This is the closest Cycladic island to Athens but surprisingly largely undiscovered.
Kea has not developed as a mass tourist destination but rather as a very convenient alternative to the rest of the Cyclades being only an hour’s boat ride from the port of Lavrio itself being a twenty minute drive from Athens’s International airport.
Kea has a rich archaeological history, numerous monuments & carefully marked ancient foot paths which have now become modern day trekking routes In one such case it is the only route, giving access to Kea’s most developed ancient city of Karthea on its south eastern coast.
Kea is an island waiting to be explored. With its many wonderful beaches, most of which are not organised, makes Kea a nature lover’s paradise. Its landscape so varied it has been described as the island with the most attractive curves giving rise to an ever changing panorama as the sun’s reflections paint vivid pictures across its gentle slopes.
The Eastern part and the interior of the island is home to dense royal oak tree forests unique for the Cyclades and what used to be the livelihood of the Keans many years ago.
The ancient port of Korisia and the yacht harbor of Vourkari attract most of the night life and offer the island’s diverse culinary delights although the capital Ioulis has also its own attractions including traditional tavernas, Kea’s archaeological museum a must for every visitor and the ever vigilant Lion of Kea guarding Ioulis’s inhabitants as far back as 600 BC.
