Hotels in Sifnos

About Sifnos

Sifnos is a small island in the western Cyclades with a big reputation for food, pottery and graceful villages. It was the birthplace of Nikolaos Tselementes, the chef who wrote the classic Greek cookbook, and its tavernas are among the best in the Aegean, serving dishes such as revithada, chickpeas slowly baked in clay pots, and mastelo, lamb cooked with red wine. The island's ceramic tradition continues in workshops around Kamares, Platis Gialos and Vathi. The inland villages are linked by footpaths: Apollonia, the lively capital, and neighbouring Artemonas are full of whitewashed lanes, mansions and small squares, while medieval Kastro sits on a rock above the sea with houses forming its defensive wall and a view of the little church of the Seven Martyrs on a promontory below. Sifnos also has more than two hundred churches and monasteries, the most photographed being Panagia Chrysopigi, built on a rock separated from the coast by a narrow channel. Beaches such as Platis Gialos, Vathi, Faros, Kamares and Cheronissos are calm and family-friendly. Sifnos is reached by ferry from Piraeus in about three hours and suits food lovers, walkers and couples.