A Karpathos itinerary: two halves, one road

The mountains split it in two: an isolated north, where the village of Olympos keeps older ways alive on a high ridge, and a busier south holding the capital, the airport and a wind-scoured coast that has become one of the Aegean’s great windsurf grounds. A week lets you do both halves properly, which is the whole argument for coming. Everything else is in the Karpathos guide.

Before you book: the island is longer than it looks

Karpathos runs long and thin on a north-south axis with a chain of mountains down the middle like a wall. The capital and main port, Pigadia, sits in the southeast, near the airport.

For most of the island’s history there was no easy road along the coast, so the settlements in the north lived largely by sea and largely apart from the south. A mountain road exists now, and it is still a serious drive rather than a hop. Plan the north as an expedition, not an afternoon.

Athens to Karpathos and Rhodes to Karpathos cover the ways in.

Days 1 and 2: Pigadia and the south

Start in the south, where you land. Pigadia is a working harbour town rather than a resort, with a long waterfront and the practical business of the island going on around it.

Give the first two days to the southern beaches and the wind. The south-east coast is where the windsurfing scene lives, and even if you never sail, the bays there are the easy swimming of the island. Amoopi south of Pigadia is the sheltered stretch and it suits a lazy first day.

Hire the car now rather than later. Nothing on this island works without one.

Day 3: up the east coast to Apella

Drive north along the east coast, which is the spectacular side. The road climbs and drops between headlands with the sea a long way below, and it is one of the better coastal drives in Greece.

Apella is the target: a shingle cove in a green bowl of pine, reached by a steep track down from the road above, and generally reckoned the best beach on the island. Go early or late, because there is little shade and the descent is work in the middle of the day.

Days 4 and 5: Olympos, and the north

The reason to give Karpathos a week. Olympos sits high on a ridge near the northern end and, until a mountain road was cut in recent decades, was reached mainly by boat into the little port of Diafani and a climb from there.

Generations of that isolation are why the north kept a distinct dialect, distinct dress and distinct customs while the south modernised. It is a genuinely unusual place and it deserves a night rather than a day trip, so book a room in the village or in Diafani below it.

Two ways to get there. Drive the mountain road, which is long, slow and increasingly spectacular. Or take the boat up the coast from Pigadia to Diafani, which is easier and shows you the coastline, and hire transport at the other end.

Give the second day to walking. Old footpaths run out from Olympos along the ridges and down to the coast, and the north is the best walking on the island.

Day 6: the west coast, coming back

Return south down the west side if the road and the weather allow. It is emptier, rougher and less visited than the east, with long stretches of nothing between small settlements.

This is the day that shows you how large and how empty Karpathos actually is, which the resort strip in the south does not.

Day 7: the wind, or the water

Finish in the south. If windsurfing appealed at all, this is the day to take a lesson, because the southern coast is a serious ground for it rather than a place where boards happen to be available.

If not, take a boat. Small boats run to bays along the coast that the road serves badly, and to the islet of Saria off the northern tip, which is uninhabited and worth the trip.

How to adapt this

Four days. The south, Apella, and a single long day or overnight in Olympos. It is tight and it is better than not seeing the north at all.

Without a car. Not realistic. The island is long, mountainous and thinly served by buses, and the north is effectively unreachable on a timetable.

In shoulder season. Better for walking and driving, worse for boats, and the season here is shorter than on Rhodes. Some services in the north close entirely.

Arriving from Rhodes. The usual route, and the sensible one, since Rhodes has the flights. Day trips from Karpathos covers what else is in reach.

Where this leaves you

Seven days on Karpathos: two in the south for the beaches and the wind, one up the east coast to Apella, two in the north for Olympos and its walking, one back down the west side, and one for the water. Hire a car on arrival, treat the north as an overnight rather than a day trip, and accept that the length of the journey here is exactly what has kept the island intact.

Quick answers

How many days do you need on Karpathos?

A week, if you want both halves. The island is long and mountainous with an isolated north that deserves an overnight rather than a day trip. Four days covers the south and a rushed visit to Olympos.

How do you get to Olympos?

Either drive the mountain road north, which is long and slow and spectacular, or take the boat up the coast from Pigadia to Diafani and arrange transport up from there. The village sits high on a ridge and was reached mainly by sea until recent decades.

Do you need a car on Karpathos?

Yes. The island is long and thin with a mountain spine down the middle, the settlements are far apart and the bus service is thin. Nothing about a Karpathos trip works well without one.

What is the best beach on Karpathos?

Apella, on the east coast: a shingle cove in a bowl of pine, reached by a steep track down from the road above. Go early or late, because there is little shade and the climb back up is real work in the middle of the day.