Of the various islets to the north and east of Pátmos, LIPSÍ is the largest, most interesting and most populated, and the one that has the most significant summer tourist trade. The presence of a British package company, on-spec French and Italian travellers, and the island's appearance on both main-line and off-line ferry routes, mean that it's unwise to show up in peak season without a reservation (though rooms proprietors meet arrivals at other times).

 

During quieter months, however, Lipsí still makes an idyllic halt, its sleepy pace making plausible a purported link between the island's name and that of Calypso, the nymph who legendarily held Odysseus in thrall. Deep wells provide water for many small farms, but there is only one flowing spring, and pastoral appearances are deceptive - four times the relatively impoverished full-time population of about seven hundred live overseas (many in Tasmania, for some reason). Most of those who remain cluster around the fine harbour, as does the majority of food and lodging.

A prime accommodation choice in all senses is Nikos' and Anna's welcoming Apartments Galini (tel 02470/41 212, fax 41 012; ¬34-42), the first building you see above the ferry jetty; Nikos may take guests for fishing trips on request. Equally sought after, though less airy, are the Studios Kalymnos in a garden on the road north out of "town" (tel 02470/41 141, fax 41 343, studios_kalymnos@lipsi-island.gr ; ¬24-33), run by Laid Back Holidays. Other good options not monopolized by package clients include Rena's Rooms (tel 02470/41 363 or 41 120; ¬24-33), overlooking Liendoú beach, the Flisvos Pension at the east end of the port (tel 02470/41 261; ¬24-33); the Glaros (tel 02470/41 360; ¬24-33) on the hillside behind the Kalypso Hotel/Restaurant ; and Studios Paradise (tel 02470/41 125; ¬34-42), up on the ridge north of the Dhelfini restaurant which manages it. Top of the heap is the 1997-built Aphrodite Hotel (tel 02470/41 000 or 41 394; ¬59-72), a studio-bungalow complex designed to accommodate package clients, though they're not adverse to walk-ins at slow times.

Among eight or so tavernas , mostly on or just behind the quay, To Dhelfini next to the police station and O Yiannis next to the eponymous rooms are the best all-rounders, with a good range of grilled items, appetizers and often local bulk wine (white or rosé). Salubrious Tholari , at the east end of the bay, opens all year; while Theologos Fish Restaurant on the quay is reliably fresh - he only opens when he's caught something. On the waterfront to either side of the Kalypso , kafenía and ouzerís with idiosyncratic decor (especially Asprakis ) offer mezédhes outdoors - an atmospheric and almost obligatory pre-supper ritual, where an ouzo and octopus chunk runs to ¬1.20. Later on, The Rock is the clear winner amongst a handful of bars for a congenial crowd and good taped music. Two licensed travel agents (Paradhisis tel 02470/41 120 and Laid Back; phone as above) organize excursions and change money, though there's a free-standing Emboriki/Commercial cash dispenser near the former. The post office is up a stairway on the attractive cathedral platía, opposite a hilariously indiscriminate ecclesiastical museum (theoretically Mon-Fri 9.30am-1.30pm & 4-8pm, Sat/Sun 10am-2pm, best chances of admission 10am-1pm daily; free) featuring such "relics" as oil from the sanctuary on Mount Tabor and water from the Jordan River, as well as archeological finds and two letters from Greek revolutionary hero Admiral Miaoulis.

The island's beaches are rather scattered, though none is more than an hour's walk distant. Closest to town, and sandiest, are Liendoú and Kámbos , but many visitors prefer the attractive duo of Katsadhiá and Papandhriá , adjacent sand-and-pebble coves 2km south of the port, with an extremely basic taverna, Andonis (May-Sept), just inland from a musical snack-café-bar run by Andonis' son, Dilaila (June-Sept), which dominates the main bay here and runs an informal pine-grove campsite (free but you must buy a meal from them daily).

An hour's walk along the paved road leading west from town brings you to protected Plat ys Yialós , a small, shallow, sandy bay with a single taverna (mid-June to late Sept only). During these periods a pair of adapted transit vans provides a minibus service from the port to all the points cited above; otherwise you can rent a scooter from one of two outlets and point them towards isolated east-coast beaches. Of these, Hokhlakoúra consists of rather grubby shingle with no facilities, though nearby Turkómnima is better. A final ten-minute path scramble gets you from a rough track's end to Monodhéndhri , on the northeast coast, notable only for its lone juniper tree and nudist practice - though there's a superior, nameless cove just to the right.

A growing network of roads, paved or otherwise, rather limit opportunities for genuine path- walks through the undulating countryside, dotted with blue-domed churches. The most challenging route heads west from the pass between Kámbos and Platys Yialós to the bay of Kímisi (3hr round-trip), where Filippos the octogenarian religious hermit used to dwell in a tiny monastery above the shore, next to the single island spring. A particularly ugly road has been bulldozed in from the north to disturb his solitude, and paved; Filippos is ill now and living back in town.