Travel to The Island of Samos, Greece – Episode 645

Hear about travel to The Island of Samos in Greece and the vicinity as the Amateur Traveler talks to Dan from the Zipping Around the World podcast about this part of the Greek Islands. Dan talks about things to do on the Island of Samos itself as well as two side trips to Ephesus in Turkey and the Island of Patmos.

Dan says, “Samos is an island that not many Americans have heard of, but it’s an amazing place. A friend of mine that I work with has a house there, and his family is from there. He and I have talked about it over the last 5 or 6 or 7 years, and I finally got there last summer. I read that it has some of the best sunshine in all of the EU. It has some sun. It has sand, not a lot of sand. It has mountains. It is one of the forested islands in the Aegean Sea. It is 27 miles long by 8 miles wide.”

You could use Samos just as a beach vacation, but Dan also guides us to some of the more historic and cultural spots. He recommends staying in Pythagoreio, named for its most famous resident, Pythagoras. Aesop is also reputed to be from the area. There is a local archeology museum, a castle, and an unusual ancient tunnel drilled into the nearby mountain in the 6th century B.C, the Tunnel of Eupalinos. Pythagoreio is part of a UNESCO site that includes the nearby ruins of a temple to Hera.

Dan also recommends a visit to the largest city, Samos town, where they have the best archeology museum on the island. There is also a wine museum. The island’s best beach, Psili Ammos Beach, is also near Smos town on the north side of the island. He recommends a visit to the scenic hillside town of Manolates for a meal at a local taverna if nothing else.

The island of Samos is only about a mile and a half away from the coast of Turkey, and Dan recommends a visit to the ruins of Ephesus, which is very close to Samos. Ephesus is an impressive set of ruins of the city that once held one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Even if you don’t like ancient history, some will visit nearby Turkey just for shopping or a visit to a hammam in the port city of Kuşadası. You can make a day trip to Turkey without a visa.

Dan also traveled to the nearby island of Patmos, which is best known as the island where St John the Apostle was exiled and where he wrote the book of Revelation. You can visit the fortress-like Monastery of Saint John the Theologian or the Cave of the Apocalypse, which comprise a UNESCO site.

Whether you come to just lie on the beach or explore the deep history of the area, find out if Samos should be on your list of places to go.

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Show Notes

zippingaroundtheworld.com
Samos
Pythagoreio
Ephesus
Patmos
Pythagorion Archaeological Museum
Pythagoras
Aesop
Castle of Lykourgos Logothetis – Pythagoreio
Kuşadası
Heraion of Samos
Tunnel of Eupalinos
Loukas Taverna, Manolates
Psili Ammos Beach
Patmos
Cave of the Apocalypse
Monastery of Saint John the Theologian
Cave of the Apocalypse
Samos (town)
Archaeological Museum of Samos
Samos Wine Museum
Cave of Pythagoras

Community

Hi Chris!

My name is Mari, I’m writing from Australia where I currently live -although I was born and raised in Barcelona.

First of all congratulations on your podcast, I really enjoyed the New Zealand episodes which is where I plan to travel next. 

I just wanted to add a note on the episode #501 Barcelona. It’s probably the only one where I felt slightly disappointed!! Probably because I’m from there and I found the episode extremely touristic and not where I would take my visitors friends around at all…

I just wanted to say that ‘caga tio’ does not translate as uncle. Tio is actually a log. It’s a Catalan word and not a Spanish one. The lady you interviewed said it was a SHITTY UNCLE or something like that! It’s a shitty log 🙂

Congrats again and thank you for making our workload easier 🙂

Mari 

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