Symi Unseen: 3 Quiet Corners Beyond the Rick Steves Crowd
Steves seemingly did Symi like a day-tripper. We did not.
It should not come as a surprise that Rick Steves — who we adore — has come unto Symi, a fiercely barren island whose storied harbor, lined with pastel-colored neoclassical mansions stacked high behind one another, makes for some serious eye candy. A little island with some very big history only an hour or so by ferry from Rhodes easily falls prey to the jaws of overtourism, which includes things like drone tours and Rick Steves, and tends to exclude imagination.
So let’s leave the aerial skullduggery aside for a moment, then, and present a few unvarnished views of seldom overlooked yet oft-misunderstood Symi…
VISION #1
It’s the last taxi boat back to Gialos, the colorful port of Symi, from the Instagram-famous (and also, famous) “closed” beach of Agios Georgios Dysalonas — closed, because unless you get there by boat, you’re not getting there at all. It’s a pebbly beach with aquamarine water framed by soaring cliff faces. Lots of day boats and yachts park themselves just offshore, muddling the scene somewhat, but it’s still spectacular. The entire eastern shore is rocky and rugged.
From the water, glancing up at the high cliffs, you might see the outline of a goat in the bright late summer sun — wait a second, make that two goats — their shaggy goats’ coats and elegant horns appearing only in silhouette high, high above. For a passing moment, their black and white shadow figures are in perfect harmony with the raw nature before you; even the the cliff faces seem to bow to you in a “slow-down, mate!” sepia-toned dream. No camera could capture this sight.
VISION #2
There’s something unique about the small beach of Agios Nikolaos. Yes, the water is crystal-clear as at most Symi beaches, but it’s not that. It’s the steep underwater drop-off. Swim just a few yards off shore and you’ll notice the sea floor plunges away precipitously — despite the fact that this is hardly an obscure beach (they’ll try to make you pay to sit in the lounge chairs, but you didn’t come all this way to pretend you’re at a Las Vegas hotel pool, did you?), it is not for shallow water fans.
That said, because the beach is cove-style, the waters are calm. This means that, when the sunlight hits directly overhead, it has the effect of throwing a spotlight beam right through the water, illuminating it in the manner of one of those blue grotto Capri things, but from below. So when a school of little fishes dart past you, as they do, they appear as so many flashes of electric blue sea light — and this is a mere three or four feet beneath the surface. Then there are the big yellow fish, and the flying fish…
VISION #3
Confession: I don’t much care for loukoumades — which is really no big deal; after all, you can live in Israel and not care much for religion, or in America and not care much for apple pie or Taylor Swift. Anyway, I do have faith in the power of the fornos, or Greek bakery, in general terms and in Symi that faith is rewarded specifically in the form of the akoumi, a kind of twist on loukoumades.
The akoumi is an elongated piece of fried dough, irregularly shaped, and trades crispiness for a softer texture — how fittingly Symian! For this is one island that is remarkably not rough around the edges. Anyway, the soft crust has got hints of orange zest and ouzo baked into it and that adds up to a sort of tangy but not overly sweet deliciousness. I tried my first one sort of by mistake at Φούρνος Νικολέττου, by the port. But it was a revelation, and you should have seen the look on the baker’s face when I said I wanted to buy all the akoumis she had left. Which, of course, I did. Wouldn’t you?
©2026 Anthony Grant/Greek Column.
👉 Your hotel in Symi: The Old Markets
