See some of the best photos of the villages of Tinos in the photo tribute from our trip to Tinos in the summer of 2023.
If you are looking for the best beaches in Tinos see here.
In addition, a tribute to the largest village of Tinos, the Tower of Giannoulis Chalepas and other famous marble sculptors.
Accommodation in the beautiful island of Tinos
Ferry tickets to Tinos
Visits to the island of Megalochari
From the first time I visited Tinos, in the spring of 2006, I was enchanted by the crowds and the traditional Cycladic beauty of most of the island’s villages. I went back the same year in the summer, to visit and enjoy this time the many beaches of the island.
Although I was late going back, in July 2023 we shot almost all of it. Villages, beaches, hills and restaurants. We returned from vacation and wanted more holidays to relax after the endless walks in the alleys of most villages, hiking trails and diving on the beaches of Tinos.
Tinos is changing
Tinos, although famous for several decades for its Virgin Mary with its miraculous icon for the faithful, was not, until a few years ago, on the list of the most popular islands for Greek visitors, something that, as we have understood, has changed a lot in recent years.
Since 2006 we have seen many changes on the island. And you’ll say okay, that’s normal after all these years. But as some locals told us, most of the changes have happened in the last few years. Like for example the very high construction activity on almost the whole island, even in relatively remote locations.
Also, in Chora of Tinos, the narrow streets near the port and especially alongside the main road that goes up to the Church of Megalochari have developed a lot. Too many bars, cafes, souvlaki, tavernas and restaurants in a mix that attracts a very young crowd.
It didn’t become what Ios used to be, but anyway, for Tinos it made an impression, pleasant I would say.
Finally, many good, and somewhat expensive, restaurants have opened with more refined or gourmet (in Greek…) proposals. It’s not something I mind, although I personally prefer the more traditional taverns and flavours when I’m by the Aegean Sea on a Cycladic island. It’s a trend that is particularly on the rise in Tinos, which I hope will not “forget” its traditional character and cuisine.
The release of the drill?
Also, in one of the most expensive restaurants we happened to go to, I didn’t like at all the way the staff communicated, which had a rather peculiar sense of humor, in the context of the cool and comfortable style, with expressions I didn’t really understand, such as “Shall I release your plate?” Release it? What is a plate to release it, anyway?
How many pounds of lobster, man?
To complete the chill, right behind me sat a group of young people in patchouli that smelled all over the shop, who were grunting as if they were in their living room and who said, among other things, “What do you think, should we take three kilos of lobster or two, should we leave some for the others???” Relax, you guys, leave a couple of pounds of lobster for us poor little people… Mercy
So we have such nice things with the upgrading of the gastronomic landscape of Tinos. Of course, these two examples were fortunately the exception and not the rule. In general we ate great food, although most of the time relatively expensive. (July 2023)
In the villages of Tinos
But let’s leave the mumbling and move on to the good stuff, which is none other than the villages and the walks we took in beautiful Tinos. I haven’t put them in any particular order, from north to south for example, but as groups, the closest ones we visited I have put them together. To make your “walk” through the wonderful villages of Tinos easier, I made the list below
- Tripotamos
- Xinara and Campos
- Tarabados and Smardakito
- Karya, Triantaros and Two Villages
- Falatados and geological formations
- Close
- Potamia
- Volax or Volakas
- On the hill of Exomvourgos
- Baths and cafes in Servium
- in the PASOK of Love
- Hysteria and the Cardiac
- Tower and Panormos Bay (opens a special tribute to the unique Tower of Tinos)
- Beaches in Tinos (opens the special and renewed tribute of travelphoto.gr from our recent visit in the summer of 2023)
Photos from Tripotamos
Let’s start from the closest to Chora and one of the most beautiful, the famous Tripotamos, which stands out in the impressive landscape dominated by the hill Exomvourgo.
Tripotamos is one of the oldest villages of Tinos so we would highly recommend a visit there to wander around the narrow cobbled streets with the traditional houses stuck next to each other.
Xinara and the Campos of Tsoklis hill with the castle of Exomvourgos
Following the main road and passing outside Tripotamos, it is worth taking the next big crossroads, not the one that goes left towards Ktikados but a little further down, it is worth going towards the village of Xinara to enjoy the view of the village with the imposing rock of Xomvourgos (yes, it has several similar names).
If you want to visit the next big village, this is Kambos, known for the big museum of the artist Kostas Tsoklis, which we were told is worth a visit (unfortunately it was closed the day we went and I only photographed the outside).
In Kampos there is also a tavern with the strange name Choreotra and as you will see from the photos there are houses available for sale that you should not miss.
Photos from Xynara and Kampos
Tarabados and Smardakito
If you ask where the oldest, largest and perhaps most beautiful dovecotes of Tinos are located, they will most likely tell you the area around the village of Tarambados. So that’s where you will arrive shortly after Pyrgos. The traditional dovecotes are scattered along the route and you definitely won’t miss them.
Walk to Tarambados where you will find a café restaurant and find the paths that will lead you to some of the most impressive dovecotes in the area.
The next village is the well hidden Smardakito (or Smardakitos). And it’s really hidden because from the road you can’t see it at all and you wouldn’t understand the beauty that is hidden in the centre of the village with the small but beautiful paved square, the traditional tavern Katoi, the spring with the crystal clear and cool waters and the catholic church of Agios Antonios.
On a hot July afternoon, this spring in the village square almost literally saved us from heatstroke. It cooled us down, it thawed us out and somehow Smardakito entered our hearts along with some delicious salads and snacks that subsequently entered our stomachs.
Photos from Tarabados and Smardakito(s)
To Karya, Triantaros and Dio Choria
If from Tarambados you return on the main road to Tripotamos, an option is to head towards Karya, nice view to the villages of Tsados and Moundados, with a tavern on the road, Arnados, Triantados and Dio Choria. It is a beautiful route with views of the Aegean Sea and Mykonos(the best beaches in Mykonos) and the villages there are some of the most beautiful in Tinos.
We had time to walk a lot in Triantaros, with its steep cobbled streets and mansions, the café and tavern restaurants overlooking the sea. In order to have time to see one more village we didn’t eat there but continued on to the village with the special name “Two Choria”.
We arrived at Dio Choria late and quite hungry. Fortunately, because there are several delicious food options in the village. Next to the road and under the plane trees for more traditional dishes from what we understood while a little further up you will find the village square with two or three different restaurants for almost all tastes.
The square is beautiful, green and will certainly whet your appetite for the delicacies that the shops have to offer. We ate and in order to digest we took the narrow streets of the village which turned out to be quite long and uphill (not the best for digestion after all).
Anyway, we were quite happy because even at night the streets were very picturesque. But we renewed for our next visit, daytime this time.
Photos from the villages of Karya, Triantaros and Dio Choria
Phalatados and granitic formations
The next “cluster of villages” as I like to say because we visited them one after the other, are Falatados, Myrsini, Steni and Potamia. In Falatados, walk through its narrow streets and enjoy the elaborate pebbles in front of the Holy Church of Holy Trinity – St. John.
Granite formations, a beautiful geological phenomenon
Just before you reach the village you will see signs that mention the granite formations of the area and for which the village of Volax is best known.
From Falatados, however, you will be able to follow the route that leads you to a dirt road and a magnificent landscape with the huge rocks that are scattered as if they have been thrown by a giant. We left the car and walked for quite some time among them, which we highly recommend.
If you don’t eat, you don’t sit
From Falatados we went to the village of Myrsini where we quite liked the huge dovecote at the entrance of the village, which we walked to the Teresa’s Bakalotaverna that had been recommended to us for dinner (it has excellent reviews but as you will see below we wouldn’t have had the chance to find out).
Although we had eaten earlier and we were not hungry we decided to sit down for coffee or juice to rest because it was quite hot.
Unfortunately, we were told that since we were not eating we could not sit at one of the many tables available at that time (6 of the 10 tables were free since it was not the usual time for eating, around 5pm). I have to admit that we were not at all impressed by this treatment.
Luckily they let me into the kitchen area which is also a small grocery store and at least I took some pictures of an old and traditional style business in the Greek countryside.
In the beautiful Steni Tinos
So, looking for somewhere where we could sit down to have a glass of water and a coffee, we left Myrsini and went to the village of Steni, which turned out to be one of the pleasant surprises of the area. Park at the beginning of the village and walk along the long main road and its few vertical alleys with their characteristic arches.
We sat down for coffee and orange juice in a nice little square where, to make me grumble a bit more, we were brought water in a bottled water bottle, 1.5 euros if I remember correctly, while the group right behind us, which was hard not to see, who were probably locals, were brought a jug of water, which of course is not charged. Anyway, we quite liked Steni but had to continue our exploration.
Photos from the villages of Myrsini and Steni
In the River of Jean-Luc
On the way and just after Steni, I saw a small village overlooking the sea and Mykonos(Mykonos beaches), built on a green slope with the characteristic Tinian terraces. It was not yet well into the night so we were running out of time for a short visit that ended up lasting 3 hours.
At first Potamia pleasantly surprised us because it is a village that has remained unchanged in time. It is not touristic so you can find, apart from several ruined houses or ruins, many well-preserved houses and large dovecotes. We enjoyed walking along its cobbled streets so much that we reached perhaps one of the last houses in the village where we took some photos in front of the steps and its beautiful door.
So there the owner heard us and, wondering what exactly we like and what we are photographing, he opened the door and asked us. So we started talking to Jean-Luc, a Frenchman who has been living in Greece for 40 years and who spends most of the months in Tinos and specifically in Potamia. We ended up chatting and drinking tsipouro at Jean-Luc’s kitchen in Potamia until 11pm (from 8pm at least).
How does a 70-year-old Frenchman, who speaks almost fluent Greek, spend his time in Potamia? Doing all sorts of activities. From picking capers to restoring a large pigeon loft near the village.
From making honey, dried tomatoes and oil to gathering all kinds of aromatic herbs. From renovating a mansion at the entrance of the village to reading his books in peace and quiet on his large veranda overlooking the Aegean Sea and the golden-brown slopes of the small mountains of Tinos.
We had a great time in Jean-Luc’s kitchen and renewed for the next time we will be in Tinos.
Photos from Potamia of Tinos
In the lunar Volax
We continue our journey to the villages of Tinos with the unique Volax. It is a medieval village built in a landscape that seems to be lunar.
This is the same area as the granitic formations in Falatados (the granitic formations are exactly this landscape with scattered rocks).
Spend an afternoon in Volakas and visit the small theatre with the beautiful view of the village and the landscape as well as the folklore museum, the narrow streets with the marble lintels and the scattered poems by Greek writers and poets, the small shops with beautiful handicrafts and not only and some of the few taverns.
This is the third time I have been to Volax and every time this small village steals my heart.
Photos from Volax of Tinos
At the castle and the hill of Exomvourgos
As you are in the area we would suggest you not to miss a visit to the hill of Xomvourgos. You will find the small path to the top of about 560 meters after the village of Koumaros, at the Catholic Monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
On the way up you will also see the demolished walls of the almost impregnable castle of Exomvourgos before its destruction by the Turks in the 17th century, it was the capital of Tinos that had protected the population of the island many times from the pirates of the Aegean and the raids of the Turks, When they finally managed to capture it, they preferred to demolish it completely rather than to have to try again to conquer it (a few years after its conquest, Tinos passed into the hands of the Venetians).
From the top of this impressive hill the view is spectacular, the whole Aegean Sea at your feet as well as almost all of Tinos with its scattered villages. Take binoculars with you to enjoy even more the view from the castle of Xomvourgos. The only thing to watch out for before you start your climb there is the wind.
We climbed with 4-5 Beaufort at the base of the rock and near the top the wind had increased to at least 8 Beaufort. Which is ultimately quite dangerous for someone who doesn’t have the strength to keep a firm grip on their legs or simply weighs less than 60-70 pounds.
The trail has several rocks that can be thrown by the wind and perhaps the worst is the sharp thistles that even I almost fell on them in a strong gust of wind. So remember this and don’t attempt the climb if you are not sure of your strength when it is windy on the island.
On the hill of Xomvourgos you can also do via ferrata, from the side of the village of Xinara I think.
In Loutra and Komi
From the castle of Xombourgos we went to explore the village of Loutra. There is the Holy Monastery of Ursuline Monks and the Holy Monastery of St. Joseph of the Jesuit Fathers.
I can’t say that we were impressed with Loutra, there are certainly more interesting villages in Tinos. But we learned that there is a café there and since it was July noon and quite hot, we decided to visit it to refresh our strength until the next exploration. And we didn’t regret it.
The Serviam café is located just after the large and beautiful school of Loutra and is situated in a large outdoor and cool shaded area. We had coffee, orange juice and the revelation was the various desserts of the day which we recommend you to discover. Leaving Loutra, we passed through Skalados and Krokos (with the bistro Kroc Messier) until we reached the next big village of Komi.
Although the first image and smell you encounter immediately after the parking lot as you walk to the first houses of the village is that of garbage (it would be nice if they would pay attention to this in Komi), we liked Komi as a village.
It is spread out along a long alley that at the beginning is the large village square with a café and a restaurant if I’m not mistaken (there may be two). We ate stuffed squid or thrapsalos at Spoura which was simply amazing.
To the PASOK of Love :)
From Komi do not miss to visit the village Agapi. The name didn’t fill our eyes, it sounded like failed marketing to me but nothing to do with it. Luckily I didn’t get carried away with my thoughts and we decided to explore it anyway. And we were completely vindicated.
A beautiful main street, especially the covered part, the arch of Agapios, with the traditional cafe of Markos Prelorentzos, the amazing sign of PASOK AGAPIS and the other traditional cafe called “Otti na’ja” (Blues Grill) where you will taste the best straws of Tinos, as we were told, listening only to Blues and Rock music!
We arrived in the morning so we didn’t have a chance to eat but if you are heading that way don’t miss it.
Photos from Agapi Tinos
In the Tower of Tinos, Ysternia and Kardiani
It is worth spending a day or more in the northern part of Tinos with the unique Pyrgos with the great tradition of marble sculpture and the beautiful villages of Ysternia and Kardiani with their bays and beaches (Kalyvia, one of the best beaches in Tinos), their traditional and not only cafes, their restaurants, their temples and their marble fountains and of course with the wonderful, one of the best in the Cyclades, view of the Aegean Sea and its islands.
For Pyrgos and Ormos Panormos we have written an article for more details and photos here. While you’re there visit the village of Platia, it looked quite beautiful from the road but unfortunately we didn’t have time to walk it.
Photos from Ysternia and Kardiani
There are villages
As you will have noticed, our tribute to the villages of Tinos has already taken on “huge” dimensions. This does not mean that there are no other villages. But we have left several, such as Platia, Ktikados, Tzados, the coastal Lychnaftia, Aetofolia and others, not many in the end, as I see now, for the next time we visit Tinos.
Where will you stay in Tinos?
See the map with accommodation suggestions for the beautiful island of Tinos.
In short, if you want to see the whole island, it is advisable to spend at least a week. It is one of the islands that, in proportion to its size, has perhaps the most inhabited and beautiful villages in the Aegean islands.
If you add the beaches then you will see that even 7 days may not be enough. This is good, of course, because Tinos knows that you will probably see you again soon.
This will also happen to us who, while we have visited so many villages, have left several, fortunately pleasant, unfinished business. In the photo gallery below you will see even more photos of the unique Tinos and its villages.
Ferry tickets to Tinos
Photos, additional, from the villages of Tinos
Map with villages and beaches in Tinos
Kavalouriko Beach, Όρμος Πανόρμου, Municipality of Tinos, Tinos Regional Unit, South Aegean, Aegean, 842 01, Greece
Τήνος – Πύργος, Tarampados, Municipality of Tinos, Tinos Regional Unit, South Aegean, Aegean, 842 00, Greece
Agapi, Municipality of Tinos, Tinos Regional Unit, South Aegean, Aegean, 842 00, Greece
Παραλία Παχιά Άμμος, Τήνος
Pachia Ammos, Lychnaftia, Municipality of Tinos, Tinos Regional Unit, South Aegean, Aegean, 842 00, Greece
Kionia beach
-Ευαγγελίστρια, Παναγία της Τήνου
-Church of Panagia Evangelistria
37.620935
5.053434
Romanos beach photo was taken from about this point.
Φωτογραφίες από το μεγαλύτερο χωριό της Τήνου, τον Πύργο
Accommodation in Tinos
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