Things to do
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Kleftiko
In clear blue water, tall white pillars and arches stand around your anchored boat, and you swim from the deck into the sea caves cut through them.
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Sarakiniko Beach
You come for the swim between pale walls: a shallow inlet cut into white volcanic stone, with smooth ledges to lie on and higher rocks that some swimmers jump from.
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Achivadolimni
Achivadolimni is the longest sandy beach on the island, set inside the sheltered Bay of Milos, the same bay as the port at Adamas, and reached on a paved road. The water stays shallow and clear for a long way out, so wading and swimming are easy over sand. Its place inside the bay keeps it calmer than the exposed north coast in summer.
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Agia Kyriaki
Fine sand and rows of sunbeds make Agia Kyriaki an easy beach day on the south coast, about fifteen minutes by road from Adamas. Shade is scarce in July and August, so a hat and a sunbed umbrella matter. This side of the island stays calmer than the north when the summer wind is up.
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Ancient theatre
Rows of white marble seats curve down a hillside facing the Bay of Milos, a Greek theatre rebuilt in Roman times. The famous Venus de Milo was found in a field nearby. A walk from Trypiti or the catacombs reaches it. Late afternoon light falls across the seats and the bay below.
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Archaeological Museum
In a neoclassical building on the main square of Plaka, the collection runs from Neolithic obsidian blades to Bronze Age pottery from Phylakopi. A painted clay figure known as the Lady of Phylakopi is among the Bronze Age finds. A modern copy of the Venus de Milo stands in the first room. It is ticketed.
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Catacombs of Milos
An early Christian burial complex cut into the soft rock below the village of Trypiti, with long galleries of arched tomb niches. A flight of steps leads down from the road. The site closes in mid-afternoon and on Tuesdays, so a morning visit is the safer plan.
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Firopotamos
A sheltered cove north of Plaka with a white chapel on the rocks, a handful of boathouses and calm, clear water over pebbles and sand. Snorkellers explore the rocky edges of the bay. There are no sunbeds and almost no shade, so umbrellas come from home or the hotel. Parking above the beach is limited in summer.
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Gerontas
Rock arches and clear water fill this small bay on the west coast of Milos. Getting there means a bumpy dirt track and then a short, steep path down to the shore, so an ATV or a four-wheel drive is the easier vehicle.
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Kastanas
On the remote east coast, Kastanas is a run of coloured pebbles broken into tiny coves, at the end of a dirt road. There are no facilities, so pack water, food and something for shade. The sun leaves the beach early in the day, which makes it a morning swim.
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Klima
A fishing village built at the water's edge below Plaka, made up of syrmata: boathouses with brightly painted doors on the ground floor and living quarters above. Fishermen once hauled their boats straight inside for the winter. Today several are let as rooms. The lane along the shore is a short walk, and swimming is from the rocks.
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Mandrakia
Boathouses line the water at Mandrakia, a small fishing village where most of them are now let as holiday rentals. White rock formations frame the shore, and the swimming is from small spots in the rock, not from a beach. The boathouses are private rentals, so a visit here is a walk along the water and a swim.
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Milos Cove
A beach-first base on Milos, on the sand at Agkali, for days spent by the water rather than in the villages.
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Milos Mining Museum
Set in Adamas, the museum tells how the island's volcanic geology has been quarried since antiquity, from obsidian to the bentonite and perlite still mined today. Rock samples, miners' tools and old photographs fill the rooms. Short films explain how the coloured cliffs seen on boat trips came to be.
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Paleochori
A long sandy beach on the south coast, reached by asphalt all the way down. There is no natural shade, so bring a hat, sun cream and water for the day. When the summer wind roughens the north coast, this shore stays swimmable.
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Papafragas
A narrow channel of turquoise water running between white rock walls into the cliffs of the north coast, ending in a tiny beach under an arch. Rough steps lead down to it near Pollonia. The rock is slippery and there are no facilities. Swimming through to the open sea is possible only on calm days.
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Papikinou
Walking distance from the port of Adamas, Papikinou is a long beach where the water stays shallow well out from the sand. That makes it the practical choice for a day with small children. It needs no car, bus or quad bike, so it also suits a first afternoon off the ferry.
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Phylakopi
A Bronze Age town on a low cliff above the north coast, which grew rich trading the island's obsidian across the Aegean. Low stone walls and house foundations mark the excavated quarters, part of them lost to the sea. Its pottery and figurines went to the museum at Plaka. The site lies close to the road from Adamas to Pollonia.
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Plaka
The island's hilltop capital, a white village of narrow lanes and small squares on a rock high above the bay. Steps climb from the top of the village to the ruins of a Venetian castle and the church of Panagia Thalassitra, which looks out over the sunset. Cars stay in parking below. The lanes are busiest in the evening.
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Plathiena
At the end of an asphalt road down from Plaka, Plathiena is a small beach set among rock formations on the north coast. It faces north, so when the meltemi blows in summer the water turns rough and swimming stops. On those days the beaches of the south coast are the ones to drive to.
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Pollonia
Tamarisks shade the shallow beach at Pollonia, a village on the north-east tip of Milos with tavernas along the back of the sand. The small ferry to Kimolos leaves from here and crosses the channel in about twenty minutes. From June to September the meltemi makes the beach choppy in the afternoon.
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Thiorichia
Below the ruins of an abandoned mining village, Thiorichia is a yellow beach on a lonely stretch of coast. The road in is very rough, so it takes an ATV or a four-wheel drive, a boat, or a walk of about two kilometres from where an ordinary car has to stop.
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Trypiti
Trypiti is the smaller village beside Plaka, with sea views from the edge of its cliff. The Catacombs of Milos are cut into the rock below it, and a walk downhill leads on to the ancient theatre above the bay.
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Tsigrado
A narrow cleft in a sea cliff hides this small beach, reached on an easy dirt road and then a descent that finishes on a rope and a short ladder. Both hands are needed for the last part, so carry a backpack.
