EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Passing ferries on the Páros-Náxos-Foúrni-Dodecanese line call at the south-coast port and capital of ÁYIOS KÍRYKOS , about 1km southwest of the island's main thermal resort. Because of the spa trade, beds are at a premium in town; arriving in the evening from Sámos, accept any reasonable offers of rooms at the jetty, or - if in a group - proposals of a taxi ride to the north coast, which shouldn't cost more than ¬22 per vehicle to Armenistís. A cream-and-green bus sets out across the island from the main square (summer Mon-Fri only at noon) to Évdhilos, usually changing vehicles there at 1.30pm, for the onward trip to Armenistís.

The baths (daily 8am-1pm) in Thérma are rather old-fashioned stone tubs, with preference given to those under medical care. A better bet for a less formal soak are the more natural, shoreline hot springs at Thérma Lefkádhos , 3km southwest of Áyios Kírykos, below a cluster of villas. Here the seaside spa is derelict, leaving the water to boil up right in the shallows, mixing with the sea between giant volcanic boulders to a pleasant temperature.

A more conventional beach - the largest on the south coast - is found at Fáros , 10km northeast of Áyios Kírykos along a good paved road (which also serves the airport). A considerable colony of summer cottages shelters under tamarisks fringing the mixed sand-and-gravel strand, with a reefy zone to cross before deep water; this rather end-of-the-world place looks across to Foúrni and Thymena, whose beaches (and landscape) it strongly resembles. But the best reason to make the trip out is an excellent, inexpensive and quick-serving fish taverna , Leonidas , with grilled or fried seafood plus bulk wine (excellent, as it usually is on Ikaría), better than anything in Áyios itself and accordingly popular.