When I returned from Lemnos Island, I reached the port of Kavala late at night. As I wanted to take the morning ferry to Samothraki Island, I decided to drive 120 kilometers on the highway to reach my intermediary destination, the town of Alexandroupolis. I went to the municipal campground in Alexandroupolis where they charged me the price of a campervan because I planned to sleep in the car. The following day, I paid a bigger price for almost the same reason (having a big car) when I boarded with my car on the ferry for Samothraki Island.

The first day on Samothraki Island

Short Description: I took the ferry from Alexandroupolis Port to Kamariotissa, in Samothraki Island. I made a detour to Hora, the capital of the island, and then I descended to the campgrounds near Varades Beach. In the afternoon, I explored the Fonias Valley with its waterfalls and vathres and then continued toward Kipos Beach.

Long Description.

In the morning, I took the ferry boat from the port of Alexandroupolis to Samothraki Island. We docked in the small port of Kamariotissa -full of guesthouses and tavernas along the seafront. The white umbrellas of the tavernas shined in the sun but the terraces were empty despite their welcoming shade. In the small port, a traffic officer continuously guided the flow of cars to and from the ferry.

Samothraki Island: Kamariotissa small port

I drove up the winding road from Kamariotissa to the mountains, to Hora – the capital of the island. The small town sat at the foot of the Saos Mountains and had a few streets, all of them very steep. The ruin of a former Genovese castle dominated the historic capital of the island, but it was never open to visitors. Hora’s town center had stylish stone houses but also many abandoned houses on the outskirts of the town. The main street passed through the portico of the main church, went up to the castle, and then meandered among countless tavernas. At a local taverna, I ate the special dish of the island, baked stuffed young goat (called katsikaki).

From Hora, I drove down toward the sea and socialized with some goats calmly grazing along the road. I stopped in the first campground near Varades Beach, which was freely organized in a small forest. I found a good place to sleep during the night and then headed toward the Fonias Valley. When I reached the starting point of the trail going up the valley, I parked the car and started to hike. After almost one hour of hiking, I found a big waterfall and a vathres at the end of the valley.

The term vathres is specific to Samothraki Island. It means a small lake created at the foot of a waterfall, formed after the water has run through a canyon. I swam in the chill water of the vathres of Fonias and this way, I could better see the waterfall hidden behind some rocks. After that, I climbed a steep footpath to a lookout point where I had a better view of the waterfall. The steep footpath continued up the mountain, but I had a twisted ankle since I had been in Lemnos, so I turned back to the waterfall.

I came back along the valley to my car and then continued to drive along the coastline until I reached one of the most secluded and remote beaches of the island, Kipos Beach. The pebbled beach sat hidden in a small bay at the foot of a rocky mountain. Unfortunately, it was facing the east, so the mountain shadowed it early in the afternoon. A valley with shrubs and herds of goats grazing around started from the beach and went up into the mountain. In the evening, I came back to the campground in Varades and parked my car in the forest.

The second day on Samothraki Island

Short Description: I explored the Sanctuary of the Great Gods in ancient Paleopolis. I drove up to Alonia and Lakoma and then went to Profitis Ilias and Xiropotamos. In the afternoon, I went to Pahia Ammos Beach.

Long Description.

In the morning, I went to Paleopolis, at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods where religious rituals were practiced by the ancient Greeks. The famous statue of Victory of Samothrace, exposed in the Louvre Museum today, was found in this place. The archaeological site stood nearby the fortifications of Samothraki’s ancient town. The ancient site included: temples, a sacristy, a sacred way going toward the ionic portico, a circular space for representations, the propylaeum of Ptolemaeus II, the southern necropolis, and a theater (not entirely excavated, though). At the stoa, a team of archaeologists worked with small brooms and hoes and thus cleaned the ancient stones from plants and earth. It was a very hot day and the cicadas sang in the shade of the trees.

Samothraki Island: Paleopolis – the Sanctuary of the Great Gods (the theatral circle)

From Paleopolis, I drove uphill and passed Hora, then continued toward the mountain village of Alonia (almost nonexistent, though). The road meandered among the hills. Here and there, I saw a crossroads heading toward a small house lost among olive orchards. When I didn’t see houses or orchards any more, I concluded the village had ended.

Samothraki Island: roadtrip to the local villages with the Saos Mountains in the background

From Alonia, I drove down toward the sea and went almost parallel with the coastline until I reached Lakoma village. A woman dressed in black waved at me. Four old Greeks enjoyed the shade of a taverna and watched whoever passed by. A peddler drove his car through the village to sell fruits and vegetables. The village featured steep streets, traditional whitewashed houses built of stone, and gardens with lush greenery creating shade.

From Lakoma, I headed toward the mountain village of Profitis Ilias, where houses were scattered among vines and olive orchards. The small central square was animated by a few tavernas overlooking the panoramic view of the sea. At Taverna Paradeisos, I ordered young goat liver (called kokoretsi), and the owner offered me semolina pudding with honey and orange peel jelly on the house. When I left, I drove downhill along some roads at random toward the sea. I had a hard time crossing the labyrinth of off-roads but eventually, I reached the main road of the island.

I turned back a few kilometers and went to Xiropotamos village – rather a few scattered houses among olive orchards than a real village. I parked the car at the end of a dirt road and started to hike toward Xiropotamos Canyon. A local man had just come out from his orchard and offered me some peaches. I took one but he insisted on me taking all of them. I headed toward the canyon on a road marked with red paint. Later, the marks disappeared, and I walked along a water canal and a pipe. There were many footpaths but I was sure the water canal should lead to the canyon. After an hour of hiking on an arid and steep trail, I reached a small vathres where two nudists sunbathed on the rocks nearby a waterfall. I couldn’t help but swim in the clear and cold water.

I returned to the main road and headed toward Pahia Ammos Beach. Small tavernas sold fresh fish along the road. The only sign I could see on the way to the beach was some big letters written directly on the road: “Ammos … km.” Pahia Ammos Beach was literally at the end of a road. Only off-roads full of sharp stones continued farther toward another beach hidden among rocks or a chapel perched up in the mountains. Pahia Ammos had a taverna and a bar overlooking the beach, lots of sun loungers, strong winds, and pebbles.

In the evening, I returned to the campground in Varades and parked the car close to the beach. Nearby, there was a horse grazing in a meadow. I pet it and fed it with bread until it ran away.

The third day on Samothraki Island

Short Description: I went to Therma and after that to Kamariotissa, where I wanted to find a travel company and negotiate my return ferry ticket. In the evening, I slept in the same campground in Varades.

Long Description.

In the morning, I sunbathed on the nudist pebbled beach of the campground. I explored the nudists’ ingenious huts made of stones and branches to create shade during the day. Later, I went to Therma to see the thermal springs, which were inside a building and more suited for cold weather. I tried to find a waterfall but got lost on the road and turned back. I twisted my ankle again, so I had to give up the waterfall explorations for good.

In Kamariotissa, I managed to buy a ferry ticket at a reasonable price, without paying the extra-option for my nonexistent campervan. On my way back to the campground, I stopped to eat fish soup and fried cheese with tomatoes at a taverna by the sea. In the evening, I slept in the same campground in Varades, under a tree where an owl sang all night long.

Samothraki Island: Varades Camping Beach – shelters for shade built by nudists on the beach

The fourth day on Samothraki Island (and the last one)

Short Description: I went to stay in another campground, visited Hora again, and then came back to the new campground at Varades Beach. In the evening, I went to Therma with Kostas, to a Greek music concert performed by his friends.

Long Description.

On the last day on Samothraki, I moved to another campground in Varades. In the new campground, all my new neighbors offered to help me with anything I needed. The Greek neighbor brought me a beer. The German one said that I could work at their table. Another Greek showed me where to refill with drinkable water.

I went again to Hora but the fortress had a big locker on the front gate. I walked through the small town center and bought cinnamon sticks, quince and apricot skin (a hard thin jelly). When I returned from Hora, I had bacaliaros fish at Paralia Taverna and found free sunbeds on a private beach where I enjoyed the gentle afternoon sun.

In the evening, my Greek neighbor Kostas invited me for a drink at his caravan. He didn’t speak English well, but a woman with her little girl who were there translated for me a bit. Kostas even had a fridge and a sink outside the caravan and had been coming to this campground every summer for the past forty years. We dined together at a local taverna in Therma, katsikaki with potatoes and beans with a big Greek salad. After that, we went to the bouzouki and baklamas concert performed by Kostas’s friends. Dimitrios played bouzouki, Maria baklamas, and Alexis kitara. All Kostas’s friends loved Samothraki. Each of them told me how much they had been enjoying the island. People drank, smoked, and the concert lasted until late at night.

The following day, I spent some time with Kostas and some of his friends. They invited me to go on the boat but I had already bought tickets for the ferry. When I arrived in Alexandroupolis, I went to the same municipal campground where I had stayed before coming to Samothraki. I ate kefalos fish at the campground’s taverna and met with the German neighbor I had known from the second Varades campground. He was on his way back home and stopped with his little girl at the same campground as I did. We talked for a while and then I sunbathed until the last rays of the sun. In the evening, I searched a pitch for my ‘mobile house’ – the car, and planned to cross Bulgaria on my way to Romania the following day.

Samothraki Island: Varades Camping (the second one)

You can find the version of this post in Romanian at ‘Insulele Grecesti, Samothraki‘. If you want to read more about the road trip through the Greek Islands, here are all the Travelogues from the Greek Islands (x3).

Have you been to the Greek Islands or plan to go there? Leave a comment below this post and tell me what you liked about Greece or what you want to see there.

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