Where to stay in Karpathos

Karpathos is long, mountainous and windy on one side, so the base question here decides what kind of holiday you get rather than just how far you drive. There are three answers and they barely overlap.

The south, around Pigadia and Amoopi, if you are here for the wind or the airport. Afiartis, more properly the Kipi-Afiartis settlement beside the airport, is the windsurf and kite hub, and Amoopi strings together easy bays close to both the town and the airport. This is the practical base and the sailing base at once. The trade is that the exposed south is blustery in the afternoons through high summer, which is glorious for a sail and wearing for a picnic.

The sheltered east, if you are here to swim. The east coast largely sits in the lee of the mountains and out of the meltemi, so its bays stay calm and clear. Apella, Kyra Panagia and Achata are the coves people cross the island for, some reached down a steep approach or by the summer boats out of Pigadia. If a still afternoon in clear water is the trip, this side is the whole reason to come.

The far north, around Olympos and Diafani, if the village is why you came. Olympos is a working mountain village and it is best seen early or late, because tour groups fill the lanes around midday and thin out by evening. Staying the night is the way to get the version that is not a day trip. Diafani is the port below it and the departure point for Saria.

And the honest warning about the north. You reach Olympos by a mountain road of steep hairpins, or by boat to Diafani and up. That is a real drive rather than a scenic one, and it is worth deciding in advance whether you want to do it twice a day or once, at the start and end of a stay.

Which month, because on this island it matters as much as which coast. Spring, April and May, is for walking: green mountains, wildflowers, cool paths and a quiet island, with the sea still on the cool side for long swims. High summer, July and August, is peak wind: strongest and most reliable for sailing, hottest and busiest, and busy by this island’s own modest standard, which stays calm next to Santorini or Mykonos.

Getting around. The island is long and its two coasts behave differently, so crossing between them is the whole method for using the shelter rule. That points at transport for anyone not committing to a single bay. Which islands need a car covers the general question.

We name no hotel on this page. Properties on an island this size change hands and close between seasons, and the site’s venue standard needs two independent platforms and a review floor Karpathos does not clear. What lasts is the three bases above. Our Karpathos guide has the practicalities, things to do covers Olympos and the sailing, and the beaches sort by shelter and access.