A very small and extremely cosy island just east of Naxos. Of late VERY popular with Scandinavian tourists and may be crowded out in high season, reports say. Ideal in late May, early June, when there is lots of cheap accommodation to choose from. Very nice beaches. An ideal place for doing nothing but enjoying the sea, sun and sand!

Interesting small walks can be done, admiring the pretty and even dramatic cliffs that stands straight up from the sea. Otherwise the island is rather flat, and walks will invariably be easy.

Selected walks: For walks on Koufonissia take a look in Walking the Aegean Islands by Dieter Graf (referred to below as “/Graf/”), Naxos and the Small Cyclades by Dieter Graf and Christian Ucke and the newer Amorgos, Naxos, Paros and the Eastern & Northern Cyclades by Dieter Graf, which should be more up-to-date.

•1 ROUND TOUR OF THE ISLAND: (2h11 walking time, a very small island indeed, but add lots of time for swimming!) This is walk 15 in /Graf/. A mostly very easy walk, not hard to find your way either, on such a small island directions will be pretty obvious. Just read the text carefully and you will not have any great problems.

It is not obvious however, which route is the best when you leave the coastline and head for the local garbage dump. But as there is litter all over this hillside, you will not be in doubt that you are approaching the “right” spot. This is not an interesting part of this walk…

When walking without a path towards Pori, head in the direction of a concrete pigsty that will be easily visible in front of you, it is the only building of any sort towards the beach. Go through a gate here to find a dirt road and follow this down to the beach. If you do not go this way too many walls and fences will have to be negotiated to make this part of the walk comfortable.

Pori beach was 100% nudist when I arrived. Which was one (1) person in total! Walking back towards town you will encounter prettier beaches than the isolated Pori. If you are lucky, and you have started your walk early in the day, you might even have a small cove in private. There is one particularly nice one, but you will have to find it yourself…

• Good starting points: • Hora – just about the only place to stay

• How to get there: • Almost daily ferry from Naxos and the other Smaller Cyclades (depending on season) • Some ferries from other islands • Some ferries from the mainland

• More info: • Koufonissia.net