Kos

The green, low-lying, fertile island of Kos, is one of the 12 Dodecanese islands on the southeast Aegean Sea in Greece. The ‘father of modern medicine', Hippocrates (460-370BC) was born here, and is said to have taught his students under a plane tree, which can still be seen in Kos Town. Today, thanks to its sandy beaches, the island lives from mass tourism. The capital and main port, Kos Town, lies on the east end of the island. Filled with monuments dating back over 3,000 years, it has been occupied by the Romans, Ottoman Turks and Italians. There is a palm-lined seafront promenade, a large yachting marina, a cosmopolitan nightlife and good shopping. A short distance southeast of town, at Psalidi and Fokas, lie the island's most upmarket hotels. Southwest of Kos Town, on the south coast, Kardamena is the island's largest package resort. Once a peaceful fishing village with a long sand beach, since the early 1980s it has developed into a haven for British 18-30s, and is now crammed with English-style pubs and concrete apartment blocks. West of Kardamena, Kefalos is a peaceful, purpose-built resort overlooking a horseshoe bay with excellent beaches nearby. It grew up below the old village and its namesake, made up of whitewashed houses built into the hillside. On the north coast, the low-key resorts of Tingaki and Marmari are especially popular with windsurfers, while the salt marsh that separates them is a haven for migrating birds, including flamingos.

From May through October, Kardamena attracts the British 18-30 hard-drinking party crowd, while Kos Town and Kefalos are more suited to European couples and families with kids. The north coast villages of Tingaki and Marmari are particularly popular with German visitors.

Kos is one of the 12 Dodecanese islands, which lie on the Aegean Sea, close to the west coast of Turkey. The island is served by an airport, which lies 24km (15 miles) southwest of the capital, Kos Town. Kos Town is the island's main ferry port, lying 201 nautical miles southeast of the mainland port of Piraeus, Athens. Kos is a fairly low-lying island - in the north there is a flat plain with a salt marsh, while the south is slightly hillier.

Kos is gifted with lovely sand beaches. Some of the best lie near Kefalos, notably the fine pale-golden sands and shallow waters of Paradise Beach (also known as Bubble beach, due to volcanic gases that rise from the sea bed). In Kardamena, there are two long sandy beaches totalling 6km (4 miles), equipped with sun beds and umbrellas plus good watersports facilities. Kos Town has a rather narrow ‘urban' beach, but there are two well-equipped pebble beaches close by - Lambi, 4km (2.5 miles) to the north and Psalidi, 3km (2 miles) to the south. On the north coast, west of Kos Town, there are beaches at Tingaki (9km/6 miles) and at Marmari (13km/8 miles); these are more exposed to winds and are especially popular with windsurfers. At Tingaki, there is an area reserved for nudists.

The island's chief cultural attractions lie in the capital, Kos Town, and include Hippocrates' plane tree (supported by scaffolding), the 14th-century Castle of the Knights of St John overlooking harbour, and two mosques from the Ottoman period. West of town, on a wooded hillside, lie the ruins of the 4th-century BC Asklepion, a religious sanctuary dedicated to the god of healing. Further west into the hills, the unspoilt rural village of Zia is renowned for its romantic sunsets, and locally produced honey, olive oil and dried herbs. Embros Thermes Beach, south of Kos Town, has a sea pool with natural hot springs (47°C/116°F) creating a Jacuzzi effect. Birdwatchers might spot migrating flamingos on the salt marsh just west of Tingaki.

Kos's sandy beaches and shallow waters are perfect for kids, but if these begin to pall, visit the Lido Water Park (website: www.kos-waterpark.com) on the north coast near Mastihari, with a large wave pool, six giant slides and a lazy river, plus bars and a restaurant. Many of the big hotels catering for package tours offer early-evening kids' clubs and babysitting services.

The best place for shopping on Kos is the capital, Kos Town. Typical souvenirs include sponges, lace, leather goods and ceramics, while the old-fashioned, whitewashed covered market (Mon-Sat) on Eleftheria Square is the best place for fresh fruit and vegetables. Visitors to the rural, hillside village of Zia enjoy purchasing locally-produced honey and dried herbs.

Those in search of cheap alcohol and late-night partying should head for Kardamena, where countless pubs and several nightclubs (the biggest of which is Starlight) cater for the British 18-30 binge-drinking crowd. Kos Town offers a more refined scene, though there are a huddle of noisy, late-night bars on Diakou and Nafklirou, known as the ‘pub streets', plus several clubs with open-air dancing on Akti Zouroudi (the seafront, north of the harbour). In contrast, Kefalos, Tingaki and Marmari are more geared towards dining, sipping cocktails and people watching.

Cosmopolitan Kos Town offers a wide range of Greek and international cuisine. In the low-key seaside resorts of Kefalos, Tingaki and Marmari, traditional Greek tavernas predominate; in contrast, the party town of Kardamena is filled with commercial eateries offering all-day English breakfast, fish and chips, and curries, aimed at young British visitors. For a romantic sunset dinner, head for a taverna in the hillside village of Zia.

The island is served by a good bus network, with regular runs to all the main resorts and beaches. Taxis are cheap by European standards. Being relatively flat, Kos is one of the few islands where bike hire is popular, and it is quite feasible to cycle from Kos Town to the beaches at Fokas or Tingaki.

Daily excursion boats take visitors the nearby islands of Pserimos (good sand and shingle beaches), Nisyros (a dramatic volcanic island) and Kalymnos (renowned for sponge diving). It is also possible to take a day-trip to Bodrum in Turkey. Boats depart from Kos Town, and visitors have plenty of time to explore Bodrum's 15th century portside Castle of St Peter, enjoy a hammam (Turkish bath) and shop in the bazaar.

Treat yourself to a few hours pampering at the luxurious Elixir ThalassoSpa, offering hydrotherapy, massage, aromatherapy, shiatsu, seaweed and sea mud treatments, and sauna. It opened in 2002 and is one of Greece's top spas. You'll find it inside the five-star Grecotel Kos Imperial Hotel (website: www.grecotel.gr), the island's most luxurious hotel, overlooking Psalidi beach.

Kos Airport (KGS)