Nisyros, Greece: The Volcano, Mandraki, Beaches and Villages
Nisyros is a volcanic island of 41 km2 in the Dodecanese, in the south Aegean between Kos and Tilos and north of Rhodes. The whole island is an active volcano. A caldera 3 to 4 km wide holds seven craters in its centre, and the walk down into the crater is the island's biggest draw. The whitewashed capital Mandraki sits on the west coast, ferries and Kos day-boats dock there, and about 1,100 people live on Nisyros. It stays calm and green, a quiet contrast to Rhodes and Kos. Hire a car to reach the parts of Nisyros the buses miss, covered in our Nisyros car hire guide.
- Group
- Dodecanese
- Area
- 41 km2
- Capital
- Mandraki
- Highest point
- Profitis Ilias, 698 m
The island of Nisyros
Nisyros measures 41 km2 and holds about 1,100 inhabitants, which makes it one of the smaller inhabited islands of the Dodecanese. The island is almost circular, about 8 km across, and rises to the 698 m peak of Profitis Ilias. It belongs to a volcanic chain in the south Aegean that also takes in Kos and the small island of Gyali, or Yali, its largest neighbour to the north. The volcanic soil is fertile, so the hills and outer plains stay green with almond trees, grapes, figs and spring flowers. Nisyros lies between Kos and Tilos, north of Rhodes, and stays far quieter than either large neighbour.
The volcano and caldera
The volcano is the biggest attraction of Nisyros, and the whole island is built from it. A caldera 3 to 4 km wide sits in the centre of the island, ringed by hills, and holds seven craters. The crater floor is a dry, yellow, lunar landscape where sulphur hangs in the air, in sharp contrast to the green outer slopes. The main crater, Stefanos, can be walked into, and travel agencies on the Mandraki waterfront sell trips to it while buses run up from the town. The crater began forming about 150,000 years ago, and the last eruption, in 1888, threw out only steam. In myth the god Poseidon tore a piece off the island of Kos and threw it onto the giant Polyvotis, burying him alive, and every rumble of the volcano was read as the giant trying to break free. The individual sights are gathered in the Nisyros sights guide.
Getting to Nisyros
Nisyros has no airport, only a helicopter pad, so it is reached only by boat. Ferries run from Piraeus to Nisyros, and there are connections with Rhodes and Kos. Many visitors also arrive on organised day trips by excursion boat from Kos, which briefly lift the calm of the island before they leave. All boats dock at the capital, Mandraki, on the west coast. A car or scooter helps once you are there, since the beaches and crater-rim villages lie apart, as explained in the Nisyros hotels & villas guide.
Beaches of Nisyros
Because Nisyros is volcanic, most of its beaches are black or red sand and pebbles, much like Santorini. The best sandy beach is White Beach in the north near Paloi, 4 km from Mandraki, with trees for shade and shallow water. Katsouni, just east of Paloi, is the largest beach on the island, while Lies on the east coast runs about 1.5 km of grey pebbles and sand. Quieter and wilder are Pachia Ammos, a naturist beach in the south reached only on foot, and Avlaki, a pebble cove in the south with hot springs. The full run is set out in the Nisyros beaches guide.
Sights of Nisyros
Beyond the crater, the main sights of Nisyros gather around Mandraki. The town keeps two castles: the Venetian fortress built by the Knights of St John after 1315 on the hill to the west, and the older Kastro a kilometre inland, whose cyclopean walls mark the ancient acropolis. Beside the Venetian fortress stands the Panagia Spiliani monastery, built in 1600 around a cave and the largest on the island. The island also holds a Volcanological Museum at Nikia and an Archaeological Museum in Mandraki, and hot springs at Loutra and Avlaki. These are described in the Nisyros sights guide.
Villages of Nisyros
Nisyros keeps its life in a handful of villages. Mandraki is the capital and port on the west coast, Paloi is a former fishing village on the north coast, and Nikia and Emborios perch on the rim of the caldera with a view straight down into the craters.
Mandraki
Mandraki is the capital and only sizeable town of Nisyros, on the west coast, where all the ferries and the Kos excursion boats dock. It is a charming, picturesque village of whitewashed houses and narrow streets, with a small Venetian fortress on a hill and the Panagia Spiliani monastery beside it. A waterfront boulevard carries terraces and cafes, and behind it runs a maze of small lanes and squares. The travel agencies on the boulevard sell trips to the volcano crater, and buses leave from the town for the crater and the crater-rim villages. Even when the day-boats fill it, Mandraki keeps much of its authentic charm and stays an oasis of calm next to Rhodes or Kos.
Paloi
Paloi, also written Pali, is a former fishing village on the north coast, about 4 km from Mandraki. It sits by a small harbour with a garden and a view over the Aegean, and the nearest sandy beach and the village centre are only a few minutes apart. White Beach and Katsouni, the best beaches on the island, lie close by. Paloi makes a quiet base near the water, with apartments and tavernas, and it is described in the Nisyros hotels & villas guide.
Nikia
Nikia stands on the southern rim of the caldera, 14 km from Mandraki by road, and looks straight down into the volcano. It is a village of whitewashed houses with views over the Aegean, the crater and the mountains, and it holds the Volcanological Museum in a former school beside the square. Below the village, at the coast 450 m lower, lies Avlaki, the old harbour of Nikia, now uninhabited and reached on foot past ruined churches and the monastery of Agios Panteleimonas.
Emborios
Emborios sits on the north rim of the caldera, above Mandraki and Paloi, and shares Nikia's view down into the craters. It is the smaller of the two crater-rim villages and stays very quiet, with a few houses on the edge and hot volcanic steam rising from the ground nearby. From here, as from Nikia, the whole floor of the caldera opens out below.
Where to stay
Accommodation on Nisyros concentrates in Mandraki and at Paloi, with a few self-catering houses at Nikia. Mandraki keeps you within walking distance of the port, the shops and the tavernas, Paloi puts you by a harbour near the best beaches, and Nikia offers self-catering rooms on the crater rim. Compare the options in the Nisyros hotels & villas guide, which covers the island's hotels, apartments and self-catering villas.
Where to eat
Nisyros serves its food mainly in Mandraki and Paloi. Mandraki keeps tavernas and traditional coffee shops along the waterfront boulevard and around the central square, Paloi has harbourside tavernas by the beach, and the crater-rim villages of Nikia and Emborios each hold a village taverna. The dining areas are set out in the Nisyros restaurants guide.
The Nisyros guides
Four guides cover the island in detail. Pick a theme below.
