Trip to Kos Town

Kos Excursions

Boo S

I have just come back from a 2 week stay with my wife. We stayed in Psalidi on the beautiful island of Kos. We had a great , relaxing holiday. During our stay , we went into Kos town on several occasions and found that there were more migrants each time we visited. These people are doing no more than looking for a safer , better existence and did not bother anybody who passed them by.

I would like to say to anybody who is reluctant to go to Kos because of the influx of migrants , just go. These people do not bother anybody , if tourists stop visiting Kos , in time , it will no longer exist as a tourist attraction. I , for one , would be devastated. We have now visited Kos on 5 separate occasions. Go to Kos.

Diane P

Kos Town is very pretty but I would say the best time to visit if possible is the evening when it is much cooler.  We have just returned from two weeks staying in Tingaki and Kos Town was only a 20 minute bus ride from us.  We went into Kos Town late afternoon had a good look around and had a lovely meal there.  We caught the 10 o'clock bus back to Tingaki.

Chris and ruth P           

Great day out to Kos Town. Such a varied amount of things to see and do. Did the trip with Asklipios Tours from Kefalos.

Found though that the bus service to Kardemena had been stopped so it was a 25 Euro each way taxi ride. Will hire a buggy next year.

Kristina H           

kos town is a nice place to visit, it has shops bars and resturants, not cheap but not expensive. i wuld suggest not to go to kos as part as a trip go on th bus which i cheaper, only 2.30 euros return. the castle is nice there and the oldest tree in the world i also there looks nice but seems dead lol. not bad for a day outbut nothink special.

Karen T           

Kos Town was very pleasing to us all.  We enjoyed walking around the shops, sitting outside the bars in the old town watching the world go by.  It's a beatiful place to sit in one of the harbour cafe's and people watch.  It is well worth having a trip on the little train as it takes you to areas that you probably wouldn't visit otherwise.  We had a fantastic meal in the old town in an Italian restaurant,  I think the name of it was 8 1/2, it was opposite a bar on a corner which a lot of the young greek people used.  Plenty to see and do here, I found the waiters a bit of a pain trying to pull you into their restaurants however you have to learn to ignore them or say no thank you and just keep walking. 

Ross E           

I thought Kos Town was fantastic. We stayed nearby for two weeks and were still discovering new tavernas and shops on our last night. The beaches aren't the best, but are fine for sunbathing and the water is clean and clear with a great view of Turkey.

Very pretty. Lots of flower gardens, shops, history and places to eat and drink.

Martin & esther S           

We travelled to Kos Town by our hire car, and combined it with a evening sunset visit to Zia Mountain Village (for a family of 4 this is cheaper than booking the excursions). Kosmar were charging 12 Euros per person. The local bus from Kefalos is 5.60 Euro return (dep. 07:30/10:00/11:00, ret. 14:30/16:30/21:00), but beware taking the last bus, which does not always materialise and then it’s a very expensive taxi ride. You can park for free next to the Casa Romana, off Grigoriou E’
We were really impressed with Kos Town and would definitely recommend it as a day trip to anyone staying elsewhere on the Island. There are loads of restaurants and interesting small boutique type shops to browse for hours on end. The harbour is interesting to see all the boats; some are replica wooden sailing ships that run trips to Turkey or the popular ‘3 Island Tour’. From here you can see clearly across to Turkey. We were told that Kos is having problems with illegal immigrants from Turkey, which include the begging children who roam about and are very pushy (we saw them but they never approached us or bothered us).
There are several sites of historical remains in the Town, including the columnar remains of the Basilica A which date back to the 5th Century. In Britain, these would be fenced off and protected, but this being Greece you are free to scramble about all over them!
It’s best to shop around as identical items vary in price from shop to shop. By the time we had left at 4:30pm, things had gone pretty quiet.

Lorraine C           

worth a visit to the shops and restaurants for the afternoon. originally we booked the trip with a local company called harriet travel - 7E (each). Despite arriving on time the coach did not turn up. after waiting the staff stated the coach left early. along with another disapointed couple, we received a refund and checked out the price for the local bus. This was only 4E (each, return). Duration to kos from kardamena - 45 mins.

L D           

The only thing we would say is the shopping trip to Kos Town - there should be a little warning as the coach goes up the mountain, and part of the road has no barriers. A bit scary. Our coach went silent when the coach was working slowly up the mountain road.
If your not too good with heights, then maybe keep your eyes shut, or just query the route the coach takes on the way to Kos Town.
14 euros each for the coach - the streets and shops are very nice.
Excellent place if you love jewellery.

Marie J           

Went to Kos Town on the local bus for 1.90 euro each. Used a map bought for 1 euro and found our way about no problem. The ruins were interesting to look at, the Castle was ok but not worth 3 euros no info about to tell you anything, Hippocrates tree was old and the town itself was interesting to wander through. We even found the Macdonald's. There was a down side to the trip though as the beggers were in your face as soon as we got off the bus.

Nicola W           

We went with Asklipios tours which charged 5euros compared to the Kosmar price of 12euros for the same thing. Enjoyed wandering round the tiny streets and relaxing in a cafe down one of these streets. Varying prices so shop around, big diffences for the same things.

Alan R           

KOS TOWN WAS GOOD ENJOYED IT MAINLY FOR THE SHOPPING AND JUST THE WALKING ABOUT LOOKING AT ALL THE OLD RUINS.. THATS WORTH IT EVEN FOR TAKING GOOD PICS ON HOLIDAY. ONLY DOWN SIDE IS THE PUSHY TAVERNERS ASKING EVERY 5 MINS TO COME SIT DOWN AND DRINK AND EAT. BUT ALL IN ALL YOU HAVE TO GO VIST THE PLACE IS YOU WANT YOUR TOWN RUSH OR SOME REALLY GOOD SHOPS AND DON'T ALWAYS BUY RIGHT AWAY IN ONE SHOP THERE IS PLENTY OF THE SAME THINGS AT LOWER PRICES

Orla            

We used the local bus service from Kardamena which is only €2 and much better than forking out to a travel company or your reps. Someone said to us that the service isn't that reliabel but we had no problems. The buses aren't that frequent and are punctual so make sure you're early so you don't miss it! Kos town has much more than Kardamena - shops, sites to see etc. Turkey is very close you can see it clearly from Kos Town Harbour. We had a good day there and it's certainly worth a visit.

John R           

Really enjoyed our day in Kos.

H P           

I stayed just 10 minutes from Kos Town and it was nice to be close to the action. There are a lot of bars for young people but they were fairly quiet in October. The shops were ok but not great. There is a fair bit of jewellery but they tend to believe the bigger the better when it comes to earings and necklaces. I found one lovely cake shop and some other nice, reasonable priced restaurants. Tried to avoid the tacky fast food type, greasy spoon places overlooking the harbour as much as possible.

The Knights of St. Johns castle was worth seeing. Some of the roman ruins were better than others but nice to wander around in good weather.

Natalie S           

It had various lovely ruins, especially the St. John. One could see Turkey fom tthe castle. If you want to go, we would reccommend the bus as it is 2.80 euros one way, but make sure you ask the conductor and driver their schedule for the day as they left us stranded at Paradise Beach waiting on them for three hours when they did not bother to come down to the beach as they advertised! The shopping in Kos Town is not that great..nothing special..a few fake brands and the waiters were a bit pushy competing for your custom. overall it is pretty much for site seeing but not woth paying a tour company for taking you there

Keith B           

We travelled to Kos Town from Kefalos on the local bus (2.80 Euros - one way) which took about 45 minutes. Another couple in our apartments used an excursion which took about 1hr 20 mins because it detoured to other resorts to pick up people from their apartments on the way.

Kos was quite pleasant and interesting and made a good day out, athough we found in general that the restaurant owners etc were a lot less friendly than in Kefalos.

Karen L           

we got a coach to kos town via our travel reps ( golden sun ) from kefalos. we only really went on the trip because it was cheap and we were keen to visit as many places as possible, but we had a lovely day. We had a little trouble finding all of the shops at first ( we went the wrong way! ) but eventually found all of the little back streets which were very pretty and all seemed to lead onto eachother. we did get a bit lost once or twice but ended up sopmewhere we recognised after a while! we were also interested in the history of kos. there are a lot of historical sites around, we explored the ancient agora, and enjoyed this as much as shopping in kos. we could have done with having a map of kos town before our visit tho. after we realised that there was a lot more to see then we realised.

Andy F           

Got the 4 euro return bus. Had a good walk round, went for a walk round the old castle & then the shops. A nice place to go.
It wasnn't planned, but ended up to be a really good day out - I found the castle interesting with good views etc too.

Lisa W           

Went to Kos town on the local bus which cost 2 Euros each one way. Took about 40 mins. Bus dumped you at bus stop in the middle of no where. Wandered around for ages trying to find everything but what we did find wasn't that great. Crappy tourist shops, boring historical sites and not much of a beach. Too spread out, Kardamena is compact, with everything you need at your fingertips!

Jason H           

We went by bus into Kos Town from Tingaki, it cost €1.30 each way and the bus station in Kos Town is right near the old town. There was the usual array of shops geared at the tourist, your chance to buy Rolex and other fakes. A wide range of places to eat all vying for your trade but we didn't feel preassurised by anyone to eat there. There is plenty to see and do and it can be done in a day (or 2 if your girlfriend has forgotten her Mum's present). It is gently sloping for those that are not too energetic on their feet and all sights can be reached by foot.

Andy D           

Take a trip if you like to see a bit of the history of the island. Down at harbour, check out the "cat sanctuary" under the big tree, if you ask the guy nicely, he'll let you go in and have a closer look. Well worth a day out.

Donna ?           

I only went for the holiday pressy's but there was a good selection of shops and things were pretty cheap (MID OCT) Next time i'd like to have a proper look at whats to offer. We got there by boat from Kardamena..it was very windy but the view was worth it. Although it took about 2hr's!

Rachel S           

Did not go with any excursion, which im quite pleased about. Kos town is very 'touristy', loads of tacky tourist shops and lots of taverna with pushy waiters in. I am glad I did not choose a hotel here. Worth visiting as there are a few nice sites. Not much of beach, very built up. So many little roads and sidewalks with litte shops, it is very easy to get lost!!! Kos Town is ideal if you want to club all night and sleep all day.

J H           

As with most trips in Kos, do this independantly. Then you can go where you want and do what you want. Keep your eye on the time though - you don't want to miss the bus back!