Greece - Korina Miller [486]
Additionally, from Pythagorio itself, five daily buses reach the Ireon (€1.40, 15 minutes) while four serve Mytilini (€1.70, 20 minutes). Buy tickets inside. Services are reduced on weekends.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
Pegasus Rent a Car ( 22730 24470, 6972017092; pegasussamos@hotmail.com; Themistoklis Sofouli 5), opposite the port entrance and next to ITSA Travel in Vathy (Samos), offers the best rates on car, jeep and motorcycle hire. International car-hire outlets include Hertz ( 22730 61730; Lykourgou Logotheti 77) and Europcar ( 22730 61522; Lykourgou Logotheti 65).
If in Pythagorio, try John’s Rentals ( 22730 61405; www.johns-rent-a-car.gr; Lykourgou Logotheti).
TAXI
The taxi rank ( 22730 28404) in Vathy (Samos) is by the National Bank of Greece. In Pythagorio the taxi rank ( 22730 61450) is on the waterfront at Lykourgou Logotheti.
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VATHY (SAMOS) ΒΑΘΥ (ΣΑΜΟΣ)
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Vathy (also called Samos) is the island’s capital, and enjoys a striking setting within the fold of a deep bay. As in most Greek port towns, the curving waterfront is lined with bars, cafes and restaurants. However, the historic quarter of Ano Vathy, filled with steep, narrow streets and curious old folk features red-tiled 19th-century hillside houses and some atmospheric tavernas. The town centre boasts two engaging museums and a striking century-old church.
Vathy (Samos) also has two pebble beaches, the best being Gagou Beach (about 1km north of the centre); along the way there, you’ll pass a string of cool night bars clinging to the town’s northeastern cliff side, just before the Pythagoras Hotel, more refined and aesthetically pleasing than the cacophonous waterfront cafes.
Orientation
Facing inland from the ferry terminal, turn right for Plateia Pythagorou on the waterfront, recognisable by its four palm trees and lion statue; this square is partly a wi-fi zone. A little further along, and a block inland, are the leafy municipal gardens. The waterfront road is named after the most illustrious modern Samian, Themistoklis Sofoulis, a pioneering archaeologist and Greek prime minister during the 1946–49 civil war. The bus station is on Ioannou Lekati.
Information
ATM-equipped banks line Plateia Pythagorou and the waterfront. Pythagoras Hotel has computers and wi-fi internet access (€3 per hour).
Diavlos NetCafe ( 22730 22469; Themistokeous Sofouli 160; per hr €4; 8.30am-11.30pm) Internet access.
Municipal tourist office ( 22730 28582) Summer-only office north of Plateia Pythagorou; can find accommodation.
Port police ( 22730 27890)
Post office (Smyrnis)
Samos General Hospital ( 22730 27407) Well-supplied, efficient hospital, opposite Pythagoras Hotel.
Tourist police ( 22730 27980; Themistokleous Sofouli 129)
Sights
Along with the Ano Vathy old quarter, the relaxing municipal gardens and Roditzes and Gagou Beaches, the town’s main attraction is its archaeological museum ( 22730 27469; adult/student €3/2, Sun free; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun, last entry 2.45pm). One of the best in the islands, it contains finds starting from the rule of Polycrates (6th century BC), the most famous being the gargantuan (5.5m) kouros (male statue of the Archaic period), plucked from the Ireon (Sanctuary of Hera) near Pythagorio – the largest standing kouros known. Many other statues, most also from the Ireon, as well as bronze sculptures, stelae and pottery, are also exhibited.
Vathy’s Ecclesiastical Museum (Byzantine Museum; 28 Oktovriou; adult/student €3/2, Sun free; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun, last entry 2.45pm) houses rare manuscripts, liturgical objects of silver and gold, as well as exceptional painted icons dating from the 13th to 19th centuries.
Samos owes some of this holy loot to its status as a bishopric (administering also Ikaria and Fourni) and thus also has some splendid churches, like the Church of