Chios (also spelled Hios) is part of the islands of the Northeast Aegean.
Why You Should go to Chios:
Relatively unknown to most tourists, this beautiful wooded island offers a traditional culture, an international conference center, sand beaches, hiking trails, and many unspoiled villages. It also boasts mild weather in the winter. It is also considered by some to be the best-smelling Greek island of all!
Where to stay on Chios:
The capital town of Chora offers plenty of hotels and rooms. For a more interesting experience, stay in one of the many traditional villages in the northern part of the island.
What to eat and drink on Chios:
Chios is renowned for its intensely flavored tomatoes and tangerines and for souma, the Chian version of raki and smooth Chian ouzo. But the island economy has long depended on the production of gum mastic, which is used as a chewing substance, medicine (it has been proved effective for a number of ailments), and also as a flavoring.
The hard candies flavored with mastic are an excellent way to become familiar with the taste, which you'll end up craving after returning home from Greece. Bring some home to add a few grains to your New Year's vasillopita cake. There is also an excellent liqueur made from mastic.
When to Go to Chios:
For a vivid cultural experience, visit Chios during the Carnival season or later on for Easter, when the roukeropolemos makes for a lively Easter when competing barrages of fireworks light up the Easter Eve sky.
How to Get to Chios:
You can get a flight directly from Athens to Chios via Olympic Airlines, or from Thessaloniki via Lesbos to Chios.
Ferries operate year-round; one operator is Hellenic Seaways. Hydrofoils operate in the spring-to-fall period.
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Some of The Best Greek Islands
Temple-crowned Aegina -
Natural Alonissos - Traditional Carpathos -
Chewy Chios - Cos, The Doctors' Island - Queenly Crete - Dignified Delos - Do it all on Donoussa - Hydra, Artist's Island - Odysseus' Ithaca - Kalokairi "Mamma Mia" Island - Spongy Kalymnos - Aphrodite's Kythira - Lesvos, More than Sappho - Lovely Leros - Mighty Mykonos - Paros Paradise - Pirate Islands - Volcanic Santorini - Sexy Skopelos - The Dreamy Small Cyclades -
Easy Spetses - Symi Summers - Very Greek Syros - Honeyed Thassos -
Tilos, Island of Elephants
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