Greece: Day trip to Kos

One of the reasons why I selected Bodrum over other cities or towns by the Aegean Coast is because of the distance from Greece. This made a great day trip from Bodrum, a ferry ride of about 30 minutes and landed in Kos. 

One of the things I googled when tried to search for this day trip was how early in advance do I need to get the ferry ticket. If you are wondering of the same, I made this trip on 6th October 2022 and walked into Bodrum Feribot a day before and got a return ferry ticket on the spot, TL553. Ferry will depart Bodrum at 9:30am and return at 5:30pm the same day. I was told to be there 30 minutes before departure for customs check. Please remember to bring along your passport, it is an international border after all.

Custom check was fussed free. Once I got on Fahri Kaptan-5 and seated, one of the staffs came over to asked if I have been to Kos. I was handed a 'Discover Kos in a day' booklet on what I can do. I was told to return to passport control by 4:45pm to make the 5:30pm ferry. 

I was told Old River has free day beds

I attempted to do the Kos Downtown for Historical Path which was also included in the booklet. Attempted because a couple of the stops were missed possibly because I couldn't find them or I wasn't sure I was there. 

The walk starts by going around the port to Castle of Neratzia.

1. Castle of Neratzia

It was built at the beginning of 14th century A.D. by the Knights of St. John, using material from ancient sites.

Great view of the Government House with its white washed walls. 

Second in the list is 2. Hospitaller House of Count Francesco that I couldn't find. It was built by the Count of Kos and is the only secular building of the Knights period in Kos. Since I couldn't locate the building, I moved on to the third attraction. 

3. Plane tree of Hippocrates

Near to the Castle of Neratzia is this age-old plane tree. According to legend, this was where Hippocrates, the father of medicine, sat under while teaching his students. However, this tree isn't the original tree based on age, but possibly could be a descendent of the original tree. 

4. Mosque of Gazi Hasan Pasha

Just behind the plane tree of Hippocrates is the Gazi Hassan Pasha Mosque (or the Haggi Hassan). It is said that this mosque boasts one of the most stunning minarets in the Dodecaneses. However, on my visit, the minaret was covered with scaffoldings. 

5. Ancient Agora

Ancient Agora is one of the biggest archaeological sites with ruins dated back from Hellenistic era up till the medieval period. It is pretty much a free entry open-air museum. 

From here, I attempted to walk toward the next site - 6. Altar of Dionysus. This was another site that I could not locate and the heat was starting to get to me. This altar is said to be a dorian style ancient Greek temple and dedicated to the ancient Greek god Dionysus. 

I gave up after a few tries and moved to the next one in line. 

7. Casa Romana (Roman House)

This one sounded interesting but I was cheapskate and didn't want to fork out the ticket fee so the first photo was all I saw. Casa Romana is a big restroed roman mansion built on top of a previous one dated back to the Hellenistic period, said to be decorated with mosaic floors and frescoes. 

Further down the road from Casa Romana brought us up site #8. 

8. Roman Odeon

A roman theatre for music event and contests area in honour of Asklepeios during the Roman period. 

Then across the road from Roman Odeon is another archeaological area. 

9. Western Archaeological Site

This was also a fairly extensive site which includes a roman house with mosiac of the "Abduction of Europe", thermae, arcade, gymnasium, nymphaeum, churches. I don't remember seeing much signs to indicate what I was looking at but I recalled thinking that it was pretty cool. Imagine an archaeological site right at someone's backyard!

10. Old Town and Eleftherias Square

The balance of the sites seems to be around Kos Old Town so here are the balance of them, to complete the number referencing in the above map. I probably have seen some of them on my walks but didn't enter any of the below as I was getting hungry. 

11. Church of St. Paraskevi

12. "Panellion" complex

15. Archaelogical Mueum

13. Municipal Market

This building was designed and built in the 30s based on Italian colonial buildings. Said to used as a fruit market. 

14. Mosque of Defterdar 

Built in the late 18th century by Ibrahim Efendi, a Finance Minister. The minaret is no longer intact due to earthquake that occured a few years back.

My lunch reward was from a random shop that I went in, Ideal. I ordered 'El Greco' from their "How Greek it is" menu - stuffed bifteki with feta grilled tomato & green pepper €10,50. Food was tasty. 

After meal, I continued my wander and walked towards Old River that was recommended by the boat staff. I got there, decided I wasn't feeling sitting by the beach and left. 

I got back the on Fahri Kaptan-5 on my return trip back to Bodrum.

Side note: Daylights saving ending...