Is Tilos Worth Visiting?

Tilos became the Mediterranean's first fully energy-independent island in 2019, running entirely on wind and solar power, and that same commitment to sustainability shapes almost everything else about a visit here.

Tilos sits between Rhodes and Kos in the Dodecanese, and hunting has been banned across the island since the early 1990s, turning it into a Natura 2000 sanctuary with more than 150 bird species and over 650 plant varieties. The island also runs a Just Go Zero program that recycles more than 80 percent of its waste, the highest rate in the world, and a fleet of electric buses connects the main villages on a schedule that has drawn attention at international film festivals.

Megalo Chorio, the capital, sits on the slopes of a mountain crowned by a medieval castle built by the Knights of St. John, and the nearby Charkadio Cave, where the fossilized remains of Europe's last dwarf elephants were discovered, feeds a small paleontology museum in the village. Mikro Chorio, abandoned after World War Two, stands as a ghost village that opens a single bar in its ruins during summer nights, and the 15th century Monastery of Agios Panteleimon perches on a cliff on the island's western side.

Tilos also protects one of Europe's first marine protected areas, where Mediterranean monk seals, among the world's most endangered marine mammals, swim close enough to the harbor to be seen without a boat trip. Eristos, the island's longest beach, runs for close to two kilometers of fine pebbles, while Livadia combines the main port with the only beach on the island offering sunbeds and umbrellas, and Plaka draws visitors for its free-roaming peacocks as much as its shallow water.

Tilos has no airport, so most travelers fly into Rhodes or Kos and connect by ferry. It suits eco-conscious travelers, hikers, and birdwatchers who want a slower island with real substance behind its quiet, and its single road and reliable bus service make it easy to get around without a car.