Halki Island Greece
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender. Ships anchor off Emborio, the island's only village, also called Nimborio, and you land in the middle of an amphitheatre of ochre, yellow and pink neoclassical houses.
Six kilometres west of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese. From the windmills lined up on the ridge above the village, the view takes in the harbour and the channel separating the island from Rhodes.
A loop of the harbour in a few minutes, the church of Agios Nikolaos, a climb to the windmills, then Pontamos beach and a fish lunch. Nothing is more than half an hour's walk away.
The hands on the town hall tower have shown the same time for over twenty years, and nobody seems in a hurry to fix it. It has become the accidental symbol of an island UNESCO named an island of peace and friendship.
Because the village was built when sponge diving made the island's families wealthy. The captains raised these tall houses with their careful pediments, giving the harbour its air of a small Aegean Italy.
Yes, Pontamos, the main beach, is about ten minutes' walk west: a cove of pale sand with shallow water that suits families. Ftenagia, fifteen minutes south, offers rock platforms and unusually clear water.
Yes, but the effort is real: the climb goes on foot up a stony path from near Pontamos to the walls raised in the fourteenth century above the ruined village of Chorio. Good shoes and water in reserve.
The Aegean as far as the eye can see, the coast of Rhodes and, on a clear day, the hills of Anatolia. The walls can be explored freely, among the dry grass.
Very much so for a quiet call. The village is flat, Pontamos has shallow water, and the walk back to the ship never takes more than half an hour. Only the castle climb needs good legs.
The euro and Greek. The island is tiny and lives at its own pace: bring cash. English is spoken in the harbour tavernas, which serve the morning's fish and local prawns.
