Opening

When I planned my travel to Greece in 1993, I ordered some information from Greek National Tourist organisation office in Sweden. Among other things I got a folder called Greece The Cyclades.

In this folder I found some nice information about the islands and it inspired me to visit Amórgos and Náxos that year.

Some other islands that draw my interest were the Small Cyclades situated between Amórgos and Náxos, among others Iráklia, Schinoússa Koufoníssi and Donoússa. The folder describe these islands as "delightful little islands"…"are the perfect refuge for those in search of some peace and quit". Further more they are described as "virtually virgin islands".

About Donoússa the folder write "has some incomparable stretches of sand".

Those islands seemed to be very exotic to me and in 1997 I decide to go for it and find out for my self!

Map

Where to stay?

If you arrive of season some youth are probably meeting you and offers you a place to stay. Most of the accommodation, taverns and other useful service such as travel agency are found in Stavrós, the village by the port.

When I arrived to Donoússa early Tuesday morning at 1.30, a girl called Maria took care of the six-non Greek travellers and led us through the dark Stavrós night. At the end of the village she offered me a double room with shared bathroom. It was simple but served its purpose and was extremely cheep, only 2000 GRD.

A Swedish couple I met on the island stayed in a nice room in Passion Sofia, which you find after passing the small beach in middle of the village.

I had my meals at the tavern closest to the harbour, Ta Kymata own by Nikitas Markoulis, Marias father I believe. There are about three more taverns to choose among, for instance Passion Sofia that was recommended by my fellow Swedes

What to do?

If you come for search of solitude and peace, I suppose you don’t have any problems with what to do when you find such a place like Donoússa.

What I recommend you to do is to walk around the island on the old donkey paths and enjoy the stillness, the rugged beauty of the barren landscape, the sea-lashed rocks, the little coves along the coastline, which sometimes hide a beautiful sandy beach. One thing though that you must consider; normal physical strength are needed since Donoússa is a rather mountainous island. The highest level is at 383 metres, which is much for such a small island.

I mainly did two longer walks, the first from Stavrós to the village of Kalotarítisa in the North. This is a rather steep path and after about 45 minutes I reached the highest point of the track. This part of the road was very windy, and I was lucky not to loose my cap in the wind. At this level the wind was chilly, so it’s wise to bring some warm clothing to put on, if it’s a windy day.

I stayed at the top-level of the path for a while, admiring the view to the north were I could see Kalotarítisa and a couple of beaches at a distance down by the sea level.

Then I continued down the path towards Kalotarítisa, which I reached about 30 minutes later. Kalotarítisa is a small settlement with a few families, mostly fishermen I believe. It has one tavern that wasn’t opened when I visited late June, or perhaps it’s open for the locals during the evening?

The second walk I did was from Stavrós to the little settlement of Mersiní. I later continued down to the Livádi beach. This path is not quit as steep as the first one I did, but good shoes and much water is recommended! This one takes about 1 hour 45 minutes.

The scenery on this path is absolute wonderful, varying with green-brown hills, small areas of cultivated fields, ravines with tiny streams often dry and sometimes at a distance the blue-green sea. Another nice thing is the strong scent from different herbs you will experience as you walk through the landscape.

Mersiní is a small village mostly inhabitant by farmers. Bring food and water with you cause you will not find any tavern here!

But in a few years you maybe will! The authorities are now building a road for cars between Stavrós and Mersiní. It will of course make it easier for the inhabitants to get supplies, but at the same time there is a risk of more commercialised island. I hope that the development of the tourist trade is made with caution on such a virgin island as Donoússa.

Another path that you can walk is between Mersiní and Kalotarítisa or vice versa. I haven’t done it yet and if you are thinking of doing it, you must walk around the whole island in order to get back to your room in the evening. Be prepared for a 5-6 hours walk.

Beaches

As far as I know there are only good beaches on Donoússa. When you arrive to the island, in daytime that is, you discover the first beach in the village by the port, Stavrós. It’s a sandy beach about 100 metres wide. It may be your choice an early morning if you are in to a morning dip.

Next beach rather close to Stavrós is called Panagia that you reach by a 15-20 minutes walk. Pass the Stavrós beach to the right and walk up towards the lonely house and continue to the right. It’s a nice beach with fine sand with a length of approximately 150 metes. Here you find non-organised camping and most people practice nudism.

Another beach to the east on the south coast is Kéndros. Unfortunately I missed that beach at my visit to the island. The guides are talking about a nice sandy beach. I hope I been able to visit it sometimes! Probably clothing optional.

The beach most far away to the east is Livádi, which is situated below the settlement of Mersiní. It’s certainly a beach you ought to visit. It’s a nice sandy beach about 150 metres wide and you can find some shadow under a couple of trees. It’s a beautiful beach, where you can let the sun caress all of your body.

To the North you find maybe two beaches close to the Kalotarítisa village. I visited the beach closest to the village. It is a sandy beach, perhaps not so nice as the beaches at the south coast. But you can find some shadow to the right beneath some rocks. There was one local visitor a short time on the beach during my stay; otherwise I was completely alone. I suppose you can be nude of season, if you exercise great caution towards the locals.

There is a beach some hundred metres away form the beach closest to Kalotarítisa. It looked nice at a distance, but I didn’t see any place to find protection from the sun. I guess it’s a good choice if you like to have a beach on your own.

Pictures