Kythnos nature tours in greece

Planet

Our walking trails extol the natural beauty of the island's countryside, its historical sites, its traditional villages, its numerous churches and many sandy beaches. We emphasise to our walkers the importance of looking after the countryside, protecting wildlife, not dropping rubbish and closing gates. We support the island mayor's pledge to find funding for more signs on the trails and clearing where needed thus encouraging more walkers to the area (a low carbon way to explore the island).

Our Travellers Code of Conduct includes two pages of Useful Information covering the fitness required of walkers, clothing and shoes, and the natural sights to see, such as flowers, plants and animals. For each trail, we provide a map of the route, distances, the height of hills, difficult terrain, and natural hazards. We urge walkers to be respectful to farmers and their animals.

As stated above, we plan to launch our own hotel, a renovation of two 200-year-old mansions. These buildings are under Greek culture ministry protection for their historical value. The hotel will include a series of presentations about the history of the island, the village where the hotel is located, and the buildings themselves.

With our hiking holidays, we want to demonstrate that this ecologically-sensitive form of tourism can help the local economy. We want to be an advocate in the local community for preserving the calm and history of Kythnos.

We intend to talk to our bars, restaurants and accommodation about using reusable containers for water, such as glasses and carafes, instead of plastic bottles. The same conversation will be held with our guests so they go on trails with re-fillable water bottles.

For viewing wildlife, our guide is experienced on the island and very respectful of the wildlife. He has written widely about Greek wildlife and guided many tours. He will ensure the safety of birds, protect the environments of plants and stop guests from taking samples.

In the evening dinner, we go to taverna which use meat and vegetables from the island. Cheese comes from goat milk produced on Kythnos. Fish is usually caught by local fisherman and we will monitor this is predominantly the case.

As much as possible we walk to wildlife locations in order to reduce emissions. Longer-term we hope to use electric vehicles in place of the occasional cars or minibus and once the necessary infrastructure is in place.

People

For the walking, we will use local guides as much as possible and pay them a proper wage. The tavernas where we eat will be chosen for their use of local produce such as meat, cheese, vegetables and salad. We will visit farms and a honey-making centre during the holidays. The souvenir shops we recommend in Hora, Dryopida and Merichas produce their own pottery and jewelry on the island.

Kythnos has a lively cultural scene, including many traditional music events linked to religious feast days, particularly the Orthodox Easter and 15 August and also many other saint days. When in a holiday week there is no festival, we will try to organise a music event in a taverna.

The island has a summer festival in July and August which we encourage guests to visit. At the music events, we will explain the traditional instruments being played such as lute, fiddle, tsambouna and sandouni and their continuing production, thus supporting local artisan business.