Is Kythnos Worth Visiting?

Kythnos holds one of the largest cave networks in Greece, natural hot springs used since antiquity, and a beach shaped like a sandbar with the sea on both sides, all on an island still largely unfamiliar outside Greece.

Kythnos hides its capital, Chora, inland rather than at the port, a traffic-free village of whitewashed houses about seven kilometers up from the coast. Dryopida, the island's other main village, sits in a valley chosen for protection from pirate raids, and beneath it runs Katafiki, one of the largest cave systems in Greece, used historically as both a mine and a refuge.

Loutra, on the northeast coast, has drawn visitors to its mineral rich hot springs since ancient times, and the water still runs warm enough at the shoreline to swim through winter. Vryokastro, the island's ancient capital dating to the 10th century BC, has yielded pottery, jewelry, and even an underwater port from excavations, and the ruins of the medieval fortress Oria Kastro sit on a hilltop reachable by hiking trail.

Kolona, the island's best known beach, forms a narrow strip of sand connecting two pieces of land with open sea on either side, and dozens of smaller beaches around the coast, many reachable only on foot, keep the crowds thin even in summer.

Kythnos works well for travelers wanting real hiking, hot springs, and beaches without the density of nearby Kea, and it's reachable from Lavrio in about ninety minutes or Piraeus in around three hours.