August 4, 2021

Kymi – Kimi

Kymi of island Evia

July 2021

38°38′3″N 24°6′14″E

As I told you to my previous article about Poros, this year (due to covid-19) me and my husband, we decided to take long weekends near Athens instead of taking 15days vacation continuously to one far away island. For our second dash we chose to visit Kymi of island Evia (or Kimi at Euboea). “The Aegean’s balcony” Kimi and not “The Iceman” Formula’s 1 Kimi (Raikkonen). Hahaaa…

If you want to lay down at the beach and do nothing else but eating confectionary -mostly baklava– , then Kymi of island Evia is a wonderful place to be for vacation and relaxation.

It is a nautical city with a port and about 3000 residents. Kimi is about 180 km from Athens and 140 km through the ferry boat Oropos – Eretria. Furthermore, it’s about 87km away from Chalkida and 1h40’ with the ferry from Skyros island.

Kymi of island Evia is called ‘Aegean’s balcony’ because it is located up in the mountain and has really nice panoramic view of the Aegean Sea.

 

Kymi’s Accommodation 1/4

We chose to stay at Archontiko Kimis, because it felt like warm and with personal touches to each room. You can get this from the different color that each room has. We booked it through booking.com, so it was 52 euros per night the time we went there on 16th to 19th of July 2021. It was really quiet and only few meters away from the living center of the town. My trip to Kymi - Travel advice from a Greek

We had the deluxe room called “Amfithea” with the bright green color and little angels on the walls. As they informed us, it took its name after the princess of the ancient Argos. It has a wonderful view of the Aegean Sea, half of the village and the island of Skyros. It has a whirlpool column in the bathroom and free toiletries. And also, free wifi. Fluffy soft pillows and cleaning every day. They are also changing towels every day. Inside the room there was a floored air-conditioning. If you want your room to be like North-Pole-ice-cold, then you will be disappointed. Otherwise, it works perfectly.

 Mr.Antonis, Mrs.Maria and the cleaning lady were all genuinely polite and really helpful and they advised us concerning the area. They all were the epitome of hospitality.

The thing that impressed me the most was the freshly baked breakfast. Even though we chose to eat only one morning at the hotel, they were so polite and ask us what different we would want to have the 2nd and 3rd day. The choices were infinite. Maybe next time, but thank you Archontiko Kimis for our beautiful time we had.

If you have children with you, then I propose to check out Meropy and Thallo rooms as they have cute bears and dolls for children.

PS: We really enjoyed the view and the cool breeze at night hanging out on our balcony. They gave us the choice to bring our breakfast on our balcony, but we preferred at the dining room.

 

Kymi’s Beaches 2/4

If you choose to stay at the port, then the beaches are within walking distance. We decided to stay inside the town of Kymi at the mountain to enjoy the Aegean’s view. With that in mind, the nearest beach was 4km away. But we had my blue car with us, so we didn’t care. My trip to Kymi - Beaches - Travel advice from a Greek

There are few small beaches to visit such as Platana, Kalogiros, Mourteri, Thapsa, Korasida, Metochiou and Soutsini. But, we singled out one of them all. The beach Oxylithos at Stomio, which was 7km away from the city center and 4km away from the port. With clean emerald waters and a resto-bar called Tulum, it was the perfect for us. It has small pebble stones which is nice for families with kids and grown-ups can easily swim because it is deep enough.

The sunbeds were free of charge over there. The bar has many refreshment drinks (smoothies, fresh orange juice, iced tea etc.) and alcohol, but also has few things to eat, like toast, fruit salad, ice-cream etc.. The whole staff was polite and they serve you really quick. At its minus is the fact that you cannot reserve your umbrella with the sunbeds in advance. Since, it is the nearest large beach at Kymi, it is always crowded and you have to wait until something is released.

 

Kymi’s Eateries 3/4

OMG!!! There are so many nice eateries at the area. We tried to taste the most of them. My trip to Kymi - Eateries - Travel advice from a Greek

Along the coastal road of Kimi there are many bars and taverns with excellent food and fresh seafood. Over there, we tasted “the Skyros”. It was a clean space at Kymi’s paralia with polite personnel and really quickly service. Go figure! As long as you are eating, you can hear the waves ? splashing near you to calm you and give the atmosphere that essence of sea saltiness. We enjoyed every single bite of our food, because all were actually deliciously ? fresh. All the seafood were tasty. We ordered fried squid, grilled octopus ?, almyrics and vlita greens, crab ? salad and cuttlefish with linguine spaghetti (photo) accompanied with tsipouro. I would highly recommend them and I will definitely want to come back again opportunity given. (PS: You can see photos of the prices for each restaurant at my google maps profile.)

Of course, I had with me my band, because the scenery was too good for walking around the port to let the mosquitoes annoy me. I have sweet blood -like we are using to say in Greece- for people that mosquitoes often bite them.

But, there are also many restaurants inside the town of Kymi. At the barbecue “to Steki” we ate the most delicious zucchini flowers stuffed with scented rice and a tender chicken kontosouvli.

Moreover, at the winery-kitchen “Stoa” we had a meat lovers feast with the most exquisite ewe ribs. It is the must-try food if you find yourselves at Kymi. I unreservedly recommend them.

Sweets

Also, do not forget that Kymi is famous about the fresh baklava, olive oil, dried figs, wine (with exports to Marseille), silk and cocoons. Do not forget also the Greek macaroons called amigdalota (= αμυγδαλωτά). Sο,grab a bag of dried figs to have it with you on the way back for the car cravings and taste over there the freshly baked baklava.

At the traditional coffee and confectionery place called “to diethnes” you can taste baklava with almonds or walnuts and a Greek coffee with ice-cream or kantaifi (shredded pastry filled with diced almonds).

But, if you want something else, do not forget to try the fresh tarts from Karantakis coffee-sweet place. All tarts were extremely fresh and light. As you can understand, I have a sweet tooth. Har…har… My trip to Kymi - sweets - Travel advice from a Greek

 

Kymi’s Activities 4/4

There are many attractions to visit during your stay in Kimi, such as the Folklore Museum.  (You can see many pictures from the interior of the museum at my local guide profile on Google maps.)

Certainly, it was a delightful walk to our historical roots at this well-equipped 450sqm museum, which is hosting in a 3-storey neoclassical building. Overall, it is a fine project. This exquisite collection includes many silk embroideries, costumes, loom, wood carvings, candle & wine making devices, pottery, metallurgy and representations of every day’s life from 1800-1930. It also has costumes from the Balkan wars and the vestments of the Saint Nektarios. Of course, there is a portrait of the famous native doctor Papanikolaou who invented the  gynecological examination test PAP.

My trip to Kymi - museum - Travel advice from a Greek The museum itself exists from 1981 and has about 1800 objects on display. At the backyard there is a small theater ? and as they informed us, over there, they are becoming performances ?. I totally recommend paying a visit at this fine well-organized folklore museum. It is worth it, especially if you have kids, because they will absorb this condensed knowledge of our past. Or they can watch a shadow Karagiozis performance at the theater ?.

Finally, I want to thank the ladies from the Educational & Cultural Association of Kimi who manages the museum and they allowed me to take pictures for my blog here and for my review as a local guide at Google maps. They were all so polite and helpful and knowledgeable of our history.

 

Other interesting points in Kimi are is the castle of Agios Georgios and the church of Agios Athanasios, which is located in the central square of the city. The Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior (5km away from the city center). Unfortunately, due to covid-19, the nuns reduced the visiting hours, so we didn’t have the chance to see the interior. Although, the view of the sea was spectacular from up there. My trip to Kymi - monastery - Travel advice from a Greek

If you are feeling motivated, you can certainly follow one of the hiking trails that they are around Kymi. On the other hand, you can go for a walk at Melissourgion. It is a painting and ceramics studio where you can buy raw organic Greek honey and learn about the usefulness of a bee.

 

 

….. I do not know yet, but maybe it will become my favorite choice for the weekend getaways from Athens. It is so-sooo close.

 

Travel tip: useful telephones for Kymi of island Evia

a) Folklore museum’s tel: +30 22220 22011

b) Municipal Health center’s tel: 14970 /// for covid-19: +30 22223 50169

c) Police’s tel: +30 22220 22555

d) Port police’s tel: +30 22220 22606

e) Taxi’s tel: +30 22220 23666

maria
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