An intro to Andros

Map of Andros showing where we've visited in our first three weeks here
Map of Andros showing where we’ve visited in our first three weeks here
We haven’t had much time to tour the island because of our heavy work schedule so I don’t have many photos to show you. There are a few of the main town of Andros, Chora here, showing the Venetian influence on this town. In future posts, I’ll show you some more images of our travels around the island.

The map at right shows the places we have been in our three weeks here so far: Gavrio, the port at which we arrived on the island; Batsi, where we are staying; Stavropeda, where we usually park the vans and from where we walk down to Zagora; Zagora; the capital, Andros (Chora – meaning ‘centre’), Ano Aprovato (where we attended the Tsipouro Feast), Paleopolis (we visited the Paleopolis Archaeological Museum at Paleopolis, a specially arranged excursion, on our way to work last Saturday 3 November). On Sunday 4 November, most of us went on an excursion in our two vans to Korthi, where we had coffee, and then drove west across the fertile valley of Korthi to Andros (Chora) for lunch (some photos coming in future posts).

For those of you not familiar with the geography of this part of the world, here’s a start with a Google map of the Cycladic Islands, of which Andros is the most northern. It is unmarked at this magnification (you will see it when you enlarge the map). Andros is just north-west of the island of Tinos, which is marked.

View Larger Map

Andros is the closest Cycladic island to Athens – an hour-and-a-half away by fast ferry, two-and-a-half hours away by the slower, larger ferry that also transports vehicles.

There are approximately 7000 people living on Andros – but this number swells significantly in the warmer months as visitors come to holiday. There are few international tourists – mostly holiday-makers and weekenders from Athens.

This means you get a better experience of authentic Greek island life on Andros than some of the other Greek islands more popular with international tourists.

Greek hospitality on Andros has been warm and friendly everywhere we have been – in restaurants, cafes, museums and shops. I look forward to sharing more of this with you in future posts.

Approaching Andros (Chora), having driven from Korthi
Approaching Andros (Chora), having driven from Korthi © PHM; photo by Paul Donnelly

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