurants; most of them are closed at noon and it can be difficult to find a place to eat when you are hungry around 1 – 2 pm.
I have marked the places I mentioned in the article on the map.
Now let’s look at the most beautiful beaches of Kalymnos.
Vathy: One of the bays visited by daily boat tours from Kos island. It has no beach, a stone pier and a small shaded area of trees behind the pier.
Boats dock here and people jump and swim. Small stalls sell food and souvenirs. The sea is clear and beautiful, for those who love it there is the opportunity to jump over the rocks.
Vathy, where the boats stop, is not actually a beach.
Arginonta: A very quiet place with free sunbeds. The beach is pebbly, there are also big stones in the sea. The color of the sea is great but it was windy and wavy when we went. It is ideal for calmly lying in the shade/sun, but the same cannot be said for swimming; because it is a little difficult to walk in the sea of stones. There is a market and a restaurant.. We paid 20 Euros for our calamari (9 Euros), souvlaki (7 Euros) and two cokes (4 Euros) menu at the restaurant.
The sea at Arginonta Beach is beautiful, but the rocks inside are a bit big.
Palionnisou: A wonderful cove with a calm sea. There are small boats moored off the coast.. There is a small bar/cafe right on the beach and a tavern/restaurant on the hill.. I think it is a place frequented by tourists coming for climbing tourism (climbing), because the crowd was generally young.. Despite this, he remains calm and there is no blaring music. It is also possible to rent canoes.. The beach is still pebbly, but this time the stones in the sea are small and can be walked on.
The road to this place is quite curved slope.. At some point on the road, the asphalt road ends and you enter the stony ground, continue until you see the beach.. Even if the road looks ridiculous, everyone uses it, including cars.. There are sunbeds, but I don’t know if they are paid.
We like Palionnisou Beach.
Massuri Beach: This is by far the most developed place among the beaches of Kalymnos in terms of facilities.
The beach part is sand, the sea a little pebbly when entering, sand again in the sea. Quite nice, moderately crowded, a beach with both young people and families, whether you can take a sun lounger and lie down (2 sunbeds and an umbrella 8 Euro), either in the shade of the trees or on the sand in the sun for free. We liked this place the most.. At the beach restaurant called Island Restaurant, the issue of food is easily handled, both seafood such as shrimp and pizza can be found for everyone.. I ate a margarita pizza here (7 Euros) and the cheese was so plentiful that I loved it.. Grilled shrimp was 9 euros and drinks like coke were 2 euros.
The Aegean Tavern is very popular, just above Masouri Beach. .
I told you that our hotel is in Masouri, and when our favorite beach was there, we hung out there the most.. The most famous place to eat is the restaurant called Aegean Tavern, you can choose it for food because its reviews are very good.. Since it was very crowded time, we headed to other restaurants nearby.
Vegetable soup and grilled zucchini at the Stelios and Maria restaurant on the same street. (grilled zucchini) cost 9 euros in total. The bread, garlic butter and olive paste they brought with them as treats were so good that we asked them to take them with us and ate them for breakfast the next two days
Our mixed seafood, vegetable moussaka, bread and butter menu at Miltos tavern.
At the Miltos Taverna right next to it, mixed seafood ( We ordered mixed seafood) and vegetable moussaka (vegetable moussaka).. Bread and butter was good again and we had the bread packaged. Since it is considered normal to have packages for things like bread and pizza that you do not eat in Europe, you can ask the restaurant to pack things you think ‘I’ll eat later’ without hesitation.
For evening hangouts, young people generally They were at a place called Nadir Rock Bar.
We were very pleased with the huge octopus plate, as if the big piece wasn’t enough they added a little more next to it
Kantouni/Panormos: There are no sun loungers, the beach is sandy, the sea is both sand and pebbles. Natural beach where locals hang out, with children or customers of the beachfront hotel. We ate at Mamouzelos Seafood Restaurant very close to there and especially the grilled octopus (grilled octopus) was amazing. However, when the 2018 season is over, they will move to the island center, now you can search for the name of the restaurant there.. For those who don’t like seafood, chicken with mushroom sauce was also very successful.. Huge octopus was 12 euros and a huge chicken was 9 euros, they bought bread 1.5 euros.
Kantouni/Panormos beach looks beautiful but it wasn’t my favorite because there were no sunbeds and umbrellas.
Vlichadia: No sunbeds, the beach is all pebbles. The sea is crystal clear and beautiful, there are more local families. People hanging out in the shade of trees on the beach. I had read that it was very beautiful and it was a disappointment when I left.. Drop by, maybe you’ll like it more.
In summary; If you ask me where to swim in Kalymnos, for me during Massouri, Palionnisou, Arginonta. I think it’s okay if you don’t go to the others.
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