About Chios
Lying within sight of the Turkish mainland, Chios is (by Aegean standards) a big and prosperous island. Its rolling hillsides are covered with olive groves, vineyards and mastic plantations which made the island wealthy during the Ottoman era.
Chios is also the ancestral home of several of Greece’s leading ship-owning dynasties, many of whom maintain holiday villas on the island, and its main port bustles with merchant shipping and, in summer, a scattering of opulent yachts.
There is little to remind you of the ancient world, but Chios has more than a few relics of its years as a fief of the Giustiniani, a medieval Genoese trading clan who controlled many of the North Aegean islands, and as part of the Ottoman Empire (the island was liberated and became part of Greece only in 1913).
Activities
Yacht Tours
A number of companies offer all-day yacht tours around Chios and to neighboring islands - an experience guaranteed to leave visitors with lasting impressions. Most tours include a BBQ lunch on board and stops for swimming out in the open sea and/or lesser known, secluded beaches. Chios Yachting:
Chios Cooking Lessons
An enjoyable activity to be done with a group of friends, the cooking lessons organized by a Chios native will grant you insight into the intricacies of local cuisine, and give you the chance to try a hand at creating an edible masterpiece with some of the freshest local ingredients.
Chios Town
Chios Town has a good array of dance clubs and music bars, many of which are firmly established and open most of the year. Walk down the waterfront stretch by the port, where most of the cafés-by-day, bars/dance clubs by night are located. Many host guest DJs, and some have weekly themed parties.
Tips
Good to know
Public Transport
Urban buses operated by Chios City Lines serve Chios Town and outlying suburbs (local buses are blue, those serving the suburbs are green). The city bus station is located next to the City Hall. Long-distance buses stop behind the Homerion Cultural Centre, next to the central square.
+30 22710 23086
Chios Intercity Lines links Chios Town with villages all over the island, but services are timed to meet local needs and on many routes operate only once or twice daily.
+30 22710 27507
Scooters and motorcycles may also be hired, but inexperienced riders should take great care.
Car rental is widely available and affordable, as is fuel.
Electricity
230 v 50 Hz; two-pin (southern European) plug.