The climb from the harbour road · Kástro · 96 steps
Chrysopigí, Sífnos — kept by the Marínos family, third generation
Nine rooms in a walled garden of lemon, fig and olive, 42 metres above the water at Chrysopigí. 210 metres to the rocks. Open April 18 — October 26.
Since 1954
Nine, no two alike
3 rooms of this kind
The oldest room in the house, and the coolest. Its door opens straight onto the fig terrace, which means you will hear the first person up.
3 rooms of this kind
Two windows, both west. The olives below it were old when the house was young, and at seven in the evening the whole room turns the colour of them.
2 rooms of this kind
The corner room, with the open sea on three sides and a terrace of its own. When the meltémi gets up in August you will know about it, which some people come for.
1 room of this kind
Detached, at the foot of the garden, with its own gate onto the path. Rebuilt in 2011 from the stones that fell out of it. The only room we will take a dog in.
On all nine
Every room is different because the house was never designed, only added to. None of them have a television. None of the doors have keys — there is one for the front gate, on a hook, and nobody has ever used it.
One sitting, 20:30
María cooks what the garden and the Kamáres boat gave her that morning, and she cooks it once. There is no choosing and there is no second service. If you want to eat, say so at breakfast and a seat is yours; if you do not, nobody will mention it. The bread comes up from Apollonía at six.
The sitting
365 chapels
Sífnos is 74 square kilometres, most of it walked rather than driven. There are said to be 365 chapels, which nobody has ever finished counting, and 240 kilometres of stone footpath, which somebody has.
01
4.2 kmon foot
Chrysopigí to Fáros along the water, over the neck of the rock. Two hours if you stop, which you will. Go before nine or after six.
02
0 minby car
Clay has been thrown on this island for five thousand years and there are still four workshops doing it by hand. Ring first; they are not a shop.
03
09:30daily
The boat leaves Kamáres and comes back at five. A bay with a monastery, a beach, and nothing else at all. Take water.
Whole house, 26 beds
Twice a year we give the whole house to one party and go and stay with María's sister in Apollonía. It is the only way we know how to do it.
Terms
Never July or August — the house is full and the orchard is too hot to stand in at four in the afternoon. Music outside stops at midnight; the village is 400 metres away and has been here longer than we have. Price on asking.
Nine frames
From the book
We came for four nights and left after eleven. On the last morning María put a jar of the fig jam in my bag and would not take anything for it. I have written to her every winter since.
Ingrid H. · Copenhagen
2019
The quietest place I have ever slept.
T. Marchetti · Milan
No television, no key for the door, and no bill until you leave.
J. & P. Rowe · Bristol
Ask for Ánemos. Ask early.
S. Okonkwo · London
Written in winter
Eleven metres of the lower terrace wall. Rebuilt by hand, dry, the way it was.
Twenty-nine lemons, seven figs, four olives. Two did not take.
Whether revithádha is covered in the oven. The house is split. María is right.
Why twelve people eating the same thing at the same time is not a limitation.
Six days of whitewash, one broken shutter, and the first boat of the season.
What closing up looks like, and where we all go until April.
Piraeus, 2h 35m
Athens
01
45 min
Metro line 1 to Piraeus, then eight minutes on foot along the quay.
Piraeus
02
2h 35m
By Seajet. The conventional ferry takes 5h and is the better crossing in wind.
Kamáres
03
12 min
5.2 km by road. We meet every boat — tell us which one, not what time.
The gate
The nearest are Mílos, an hour on by ferry, and Athens. Most people come through Athens.
It happens, mostly in April and October. Never book a flight for the morning after you leave.
It is useful on perhaps two days of a week. There is a bus, and it is better than you expect.
The last 60 metres to the gate are stone steps, and we will be carrying it.
Seven questions
In all nine rooms since 2016. The walls are 70 cm of stone and most guests never switch it on.
No. The sea is 210 metres down the path and it holds 23°C from the middle of June until October.
Yes. Kalýva sleeps four and has its own gate. There is no pool to worry about, but the terrace wall is low and we would rather say so.
One dog, in Kalýva, if you tell us before you book. There are cats in the orchard and they were here first.
Thirty per cent by transfer to hold the room, the rest by card or cash when you leave. Nothing is charged on this website.
In the house and the orchard, and it is quick. There is none on the terrace and we are not going to fix that.
We hold your room and you pay nothing for the night you could not reach us. Ring, and let us know when you are coming instead.
