Day trips from Sifnos: the western line

We name the trips and describe what each is. We print no ferry times, crossing durations or prices, because those change every season. Confirm the day’s sailings before you plan anything around them, and check the last boat back.

Serifos, for one spectacular chora

North one hop, and worth it for a single view. The Serifos chora is built up a cone of rock above the port in tiers, with a ruined Venetian kastro on the summit and white houses packed below it. From the harbour it looks improbable; from the top the whole island and half the western Cyclades are laid out.

Go up by the stepped path rather than the bus if the heat allows, and take the walk down at dusk if your boat is late enough. That walk is the thing people remember about the island.

The other reason to go is stranger. Serifos ran on iron ore into the twentieth century and the coast still carries the evidence: loading piers at Megalo Livadi, rusting machinery, tunnel mouths in the hillsides and the shells of company buildings. Very few Greek islands have an industrial past you can walk around.

Milos, for a coast unlike anywhere else

South one hop, and a bigger day. Milos is a drowned volcano with the most varied coastline in the Cyclades: white pumice at Sarakiniko, red rock at Paliochori, sulphur streaks and sea caves.

The honest caveat is that Milos is not a day-trip island. Its coast is long and deeply folded, so reaching a beach can eat a chunk of the day, and the best of it, the sea caves at Kleftiko, needs a boat trip of its own. A day gets you Adamas, Plaka on its hill and one good beach, which is a decent day and about a third of the island.

If Milos appeals, consider three nights there rather than a day. Milos to Sifnos covers the hop either way.

The monastery walks on Sifnos itself

The strongest recommendation on this page. Sifnos has a genuine network of waymarked old stone footpaths, and the ones running inland from Artemonas and Apollonia towards the island’s monasteries are quiet, well marked and take half a day each.

That is a real day out with no boat, no timetable and no risk of the wind ruining it, which is worth more in the Cyclades than it sounds. Walking is the third leg of this island alongside the villages and the food, and most visitors never use it.

The bays by boat

Sifnos has small bays rather than long beaches, and several of the better ones are easier by sea than by road. Small boats run from the southern harbours in season to coves the bus does not reach, which turns an ordinary beach afternoon into a better one.

This is also the fallback when the wind has made the longer crossings unpleasant, which on the western line happens often enough to plan for.

What we would actually do with five days

Three days on Sifnos itself, one on Serifos for the chora and the mines, and one held for either Milos or a long walk, depending on the weather and how much boat you want in your week.

If Milos wins, do not treat it as a day trip: move there for the last three nights instead. The order for Sifnos itself is in the Sifnos itinerary, and the wider line is in the Cyclades.

Where this leaves you

From Sifnos: Serifos north for one of the best choras in Greece and an industrial coast almost nowhere else has, Milos south for a volcanic coastline that deserves more than a day, the island’s own footpaths for a day out that no ferry can cancel, and a small boat to the bays when the wind allows. The nearest good day is the one you can walk to.

Quick answers

What is the best day trip from Sifnos?

Serifos, one hop north, for the chora built up a cone of rock above the port and the old iron-mining coast below it. It is close enough to be a comfortable day and different enough to be worth the crossing.

Is Milos worth a day trip from Sifnos?

It is a decent day and an incomplete one. Milos has a long, deeply folded coast, so reaching its best beaches takes time, and the sea caves at Kleftiko need a boat trip of their own. If it appeals, move there for a few nights instead of visiting for a day.

Can you walk between the villages on Sifnos?

Yes, and it is one of the island’s best features. A network of waymarked old stone paths links the villages and runs inland to the monasteries, and each of those walks makes half a day. It is a day out that no ferry timetable can cancel.

Do the boats to the smaller bays run all season?

They are seasonal and weather-dependent. Small boats run from the southern harbours to coves the road serves badly, but the western Cyclades line takes the wind, so check on the day rather than planning a week around them.