Paliochori
Milos - Greek Island Vacation for UK Visitors
Hello again Shelly,
Your recent blog article which was primarily devoted to price comparisons, prompted me to make a few comments regarding vacationing in the Greek islands and my native Milos in particular, which you recently visited, but apparently failed to experience.
We get relatively few but quality visitors from England in Milos, but I see hordes of tourists from the UK in nearby Santorini. They are the primary victims of pre-packaged tourism, content in their knowledge they got a "great deal" in airfare and stay at a cheap hotel, and happy to just sit by the pool… reading paperbacks! No offense, but when they are not sitting by the pool, missing out on sightseeing around the island by reading paperbacks, they seem to be out obsessively comparing prices and reading blogs such as yours. :)
To each his/her own, I guess, but to waste one's Greek island vacation by reading paperbacks is a crime against humanity–their humanity. You can always read a paperback at home, in the dreary winter evenings in rainy UK. But when vacationing in the Greek islands, reading paperbacks should be the last thing on your to do list.
Most visitors to Milos choose the island precisely because it is not included in the packaged tourism deals. We hardly get a couple of cruise ships a month, and hardly ever any "groups". Individuals, couples or families visit Milos for its quiet, spectacular nature. They do not consume their vacation, let alone blog posts with incessant price comparisons. Yes, the price of tea is 60x less in India, but you are 100x less likely to contract a disease while sipping it in the Greek Islands. And yes, most Greek businesses are badly in need of a price consultant, but that's largely beside the point of a Greek island vacation.
When in Milos you may take a sailboat ride, dive in the crystal-clear waters, spend hours snorkeling, explore remote beaches and abandoned mines, enjoy great food and spectacular scenery, watch romantic sunsets, and engage in several outdoor activities such as sea kayaking, scuba diving, horseback riding, trekking, and mountain bicycling. Milos is less picturesque than Sifnos as you noted, as far as the Cycladic architecture is concerned. Only Plaka, Trypiti, Pollonia and a few parts of Adamas compare to the beautiful villages of Sifnos, architecture-wise. Milos, however, boasts 70+ gorgeous beaches and an amazing coastline like no other island in the Aegean, perhaps in all of the Med.
No visitor of Milos should miss the caves of Papafrangas, the lunar landscape of Sarakiniko, the rocky cove of Kleftiko, the Sykia cavern, the abandoned sulphur mines in Paliorema, the abandoned manganese mines of Cape Vani, the colorful beach of Kastanas, the azure waters of Gerakas, the colors of Paliochori, to name just a few places of interest. A month is barely enough to experience Milos.
Personally, I wish for more visitors from the UK. They are generally great people, and I would like to help them experience and enjoy Milos to the fullest no matter how long they choose to stay. To watch them waste their precious vacation time reading paperbacks just breaks my heart.
Regards,
Andreas
Trip Advisor Destination Expert for Milos
www.milos-island.com
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