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Hotels:
Check with Aegean Thesaurus Travel. It is best to book with an agency if you are planning to go to other islands or need help
with other aspects of travel like ferries, transfers etc because most hotels will be unable to help you. If you
are planning to stay at the Hotel Stavros
or the Hotel Kamari you can contact
them directly through their website and they are very helpful if you have other travel needs since they have an in house travel agency and car rental agency. There are also Villas available through Sarah at the Stavros Hotel
or www.villasofgreece.com
You can find hotels, descriptions, photos and guest reviews and Booking.com's Sifnos page.
See also the hotel page on this website.
Bars:
The Old Captain My hang-out of choice.
Classical music at sunset with a nice view of the bay. It can get wild late at night when people lose their inhibitions.
Featured in the Legend of the Sifnos Monster and Sifnos Basketball. Owned by my pals Tony and Lefteris and run
by Kelly from Oklahoma.
Absynthe: Across from Old Captain and
up the steps. Great place to watch the night-ferry come in while sipping ouzo and absynthe especially after a delicious meal here.
Folie: On the far side of the bay.
Sort of a multi-purpose snackbar, restaurant, bar.
Restaurants:
Kambourakis: Traditional Greek-fare.
The Kambourakis family are fishermen and farmers and grow or catch almost everything they serve. It's my favorite
place for ouzo and mezedes. Good homemade retsina. Also known as "Meropi".
Avra: Another nice spot for ouzo and
octopus.
Simos: Great island cooking. Delicious
lamb mastela an island specialty cooked in traditional clay pot.
Claudios (Duo Porcini): Great Italian restaurant.
Run by Claudio and Paulo. Fantastic Pizzas. Imported and domestic wine. Nice anti-pastos. Nice place for a romantic
evening. Long menu of pastas and sauces, seafood, meat and fish. If you have tired of Greek food come here.
Absynthe: One of the finest restaurants in the western Cyclades with eclectic entrees, wonderful mezedes and a very nice wine list.
There are three more restaurants on the far side of the bay, all very good, one owned by Nikos and the other by
Argiris who used to be one of the village policemen, and the third in the house of Markos the old potter. There
is also a restaurant in the Delfini Hotel.
Cafes:
Stavros Cafe: Breakfast, yogurt
with fruit and nuts, coffee and espresso, ice-cream, ouzo and liquors, beer and sandwiches. (This is where I start
every day).
Boulis: This is the only true zacharoplastion which means literally 'sugarshop'.
They have many different kinds of cakes, cookies and pastries, all made in their bakery next door. They also have
delicious spanakopita (spinach-pie)
and tiropita (cheese-pie). They sereve
coffee and espresso drinks, liquors, ouzo, soft-drinks and beer.
The Old Captain: A hotbed of nightime
activity it's also a great place to come for coffee, breakfast and snacks. Right on the beach too.
Kima: This has been everyones favorite
cafe for years. Run by Kyria Eleni and her two absolutely beautiful daughters it's the kind of place you could
spend the entire day, playing back-gammon, drinking frappes and taking an occasional swim in the sea just a few
meters away. If you are a parent this is not a bad spot to be while the kids play in the sea.
Other Stuff
Bakery
There are 3 bakeries, only one of which sells bread. That's the one
on the back street behind Boulis Zacharoplastion. The small shop that sells tiropita's and bougatsas(like apple
turnovers without the apples), is next to the small platia (square). The best bakery is Boulis next to the
zacaroplastion. It specializes in local cakes, cookies and pastries like the amegtholota. My personal favorites,
made entirely from almonds and sugar.
Swimming: You can go on the long beach.
The water is very shallow and great for kids. You can also swim off the rocks on either side of the bay. There
is a small dock in the area known as Spilia (caves).
For Car and Motorbike Rentals try George Podotas of The Podotas Group from his office next to the church on the main street in the port. Stavros rents cars from the lobby of the Hotel Stavros or you can rent them through their car rental website.
Travel Information about ferry schedules
and accomodations on other islands use Aegean Thesaurus.
Camping at Makis Campground in Kamares. Many facilities including
showers, cafe, shop and plenty of shade. Great place to stay if you are on a budget or backpacking.
Pottery Shops: Adonis Kalogirou, the
world famous potter and Kamaki is certainly the most visable of them but don't forget to go into Podotas Shop just
behind the church. There are several others on the main street and one or two in the back streets. You can't leave
Sifnos without a piece of pottery. Don't worry. There are smaller pieces available then the one Adonis is painting.
See also Sifnos Pottery
There is a supermarket where
you can buy almost anything including pampers, babyfood, batteries, liquor, canned fish, toothpaste etc, run by Apostolis and his wife Moscha, underneath
the Stavros Hotel. There is so much interesting stuff crammed into this little store it is like going to a museum.
Imagine taking your local American or European supermarket and then cramming everything into a store the size of
a two car garage. Pampers and baby food are available.
Cheese Shop: Yiannis Boulis has a cheese and local products shop right before where you get on the ferry. Be sure to stop there and buy a wheel of delicious Sifnos cheese if it is still in business. If not you can get the cheese from Moscha at the supermarket.
Boutique Maria has the latest styles from Paris, Rome, New York, London
and Thessaloniki and is run by Maria, a very nice and engaging woman.
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