Rent a car in Kimolos from the experts.
Kimolos is a small island of the western Cyclades, across a narrow channel from Milos, the neighbouring island that this site covers. A rent a car Kimolos plan suits that scale, because one port, one hill village and a short network of roads hold the island together. This page sets out the island first and then Psathi and Chorio, where the plan begins.
The layout is simple to read. Psathi is the port, Chorio stands on the hill above it, and the smaller settlements are spread around the island. A rent a car Kimolos plan has to respect that layout, the narrow lanes of the old village and the mix of asphalt and country road. Beaches and sights by car come in the later sections.
How does rent a car Kimolos work at a glance?
A rent a car Kimolos plan suits an island with one asphalt road, from Fikiada to Agios Minas, and country roads elsewhere, easy to drive in places and 4×4 only in others. Wheeled vehicles are allowed across the island, and a fuel station stands at Agios Nikolas.
Kimolos is a single inhabited island, but the municipality that carries its name is larger. The municipality covers 53.251 square kilometres, because it also holds the uninhabited islands of Polyaigos, Agios Efstathios and Agios Georgios. A rent a car Kimolos plan therefore deals with one island and one road network. The sea link from Pollonia on Milos ends at Psathi, and Psathi is the place where the rental listings of the island sit.
The road network follows a clear pattern. An asphalt road runs from Fikiada to Agios Minas, and the rest of the network consists of country roads. Leaving Chorio by the southern exit, the asphalt road to Prasa passes the fork towards Goupa and then the fishing harbour of Agios Nikolas. Other roads suit only 4×4 vehicles, and a rent a car Kimolos driver therefore treats the asphalt as the main line and the country roads as branches.
All wheeled vehicles are permitted on the island, and common kinds of fuel are available at the local fuel station. The one exception is a part of Chorio that is closed to traffic in the evening hours of the main tourist season. The lack of parking space is the main problem of the summer months in populated areas such as Chorio and Psathi. A rent a car Kimolos driver parks once in each place and continues on foot.
The island has a bus with scheduled routes and one taxi. The bus covers the route from Chorio, the port and the beaches, so it replaces a car on those lines. Dozens of rural paths lead to any point of the island, and the altitude differences are very small, which makes walking easy. A rent a car Kimolos plan adds choice, because the bus follows fixed routes and the island has a single taxi.
The settlements are spread around the island. Besides Chorio and the port, the island lists Goupa, Kara, Prasa, Aliki, Bonatsa and Dekas. Hotels, rooms to let and apartments stand at Chorio, Psathi, Aliki, Kalamitsi, Bonatsa and Prasa. Food, drink and coffee are on offer at Prasa, Psathi, Steda, Aliki and Kalamitsi. The island also has a regional clinic, a police station and a primary school. A rent a car Kimolos day links these places on the driver’s own schedule.
- Road: Asphalt runs from Fikiada to Agios Minas, and country roads cover the rest.
- Rules: Wheeled vehicles are permitted on the island, apart from a part of Chorio closed in summer evenings.
- Rentals: Every rent a car Kimolos listing for cars and motorbikes gives Psathi as its location.
- Transport: A scheduled bus and one taxi serve the island.
- Parking: Space runs short in Chorio and Psathi during the summer months.
A rent a car Kimolos plan works because the island is small and its main road is easy to follow. One asphalt road, a fuel station, a bus and a single taxi cover the basics, while a car or scooter reaches the separate settlements and the country roads between them. Parking stays tight in summer, so each stop begins on foot. Psathi and Chorio form the base for the whole plan, and they come next.
How does rent a car Kimolos start at Psathi and Chorio?
A rent a car Kimolos plan starts at Psathi, the port, and continues up to Chorio, the capital, where the medieval Kastro stands. Inside the Kastro, the lane between the two rows of houses was so narrow that only small carts passed.
Psathi is the harbour settlement of Kimolos. It appears as a separate settlement for the first time in 1971, and before the Kallikratis reform it belonged to the community of Kimolos. The census of 2011 counted 19 residents there. The harbour keeps slipways carved into the rock, which the islanders call syrmata. A rent a car Kimolos day begins in this corner of the island, with the sea on one side and the road up to the village on the other.
Psathi carries the practical services: gift shops, an ATM and the listings of the cars and motorbikes for hire. A short road climbs to Chorio. On the way stands the dominating building of a nursery home, linked to a benefactor of the island. The fuel station stands further along the asphalt road, at Agios Nikolas, beyond the southern exit of Chorio. A rent a car Kimolos driver finds a post office, a pharmacy, bakeries and cafes in Chorio.
Chorio is built on the foothills of Xaplovouni and divides into an older and a newer part. Palio Chorio gathers around the Kastro, while Neo Chorio holds the later quarters, among them Mizithrou, Xeropigada, Theoskepasti and Agios Charalampos. Another reading splits the village into Mesa Kastro, built around the original core with domes and arches, and Exo Kastro, with square and austere buildings. A rent a car Kimolos driver sees the houses grow older as the road nears the walls.
The medieval Kastro dates from the 14th or the 16th century and has a square shape. It consists of two house complexes, one inside the other, and a small series of houses at the centre beside a small square and the Church of the Birth of Christ. The 123 two-storey houses were built of the hard rock of the area, with decorative details of limestone, and each hosted one family upstairs and another on the ground floor.
The inner Kastro lies in ruins, while the outer ring is a row of houses whose outer walls once formed the defence. A lot of the houses had lintels with coats of arms and dates. The Lower Gate faces south, and the Upper Gate on the eastern side stands beside the Folklore and Maritime Museum. Dates of 1646 and 1650 mark repairs that followed the pirate attack of 1638, when fire struck the Kastro and more towers were added.
- Port: Psathi has carved slipways and counted 19 residents at the 2011 census.
- Village: Chorio rises on the foothills of Xaplovouni, and a rent a car Kimolos driver finds an older and a newer part.
- Squares: Chorio has no great central square, only smaller ones such as Theoskepasti, Giorgila with its well and Kambos with the playground.
- Kastro: A medieval square core of 123 two-storey houses has two gates and a ruined inner part.
- Museum: The Folklore and Maritime Museum, beside the Upper Gate, shows embroidery and weaving made by island housewives.
Psathi and Chorio give the rent a car Kimolos plan its two fixed points: a port with the services and the rental listings, and a hill village with a walled core. The vehicle covers the road between them, and the lanes of the Kastro are covered on foot. Squares, lanes, gates and the museum by the Upper Gate fill the village visit. From here the island opens to its beaches and sights, which the next section follows by road.
Which beaches and sights does a rent a car Kimolos trip reach?
A rent a car Kimolos trip reaches Prasa, Aliki and Bonatsa by road, and the mushroom-shaped rock of Skiadi by road plus a signed path. Prasa lies on the asphalt road from Chorio. Aliki and Bonatsa lie south-west of Chorio, along thrift and lentisk.
Prasa is the first beach stop on a rent a car Kimolos route, because an asphalt road leaves the southern exit of Chorio and runs on to the settlement of Prasa. The beach has white, thick sand, both in the water and on the shore, and turquoise water. Above it, the promontory of Agios Georgios gives a view of the caves of the Mediterranean seal. The area where bentonite was mined lies a short distance from there.
Aliki and Bonatsa lie in a south-west direction from Chorio, along long stretches of thrift and lentisk bushes. The water is shallow and clean at both beaches. Apart from Psathi, no beach on the island is more popular, and Kalamitsi lies in the same direction. In spring, nature around Aliki shows colour and scent at every step. A rent a car Kimolos route covers all three beaches in one direction, so the car makes a single trip along that coast.
Skiadi stands in the north-west of Kimolos, west of the height called Sklavos, in the middle of a barren plateau. The people of the island call this huge stone mushroom Skiadi. Wind carries dust and sand grains that wear away the softer rock at the base, so the base grows narrower while the harder top stays almost intact. The plateau overlooks the south-western and western coasts, including Ellinika, Mavrospilia and Athinia, and a large part of Milos. Skiadi serves as the trademark of the island.
A rent a car Kimolos driver reaches Skiadi on a circular road that starts and ends at Chorio. The course runs through Lebounia and Xevri to the outer and the inner church of Profitis Ilias. Between the two churches the car stops, and a traditional path marked with arrows leads to the rock on foot. A second course leaves Chorio for Agios Minas, the only asphalted part of the circle, passes the inner Profitis Ilias and meets the same path as the first course.
Roadside stops add to a rent a car Kimolos day. A cistern stands at Xemvri on the way to Skiadi, before the church of Agioi Anargiroi. At the southern exit of Chorio lies the fishing settlement of Goupa, where the sirmata, caves carved in smooth rock, hold the boats. At Kalamitsi, a figure carved in the rock is the work of an anonymous artist. The half-sunken cave at Vromolimno is open to visitors. Kimolos looks different from the water on the kayak route from Psathi.
- Prasa: White, thick sand and turquoise water, with baths at the entrance of the settlement and a canteen on the beach.
- Aliki: Pebbles and sand, with a lake at the beach that hosts migrating birds in spring.
- Bonatsa: Sand and shallow water, with a canteen on the beach.
- Kalamitsi: A double beach of pebbles and sand, in the same south-west direction from Chorio.
- Skiadi: A rare monument, and part of the Atlas of Geological Monuments of the Aegean.
A rent a car Kimolos day links the asphalt road to Prasa, the south-west beaches of Aliki and Bonatsa, and the circular road to Skiadi. The walk from the churches to the rock needs water, a cap and sun lotion in summer, together with long trousers and shoes suitable for long walks. The road ends where the path begins, and the last part of the visit is on foot. The ruined citadel at Paliokastro lies in the interior.
What do travellers ask about rent a car Kimolos?
Rent a car Kimolos questions cover roads, parking, fuel, scooters and the beaches a car reaches. Vehicles are allowed across the island, an asphalt road runs from Fikiada to Agios Minas, and country roads carry the rest. A bus and one taxi also serve the popular beaches.
Which roads does a rent a car Kimolos driver meet?
An asphalt road runs from Fikiada to Agios Minas, and the rest of the road network consists of country roads. Country roads split into easily accessible ones and ones suited only to 4×4 vehicles. A driver on a rent a car Kimolos route therefore matches the vehicle to the road before leaving the asphalt.
Where does a rent a car Kimolos driver park in summer?
Parking space is the main problem in summer in the populated areas, above all in Chorio and the port of Psathi. Vehicles are allowed everywhere on the island, but in the main tourist season a part of Chorio becomes pedestrian in the evening, so the car waits outside that part and the driver continues on foot.
Where does a rent a car Kimolos driver find fuel?
A gas station stands at Agios Nikolas, a small fishing harbour on the asphalt road that leaves the southern exit of Chorio for Prasa, just after the fork towards Goupa. The station sells the common kinds of fuel, so a car or a scooter fills up there before the country roads begin.
How does the island bus compare with rent a car Kimolos?
A bus with scheduled trips covers the route between Chorio, the port and the beaches, and one taxi also operates. Both serve the popular beaches on fixed lines. A rent a car Kimolos plan adds the country roads, the circular road to Skiadi and stops chosen by the driver along the way.
Does rent a car Kimolos include scooters and bikes?
The island directory lists car, moto and bike rental under one heading, so scooters and bikes belong to the same search as cars. Wheeled vehicles are allowed across the island. The asphalt stretches and the easily accessible country roads fit a scooter or a motorbike, and roads suited only to 4×4 do not.
Which northern beaches does a rent a car Kimolos route include?
Driving from Chorio to the east and north reaches Rema, Karas, Klima, Prasa and Monastiria. Rema is a natural swimming pool near Chorio, beside Goupa, Karas suits dives, and Klima has large pebbles and shade from thrift. Monastiria is open to the north wind, so a walk leads to the leeward beach of Soufi.
Which sites does rent a car Kimolos reach on a dirt road?
The route to Dekas, Ellinika and Mavrospilia follows a country road, a dirt road. At Ellinika the ancient city of the island lies sunk in shallow water, and tombs from the Mycenaean to the Hellenistic period stand on the beach. Aspragremna suits artistic photographs and offers a sunset, and observant visitors find fossils of sea organisms.
Which walking route joins rent a car Kimolos to Skiadi?
Walking route 2 runs from Chorio past Skiadi to Mavrospilia beach, easy up to Skiadi and medium after it. All paths are signposted at their start and waymarked with numbered markers. A driver who leaves the car near the churches follows the signs and reaches places that a car cannot reach.