Samos to Kos (Greece)

Typical route: Samos, Agathonisi, Arki, Patmos, Lipso, Leros, Kalimnos, Kos.

Historical sights:  Pithagorion water tunnel, Samos, Monastery of St John the Divine and Cave of St Anne, Patmos, The Fort in Kos.

Leisure: sailing, swimming, Scuba, fishing, hiking, shopping (Samos, Kos), local markets

Approximate distance of route: 130 nm
Longest leg sailed: 25 nm

This route is a perfect balance of culture and leisure as there is much to explore both on and around the islands. You will be sailing from island to island and discover the rough nature and typical Greek island life. There are many beautiful and less frequented coves and bays to seek out with fantastic swimming, snorkeling and diving as well as general basking in the sun with a good book. You can also rent scooters on all the islands and seek out those well hidden pebble beaches or local taverns.

The Dodecanese meaning the twelve islands lie scattered along the Turkish Aegean coast starting just below Samos and reaching to Rhodes. The islands are all the tops of mountains that stood on the plain of the Aegean long since flooded. They are relatively bare of vegetation but some, like Kos and Rhodes, are relatively green. The area was controlled by the Knights of St John, based in Rhodes who capitulated to the Turks in 1522. Despite the long Turkish rule (until 1912) the islands have remained intrinsically Greek. They were then under Italian rule until 1947 when they became officially part of Greece.

Patmos is the spiritual center of the Greek Orthodox Church after Mt Athos. The island chora is crowned by the monastery of St John the Divine which was built 1088 by St Christodoulos. The Codex Porphyrius remains in the monastery to this day. St John was banished to the island from Ephesis by the Emperor Domitian. During his time on the island he dictated the Apocalypse, found in the book of Revelations, to his disciple Prochorus in the cave of St Anne.