Beaches in Folegandros

Say this before anything else, because it decides whether you should book: Folegandros is not a step-off-the-road beach island. A couple of coves are easy to reach. Most of the good ones are not. You get to them by a small boat from Karavostasi or Agali, or by a hike down a rough, largely shadeless path. That is a feature rather than a flaw, because it is exactly why the water stays clear and the sand stays empty, but it is not what everybody wants from a week in the Cyclades.

Agali, the easy one. Reached by road and the island bus, sandier than most, and the jumping-off point for a short boat hop to smaller neighbouring coves. If you want one beach you can get to without planning, this is it, and it is also the only base on the island where you swim straight from the door.

Katergo, the famous one. A strip of pebble and sand near Livadi, southeast of Karavostasi, reached by boat from Karavostasi or a walk of roughly half an hour from Livadi. There is no shade and no facilities. Take both halves of that sentence seriously: it is a beautiful beach and it is an hour of full sun with nothing to buy.

Livadaki and Agios Nikolaos, the middle distance. Both are reached by boat or a longer walk over the hill. This is the tier where the boat starts to look like the sensible option rather than the lazy one.

Ampeli and Agios Georgios, the remote end. Down rough tracks that really want a quad, with no facilities when you arrive. Only go if the getting there is part of what you want from the day.

Pick by the day’s wind, not by a ranking. The meltemi, the north wind that blows through the Aegean summer, decides which coast is worth the effort. When it is up, which is most of high summer, the sheltered choice is a south-facing cove, and the exposed sand should be left for a still day. Reading the wind before you choose is the whole skill here, and what the Greek sea is actually like is worth understanding before you commit to a beach base.

The timing trick worth knowing. The beach boats run on their own schedule from mid-morning on, so an early walker often has a cove more or less to themselves for an hour. On an island where the beaches are the scarce resource, that hour is the difference between a good day and a crowded one.

Heat is the real caution, not the terrain. The paths down to these beaches are exposed and largely shadeless, and high summer is hard on them. Walk in the cool of the morning or come in the shoulder season, and carry more water than you think you need. That runs straight into when to come at all, because the shoulder season is when this island is at its best.

Getting to a trailhead. A small local bus links Karavostasi, Chora, Ano Meria and Livadi, with a stop at the Agali junction rather than down at the beach itself, and it runs more often in summer, though the timetable is limited. For the freedom to reach a trailhead or catch a morning beach boat, many visitors rent a quad or a scooter; a full car is rarely worth it on an island this size. Which islands need a car is the fair question to ask first, and our Folegandros guide covers the rest, including where to base yourself.