Date updated: August 31, 2026
Milos’ north coast includes must-see Sarakiniko along with a couple of other picturesque spots.
Leaving from Plakes, the first stop on our drive was Mandrakia (Μαντράκια), a cute little village with some more of the colorful fisherman’s cabins down near the water. It didn’t look like there was any real beach; it would have been more like getting off the rocks into the water, which was crystal clear.
The next step was Sarakiniko, the high point of the day. It really does look like I’d imagine the surface of the moon.
It’s all white rocks, in all kinds of different formations and textures.
Including caves, one of which Steve fell down in. Scared the crap out of me when he suddenly disappeared. Thankfully it was just a 2-3 foot slope inside the tunnel.
The cliffs looked almost sculpted.
Just a cool place to climb around on the rocks and explore.
There’s also a tiny sand beach where you can get into the water. The swimming is done in a channel in between the rocks. There were lots of other people wandering around the rocks with us including some Instagram folks. (You can tell because they’re not dressed for the beach.)
After leaving Sarakiniko we headed up the coast to Papafragas. That was less exciting but still some interesting caves to look at, some climbing around to do, and some nice views. There’s a fair amount of parking and organization at Sarakiniko. Papafragas is more of a stop on the road with a bus stop and parking on the side of the road.
After Papafragas we went to the end of the road at Pollonia. Another cute little village, kind of touristy, good size parking lot near the beach. It has a nice sandy beach that looked like it would be good for swimming. Had a small area with some loungers and a bigger area with shade under some scattered trees. Lots of restaurants along the waterfront. Many of them didn’t open until 12:30-1:00 so we picked one that was already open when we got there at 12:30 and that didn’t look too fancy because that’s not what we were in the mood for. Steve had chicken souvlaki and I had fried smelt which were about the size of minnows, complete with heads and tails. They were pretty good but not outstanding, Steve’s souvlaki was good.
