It's a Greek Island Adventure Week!

Spend a week with OutdoorLads exploring the incredible Greek island of Kos!

ITINERARY & COSTS - All attendees must make their own flight & travel arrangements to Kos.  Attendees will also need to cover the cost of the accommodation and any food / drinks.

• There are a maximum of 30 beds at Mina's; I can increase the total number of attendees, but any above 30 will be in a nearby hotel (for a similar price).

Please hold off booking your airfare until after the holidays as the flight schedules are not completely out yet.  If you need to book a day or two before or after that is no problem; just let me know and I can work things out with Mina!

Located in the southeastern Aegean Sea, Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese chain.  The three main towns are Kos Town, Kefalos and Kardamena (which will be our base) and are filled with wonderful restaurants, bars and shops.  Additionally there are numerous beaches around the island, ancient ruins (the island is home to Hippocrates), beautiful Orthodox churches, amazing wines and of course baklava and galaktoboureko!

The many beaches include sandy stretches with sun loungers and bars, rocky, secluded, thermal and even a naturist one!  At the beautiful Agios Stefanos (one of the pictures below) you can swim out to the tiny islet of Kastri to visit the still-standing 4th century paleo-Christian church.  Therma Beach consists of a natural hot springs feeding into the Aegean, and water temperatures can reach up to 50 degrees!  Polemi Beach is the naturist (or "textile optional") beach located in a secluded cove along the central southern coast.

Our accommodation for the week will be Mina Studios, located in the heart of Kardamena.  All rooms are fully en-suite, with a small kitchen (with kettle, fridge, 2 burner electric stove) and balcony or patio.  Beds can be almost any arrangement - up to 3 twins, 2 twins, or 1 double and 1 twin.  Rooms are €55 per room per night (not per person) and can be paid to Mina directly prior to arrival (bank details to be provided later in private messages).  Mina's is located less than a 10 minute walk from the main beach and town square, where great bars and restaurants are numerous!  There are also two good sized grocery stores within 10 minutes.

It is strongly recommended that everyone secure their own travel insurance, to include any sports activities you may wish to enjoy.

01 May - Arrival Day for most:

• Kos Airport (code KGS) is served nonstop by the following airlines: EasyJet (Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick), British Airways (London Gatwick), Jet2 (Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle), and Tui (Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, London Gatwick, London Luton,  Manchester, Newcastle).
• I will already be at Mina's so will arrange airport pick-up's based on everyone's arrival times.

02 May - Arrival day for some:

• As some are arriving today, those of us already in Kos will do a short morning walk.
  • Airport pick-ups will be arranged according to the flight arrival times.
• Of course if you prefer to enjoy the beach that is perfectly fine too!

03 May:

• We have several options today!  Should you wish to stay in town you can:
  • Explore the island on your own.  Options in Kardamena include hiring a scooter (from €45 per day), quad bike (from €85 per day), stand-up paddleboard ( €20 for 60 minutes) or a jet ski (€60 for 15 minutes).  Consider parasailing (€60 for 10 minutes), or grab your passport, go to Kos Town and sail 20 minutes across the strait to Bodrum, Turkey (roughly €20-€40 return).  Or just spend the entire day on the beach drinking Greek coffee and enjoying the sun! 
    • All participants must not engage in any activity which is likely to compromise their safety or the safety of any other person.
    • OutdoorLads accepts no liability for any activities booked independently.  
• For those that want to get out and explore, we can enjoy this little "leg-stretcher" hike of just under 9km, starting right in Kardamena.  A flat start along the beach leads to a 20% uphill grade at about 4.5km to beautiful views back toward town.  From the turning point there is a short, steep (18%) downhill grade crossing scrubland back into town.  We will return in plenty of time for the afternoon at the beach, before enjoying a wonderul dinner back at Mina's.
  • You will need water and snacks which we can get at one of the shops along the beach.

04 May:

• After yesterday's free day, we tackle a 16.5km hike from the beach up to Plaka Forest, along the airport ring road and back down to the beach.
• The forest of Plaka is full of tall pines, cooling streams and dozens of freely roaming peacocks!  Oh and a few stray cats to keep everyone in line!
• As with yesterday, food, water and snacks will need to be brought along.

05 May:

• As this is meant to be a relaxing week, today is another free day!  There are plenty of options for short hikes around the area if we are so inclined, but there are also pools, waterparks and more beaches!

06 May:

• This morning we will board the 09.30 "Captain Dimitris" from Kardamena harbour for the 20 minute crossing to Nisyros (roughly €20 return) and the harbour town of Mandraki.  From the dock we will hike up to the Evaggelistria Monastery and back (the linked map only shows the return route, but it will be "up and back").
• We will need to be back at the dock no later than 16.00 to catch the last ferry back.  This shouldn't be too much of a problem, as the hike is about 8km round trip.

07 May:

• Someone has a birthday today so we will come up with a special way to celebrate!!!  More details will be posted here as we get closer to the day.

08 May - Departure Day (for some)

• Sadly for some of us the Greek adventure comes to an end today.  Transfers to the airport will be arranged accordingly.
  • However as most departing flights are late evening we will come up with an activity for everyone.

09 May - Departure Day (for others)

• As with yesterday, transfers to the airport will be arranged according to your flight departure time (allowing plenty of time for Customs clearance and last minute shopping.

Should you wish to stay longer on this island paradise I can provide Mina's contact details privately.  The "official" ODL event will end on Thursday 08 May.

IMPORTANT! - Participation Statement

You MUST complete a Participation Statement, in addition to booking your event space before attending an OutdoorLads event. You only need to complete this Participation Statement once, not for each event you attend. 

Photo Credits: All photos taken by OutdoorLads Members and permission is granted to OutdoorLads for further use.