Day trips from Milos: the small islands next door

We name the islands and describe them; we print no ferry or boat times, no prices and no seasons, because those change and a printed schedule ages fast. Check the current crossings with the operators before you plan a day around one.

Kimolos, the quiet neighbour

Kimolos sits just off the northeast tip of Milos, a short local ferry from the port of Pollonia, and it is what Milos itself was a generation ago: one whitewashed hill town, Chorio, above a small harbour, a handful of beaches, and very little else. It is a lived-in island rather than an empty one, so there are tavernas and a place to stay, but the pace is slower and the visitors far fewer.

It makes an easy, low-effort day: the short crossing, the walk up to the town, a beach in the afternoon and the ferry back. Go for the quiet and the sense of an island still mostly itself, not for headline sights, because Kimolos’s appeal is precisely that it does not have any.

Polyaigos, the uninhabited island

Beyond Kimolos lies Polyaigos, the largest uninhabited island in the Aegean, a protected wilderness reached only by boat and with nobody living on it at all. It is famous for one thing above all: the water. The bays on its coast hold some of the clearest, most vivid turquoise in Greece, and boat trips anchor in them to swim rather than land, because the island itself is left wild.

It is the boat day to take if the clear water of Milos leaves you wanting more of the same, and it is usually reached on a trip that also calls at Kimolos or the coves along the way. Treat it as weather-dependent, like every open-water trip in these islands, and go for the swimming and the emptiness, not for anything on the land.

How to choose

If you have one day out and want it easy, take the ferry to Kimolos for a slow half-day on a lived-in island. If you want the water more than anything, take a boat that reaches Polyaigos, ideally on the calmest day of your stay. Either way, these are trips to the quieter islands next door rather than the round-Milos boat trip to Kleftiko, which belongs to the main plan in the Milos itinerary; the beaches of Milos itself are in the Milos beaches guide, and the wider Cyclades connections are in Greek island ferries.

Quick answers

What day trips can you take from Milos?

The two small islands next door. Kimolos, a short ferry from the port of Pollonia, is a quiet lived-in island with one hill town and a few beaches, an easy half-day. Polyaigos, beyond it, is the largest uninhabited island in the Aegean, reached only by boat and known for some of the clearest turquoise water in Greece, usually visited on a boat trip that swims in its bays rather than landing.

Is Kimolos worth visiting from Milos?

If you like quiet islands, yes. Kimolos is what Milos was before the visitors arrived: a single whitewashed hill town above a small harbour, a scatter of beaches, and very little to do but slow down. The crossing from Pollonia is short, so it makes an easy day, and its appeal is exactly that it has no headline sights and few people.

How do you get to Polyaigos?

Only by boat, because Polyaigos is uninhabited and protected, with no port town and nowhere to stay. Trips run from Milos and from Kimolos and anchor in its bays to swim rather than landing, since the island is left wild. Like every open-water trip in the Cyclades it depends on the weather, so keep the day flexible and take it when the sea is calm.