Where to stay in Amorgos

Amorgos is best understood as three places strung along a long island, and which one you base in is the practical decision the glossy guides skip. Katapola and Aegiali are the two ferry ports, at opposite ends. Chora, the capital, sits up in the hills between them. And the first thing that decides your base is simple: which port your ferry actually uses.

Katapola, on the south coast, if you want the practical base. The main and better-connected port, a working harbour spread around a broad bay. It is the most practical base for a first visit, closest to both the monastery and Chora, and the easiest place to arrive and get your bearings. It trades a little atmosphere for convenience, and for a short first trip that is the right trade.

Aegiali, at the northern end, if you want the beach and the walking. The smaller port, set on the island’s best sandy bay, with a quieter, low-key feel. It is more a beach-and-hiking base than a transport hub, and it is where walkers and swimmers who want to slow down tend to settle. It is also the base for the northern trails between the hill villages and for the island’s dive operation. The trade-off is the distance from the southern sights.

Chora, inland and uphill, if you want the evening. The whitewashed capital, with narrow marble-paved lanes climbing to the Venetian Kastro on its rock, a row of windmills along the ridge and small churches tucked between the houses. It has no beach of its own, but it is where the island gathers after dark, and it puts you closest to the monastery walk.

Check the port before you book the room. That sentence is the whole page. A long island with two ports at opposite ends punishes anyone who books a bed at one end and a boat to the other, and it is the most common way a trip here goes wrong.

What the walking does to the choice. The signature long route runs the spine from Chora past the Hozoviotissa monastery and on to Langada in the hills above Aegiali, graded hard by the municipality at four to five hours. Gentler options exist at both ends: a two-hour circuit out of Katapola by way of the ancient site at Minoa, an hour’s drop from Chora to Katapola, and the northern paths linking Aegiali with Langada, Stroumbos, Panagia and Tholaria in a couple of easy hours. Treat the municipality’s times as its own estimate rather than a promise: they depend on the day and the walker.

And the season. Spring or autumn. High summer is hot, the exposed sections catch the meltemi off the sea, and the light is harsh by midday. The shoulder season covers the case and hiking in Greece the country picture.

We name no hotel on this page. Properties on an island this remote change hands and close between seasons, and the site’s venue standard needs two independent platforms and a review floor Amorgos does not clear. What lasts is the three anchors and the port question. Our Amorgos guide has the practicalities, things to do covers the monastery, and the beaches are honest about the rock.