Kea (Tzia), Greece: Ioulida, the Lion, Beaches & Villages
Kea, also called Tzia, is the closest island of the Cyclades to Athens, reached by a one-hour ferry from the port of Lavrio. The island stays green, fertile and quiet, kept authentic despite its short crossing. Ferries dock at the port of Korissia on the west coast, the capital Ioulida climbs a hill inland, and the yachting harbour of Vourkari lies just to the north. Kea draws walkers with its numbered trails, remote beaches and the ancient granite Lion above Ioulida. Hire a car to reach the parts of Kea the buses miss, covered in our Kea car hire guide.
- Group
- Cyclades
- Ferry
- ~1 hr from Lavrio
- Capital
- Ioulida (Chora)
- Port
- Korissia
The island of Kea
Kea lies closer to Athens than any other island of the Cyclades, yet it has stayed quiet and authentic. The crossing from the port of Lavrio, south-east of Athens, takes about one hour. Unlike most Cycladic islands, Kea is fertile and green, far greener than nearby Kythnos, with olive groves, oak woods and springs of good drinking water. At weekends it fills with Athenians escaping the city, and many own a holiday home or villa here because the island is so easy to reach. The island is best known for walking: a network of numbered paths and old trails leads to remote beaches, chapels and ancient sites.
History and heritage
Kea was an important island in antiquity and one of the places where Greek civilisation took root. Above the port at Vourkari lie the remains of a Bronze-Age settlement excavated as Agia Irini, with thick city walls, houses with cellars and water drainage, and paved streets. The ancient city of Karthea, in the south-east, keeps the ruins of an Ionian town with temples of Apollo and Athena on the edge of a cliff. The capital, Ioulida, stands on a hill once ringed by 26 windmills and crowned by a Venetian castle built from the stones of a temple of Apollo, with pieces of an ancient acropolis still in place. In the 19th century Kea was a centre of the coal trade, and roofless coal warehouses still stand near Vourkari.
Getting to Kea
Kea is reached by ferry from the port of Lavrio, south-east of Athens, with several sailings a day. The crossing takes about one hour. For some ferries Kea is the first stop before Kythnos and Syros, while others sail only between Kea and the mainland. All boats dock at Korissia on the west coast. From the port, buses run to Vourkari and up to the capital Ioulida, though a car or scooter helps to reach the beaches and ancient sites that lie far apart along the numbered trails.
Beaches of Kea
Kea keeps its most popular beaches on the north and west coasts, near the port. Gialiskari is the busiest, a small, calm bay 6.5 km south of the capital with sunbeds and a beach bar, while Otzias in the north runs about 700 metres with trees for shade and a few tavernas. Pisses, on the west coast in a green valley, is widely rated the best beach on the island and holds the only campsite, and Koundouros to the south gathers a run of small, wind-sheltered coves. Remote sandy beaches such as Spathi, Orches and the twin bays of Mikres and Megales Poles are reached only on foot or by rough track. The full run is set out in the Kea beaches guide.
Sights of Kea
The famous sight of Kea is the Lion of Kea, a granite lion 6 metres long carved in the 6th century BC, lying among olive trees on a hill above Ioulida. The capital itself is a sight, a car-free hill town of small houses, narrow lanes and old windmills reached through a gate, with an Archaeological Museum holding the island's finds. Beyond the town, the ancient city of Karthea keeps its temples of Apollo and Athena above the sea, the Minoan site of Agia Irini stands by Vourkari, and the monastery of Kastriani looks out over the north-east coast. These are gathered in the Kea sights guide.
Villages of Kea
Kea keeps its life in three main places: the port of Korissia on the west coast, the yachting harbour of Vourkari just to the north, and the capital Ioulida on a hill inland. Smaller coastal villages such as Otzias and Pisses sit around the shore.
Ioulida (Chora)
Ioulida, also called Ioulis or the Chora, is the capital of Kea, a car-free hill town that stands inland above the port of Korissia and is visible from it. You enter through a gate, because the town was once walled, and it still looks like a fortress. The streets are too narrow for cars, which stay on the edge of the town, and many lanes climb in small stairs across the hillside. Old houses may only be restored, not replaced, so Ioulida stays unspoiled, with squares of restaurants and cafes, an Archaeological Museum, a Venetian castle and the remains of an acropolis. The famous Lion of Kea lies on a hill just outside the town, described in the Kea sights guide.
Korissia (Livadi)
Korissia, also called Livadi, is the port of Kea, on the west coast in the Bay of Agios Nikolaos, where all ferries from Lavrio arrive. The village has grown into the island's main resort, and along with Ioulida it holds most of the accommodation. It has a long sandy beach lined with a few hotels, and the nearby beach of Gialiskari, shaded by trees, lies a little further along the coast. The waterfront is lined with cafes and bars, and buses run from here to Vourkari and up to the capital.
Vourkari
Vourkari is a harbour village just north of Korissia, on the sheltered side of the Bay of Agios Nikolaos, where the water almost never sees high waves. A marina for pleasure boats has made it a yachting stop, and most of the island's nightlife happens here, among several hotels and restaurants along the quay. Just north of the village, at Agia Irini, lie the excavated remains of a Bronze-Age town, and near Kokka stand the roofless warehouses of the 19th-century coal trade.
Where to stay
Accommodation on Kea concentrates around the port of Korissia, the harbour of Vourkari and the capital Ioulida. Korissia puts you by the sandy beach and the ferry, Vourkari suits a base near the marina and the nightlife, and Ioulida keeps you in the old town. The island also has villas and self-catering houses in the hills and near the coast, many built by Athenians as holiday homes. Compare the options in the Kea hotels & villas guide, which covers the island's hotels and its self-catering villas.
Where to eat
Kea serves its food along the waterfronts of Korissia and Vourkari and on the squares of Ioulida. Vourkari holds most of the island's restaurants and nightlife on its yachting quay, Korissia lines its harbour with cafes and tavernas, and the shaded squares of the car-free Chora suit a slower meal. The by-area guidance is set out in the Kea restaurants guide.
The Kea guides
Four guides cover the island in detail. Pick a theme below.
