Things To Do in Kardamena

Kardamena comes up with the goods in terms of local souvenirs. You’ll be able to pick up handcrafted pottery, lace tablecloths and leather items at the shops here. There are a few places to buy designer clothes, too. And if you’re out and about in Kos Town, wander around the back streets and alleyways off Eleftherias Square for little shops selling all sorts of jewellery and holiday mementos.

Kardamena is a great spot for fishing – you can cast your line from the beach or try it from the jetty by the square. There’s also a company in Main Street that does daily fishing trips, leaving at 10am. Apparently some of the seafront restaurants will happily cook you anything you catch for free.

Of course you can do nothing but relax and swim at Kardamena, but if you’re feeling active the watersports centre here has a long list of things to do. Pedalos and canoes are at the more sedate end of things, or you can speed up with water-skiing, jet-bikes and parasailing. As for the more unusual you’ve got the oxoon – a joystick-driven 3-seater – and the Fly Fish, a sort of flying inflatable mattress.

About 10 minutes’ drive inland from Kardamena is the pretty village of Antimachia. Here you can step inside the Greek House, a replica of a 20th-century home which has a fully-furnished bedroom and a baking room with a wooden stove and weaving machine. There’s a lovely old windmill here too, and a few kilometres on takes you to the village’s ruined Medieval castle.

It’s clear from Kardamena’s restaurants that they’re geared up for British tastes, with steak and chips and Chinese on the menus. That said, there are some great traditional places along the seafront too, where you can tuck into authentic moussaka, rabbit stifado and lamb kleftico. Watch how the locals mix oregano and olive oil for a great dip with bread, then follow their lead and order mezes of fried feta, dolmades and meatballs.

This annual festival features a summer-long programme of events to highlight Greek culture. The locals will show you how folk dancing is done, treat you to art exhibitions and put on musical and theatrical performances. You might also like to get a ring-side seat for the cycling and chess competitions held in the town.

Kardamena caters for the Brit crowd and you’ll never be far from a burger on Bar Street. If you fancy something a bit more traditional, though, head down to the modern yet cosy restaurants by the seafront. Menus here deal with freshly-netted fish and shellfish, including Greek specialities like saganaki – prawns cooked in ouzo and feta.

Kardamena’s main square packs in shops selling souvenirs, leather goods and designer clothes. It’s a good place for buying traditional lace tablecloths and bottles of soumada, Kos’s signature drink made from almonds. For essentials and picnicky bits, you’ve got a supermarket here, too – and another one by the bridge at the top of Bar Street.

Avli is set in a pretty courtyard filled with the scent of bougainvillea. Take a seat by the wishing well and order Greek meatballs and stuffed vine leaves from the meze list, then think about whether you’d like the fillet steak, pork shin or beef stew. This is a lovely, family-run place, and when darkness falls they’ll light oil lamps while you mull over the desserts.

The dirt tracks and canyons around Kardamena are top mountain biking territory. You can take a guided ride through olive groves and vineyards towards the Dikeos Mountains and onto the pretty village of Antimachia. It’s a good place to stop for lunch at one of the traditional tavernas and look round the old windmills here.

At this popular harbour-side restaurant, you’ll find a menu packed with Greek classics. You might want to try a bit of everything with the meze, or get straight into the kleftiko – slow-roasted lamb – or beef stamnas, a casserole with mashed potato and cheese. Most people who come here try to leave room for chef Dimitri’s homemade cheesecake.

When it comes to nightlife, Kardamena keeps up a pretty upbeat pace. Bar Street is the main hub for bars offering bingo, karaoke, hypnotists, quizzes and live music, plus clubs that keep everyone going ’til 4am – 6am at weekends – with everything from pop to garage. There is a calmer side to Kardamena, though. Follow the locals into one of the traditional cafeneons and you can watch them playing backgammon while you sip an ouzo or retsina.

In Kardamena, you can’t keep still. Everywhere you go the bars, clubs and discos pump out everything from traditional Greek tunes to contemporary dance tracks. At midnight, they pull the plug on the music on Bar Street so the places on the seafront and harbour take over. At weekends, you can expect to be going ’til 6am.

Free crisps and a view of the harbour make Calypso a bit of a favourite with holidaymakers. It’s a friendly bar, where staff will remember you and the cocktail you had from the night before. They also do great milkshakes – the pistachio one is rather moreish – iced coffee with chocolate ice-cream, and slush puppies that are too good to resist.