Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Boats do not run every day in every direction. Working out how you leave before you arrive is not fussiness here; it is the normal way of planning a visit.
Stavros
The port village is the island: a curve of houses around a bay, a beach in front of it, a church, a couple of shops and a handful of tavernas and rooms. Everything that has a name is within ten minutes.
The other settlements, Mersini, Kalotaritissa and Charavgi, are small clusters rather than villages, reached by the single road or on foot.
Beaches
Small, sandy and unorganised. Kedros, a walk from the port, is the best known and has a wartime shipwreck lying in shallow water offshore that snorkellers go out to. Livadi is quieter again, Kalotaritissa sits at the end of the road with a taverna, and there are coves along the way with nothing at all.
Free camping has a long history at Kedros, which sets the tone of the island’s summer more than any hotel does.
Walking
There is a marked network of old paths, which on an island this size covers most of it. The walk around the north coast to Mersini and on towards Kalotaritissa is the main one, and it is a proper day out on exposed ground with no water.
Getting there and how long
Ferries from Naxos, Amorgos and along the Small Cyclades chain, plus some Piraeus services. Frequency is the constraint, not distance.
Three nights, in practice often four, because that is what the boats decide.
Last checked August 2026. Ferry frequency is seasonal and sparse - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Donousa?
The most isolated of the Small Cyclades, north-east of Naxos and off the main ferry lines.
How do you get to Donousa?
By ferry from Naxos or Amorgos and along the Small Cyclades chain, with some services from Piraeus. Frequency is limited, so plan your departure before arriving.
What is at Kedros beach?
A sandy bay a walk from the port with a wartime shipwreck in shallow water offshore, which snorkellers visit. It also has a long history of free camping.
Is there much to do on Donousa?
Swimming, walking the marked paths, and eating in the port village. There is one road and a handful of small settlements.
How long should you stay on Donousa?
Three or four nights, which is often decided by the ferry timetable rather than by preference.
Next
Read Amorgos, Koufonisia, or Naxos.