The Chora of Ano Koufonisi is a lovely Cycladic village with some restaurants, elegant shops and galleries as well as a few bars. The best bar with rock and disco music from the 80's is Scholeio (=school), while in the middle of the main street, Koufochorio is a charming café-bar with cocktails and rakomelo (warmed raki with honey), where you can meet new people and become with them a company because all the youngsters of the island gather there at night. On the other side of the port, Sorokos bar is a very romantic bar by the sea with modern cocktails in an exotic scenery, while at the top of the hill, the bar in the windmill is the ultimate spot to spend unique moments with your other half enjoying the sunset and the perfect view. If you want to have fun, these bars play loud music after midnight, so after relaxation, there is always the possibility to drink and dance. In Koufonissia, you will meet mainly young people, couples, alternative families and group of happy friends.
The beaches
What will amaze you in Ano Koufonisi are its beaches, which are located within walking distance from the port and Chora because Koufonisi is a very small island, so you don't need a car. If you don't want to walk, you can rent a bike, take the bus (only 5 minutes to Pori, the remotest beach) or the boat.
For me, the beaches were exactly what I was looking for. Cozy bays with golden soft sand and the same azure waters I have noticed in the port. On the island, there were no taxis and car rentals, so I had to walk to the beaches or to take the traditional caique, which every hour went to the beaches playing loud Greek folk music in a funny atmosphere. The first day, I decided to walk, and within only 15 minutes from the port, I reached the first beach, Foinikas. Before that, I have admired a wonderful coastline with caves, impressive rocks and crystal clear waters creating a natural pool. The route to Foinikas didn't tire me at all! Foinikas is a gorgeous cove with some trees and a tavern. Near Foinikas, is located the beach of Fanos with a beach bar, where you can drink, eat and listen to the lounge music, which makes you really enjoy your holidays. Near Fanos, the unorganised beach of Italida. You can walk and decide where you want to sunbathe and swim, or you can spend your day on the three beaches, so close they are to each other. They look like each other, and they have one asset in common: the astonishing waters that make you feel being in an oasis.
On the road to the remotest (only 2 km from the port!) beach of the island, Pori, you will meet Pisines (=pools), some caves and rocks that remind of a pool thanks to their formations and the colour of the waters.
Pori
To Pori, I took the boat to go there, and I really enjoyed the route that lasts 15 minutes. Pori is the best beach of Koufonisi an impressively beautiful long sandy bay with calm azure waters, exactly like swimming in the Caribbean Sea. I have never been in Caribbean, so maybe Pori is even better! On the one side, the beach is perfect for sunbathing and swimming, and on the other northern side, the waves create a wild scenery with rocks and landscape like being in a desert. One beach bar and an elegant restaurant are perfectly combined with the natural setting, and you can literally spend there the whole day, admiring the beauty of Pori and forgetting everything else.
In Pori, the best asset is the beach restaurant Kalofeggo, a small, modern restaurant in Mexican style with delicious creative Greek cuisine in an elegant atmosphere, where I spent the best moments of my vacation.
Near Pori, I have discovered an astonishing small beach inside a cave, whose white waters due to the foams of the waves gave it the name Gala, which means milk. It is located only 5 minutes on foot from Pori, and you have to climb on the top of a hill to find it. From the top of the hill, the view of the Aegean Sea is just breathtaking. The route on the wild rocks with the magnificent view is just an experience, which can't be described by words.