Chios is a large island in the North Aegean, close enough to Turkey that you can see the Anatolian coast clearly across a strait of about eight kilometres. Around 51,000 people live here, and for its size it sees remarkably little tourism: there is no package industry, the beaches are good rather than famous, and most visitors are Greeks or members of the island's large shipping diaspora returning home.
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What makes Chios genuinely singular is mastic. The variety of Pistacia lentiscus that produces resin in usable quantity grows commercially nowhere else on earth, only in the dry south of this island, and the cultivation technique is inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Growers score the bark in summer and collect the hardened tears of resin from swept ground beneath the trees. Mastic goes into chewing gum, liqueur, spoon sweets, toothpaste and medicine, and the villages built on the trade, the Mastichochoria, are fortified settlements laid out as defensive mazes because the crop was valuable enough to be worth raiding.
The island's other defining fact is darker. In 1822, in reprisal for joining the Greek revolution, Ottoman forces killed or enslaved the great majority of the population. Delacroix painted it and it became a cause in western Europe. Chios never recovered its former position, which is part of why a large island feels emptier than it should.
What you pack is decided by heat, distance and rock. Summers run into the mid thirties Celsius with very little shade, the island is big enough that you need a car, and the villages and the Nea Moni site are stone and uneven underfoot. Winters are mild, around 13C, and wet.
This guide covers the mastic villages, Nea Moni, Anavatos, the beaches, and the full packing list.
The Mastic Villages and Nea Moni
Two things on Chios are worth the journey on their own and they are twenty minutes apart.
Pyrgi is the most striking of the mastic villages and the reason is a decorative technique called xysta: the houses are rendered in black volcanic sand, limewashed white over it, and then scraped back in geometric patterns so the dark layer shows through. Every facade in the central square is covered in it, repeating triangles, zigzags and rosettes, and the effect at close range is like standing inside a textile. Mesta and Olympi, nearby, are the intact fortified villages: a continuous ring of outer houses forming the defensive wall, with a maze of covered alleys inside and no straight line through them, built against pirates.
Nea Moni, in the hills above the main town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1990 and it holds some of the finest surviving Byzantine mosaics anywhere, from the eleventh century, on a gold ground in the katholikon. It is a working monastery, quiet, and the mosaics are at eye level in a way that the great Constantinopolitan examples are not. There is also an ossuary holding the bones of those killed in 1822, which the monastery does not present gently.
Anavatos, further on, is a village built on a cliff that is now almost entirely abandoned, its stone houses stepping up a spur to a ruined church. The usual account is that inhabitants threw themselves from the cliff rather than be taken in 1822. It is a genuinely sobering place and the climb through it is loose stone with real drops.
In Chios Town, the Genoese castle, the Giustiniani Palace and the Byzantine museum in a former mosque are the main stops, and the Kampos district just south is the unexpected one: a plain of walled citrus estates built by Genoese and later Greek merchant families, with high stone walls, water wheels and gardens behind them, several open to visitors.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Beaches, and Getting Around a Big Island
Chios needs a car and the beaches reward the driving.
Mavra Volia at Emporios is the one to see: a beach of black volcanic pebbles below red cliffs, with very clear deep water. It is pebble rather than sand and it shelves quickly. Vroulidia in the far south is a small cove under cliffs, Agia Dynami nearby is similar, and Karfas near the town is the most developed and the most swimmable with children. In the north-west, Agio Galas and the beaches near Volissos are long, empty and often windy.
The island is roughly 50 kilometres long and the interior is mountainous, so distances take longer than a map suggests. Buses connect the main town to the larger villages but infrequently and not usefully for a day that includes Nea Moni, Anavatos and the south. Hiring a car is the practical answer and the roads are generally good if narrow, with goats on them.
Chios also has a ferry to Cesme in Turkey, which makes a day trip to the Turkish coast or an onward route possible, and it is a useful thing to know if you are combining countries.
When to Go
May, June, September and October. July and August are hot with little shade, and the mastic harvest is in summer.
Late spring, May and June, is the best window: low to mid twenties Celsius, the island green before the summer burns it off, wildflowers in the hills, and the villages comfortable to walk. The sea is warming through June.
Summer, July and August, reaches the mid thirties and the Mastichochoria have almost no shade in their stone alleys. The meltemi blows, which helps on the coast and not inland. This is when the mastic is actually harvested, scored in July and collected through August and September, so it is the time to see the work being done if you can tolerate the heat. The island is busiest with returning diaspora families in August, which affects accommodation more than beaches.
Autumn, September and October, is excellent: high twenties in September with the sea at its warmest, the mastic collection finishing, and the crowds gone. October is mild and quiet.
Winter, November to March, is mild at around 13C and wet, and because Chios has a real year-round economy it does not close down. Nea Moni and the villages are open and almost empty, which is arguably the best way to see them. Ferries are more weather-dependent.
Is Chios Safe for Women Travelers
Chios is a very safe island and the risks are heat, the driving, and loose stone underfoot.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Greece and no country-level warning. The named risks are seasonal and practical. Wildfires, extreme heat and flash floods, and one legal point worth knowing: starting a forest fire in Greece is a criminal offence even if unintentional, so a discarded cigarette or an unattended barbecue is not a minor matter. Earthquakes, which Greece gets regularly. Drowning, because people die every year in the sea and in swimming pools, and the beach flag system and the presence or absence of a lifeguard are the things to check rather than how calm the water looks. Quad bikes and mopeds, which the FCDO singles out because every year people suffer serious injury and death on them. And theft of passports, wallets and handbags, which is common on the metro and in crowded tourist places and is concentrated in central Athens rather than spread evenly.
Day to day, this is one of the easier Greek islands to be alone on, precisely because it is not a tourist island: it is a working place where a woman on her own in a village taverna is treated as a guest rather than a customer, and the hospitality can be considerable. Violent crime against visitors is rare, Chios Town is busy in the evening, and the villages are small and safe.
The theft the FCDO names is concentrated on the Athens metro and in crowded tourist places, so the caution belongs on your journey rather than here. Chios is reached by a long overnight ferry from Piraeus or by air, and on an overnight crossing a cabin with a lock is worth the money over a deck seat if you are travelling alone.
The driving is the realistic hazard. Chios roads are narrow, wind through mountains, and carry goats, farm vehicles and confident local driving. The road to Anavatos and the roads in the south are the ones to take slowly. If you rent a scooter instead, the FCDO's warning applies in full: people are seriously injured and killed on two wheels in Greece every year, so wear the helmet, check the tyres and brakes, and confirm your insurance covers it, because most policies exclude two-wheelers without the right licence.
Heat and shade are next. The mastic villages are stone alleys with no trees, Anavatos is an exposed cliff spur, and Nea Moni sits in the hills. Greek summer at these temperatures is a medical risk rather than a discomfort: go early, carry far more water than you expect, and treat headache and nausea as heat exhaustion.
Underfoot, Anavatos is the specific concern. It is a ruined village on a cliff with unmade paths, loose stone, collapsed floors and unfenced drops, and it is not supervised. Walk it carefully, stay off anything that looks structural, and do not go up at dusk.
Wildfire is a real risk on Chios. The island has suffered serious fires, the mastic groves themselves have burned, and the FCDO's point that starting a forest fire is a criminal offence even if unintentional should be taken literally. Check warnings before driving into the hills in high summer.
Greece is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free and it does not cover repatriation or a private clinic, so travel insurance sits on top of it rather than instead of it. The practical issue on the islands is not quality but DISTANCE: most islands have a health centre rather than a hospital, serious cases are transferred to Athens, Rhodes or Crete by ferry or air ambulance, and on a small island that transfer can depend on the weather. A farmakeio handles minor problems without an appointment. Tap water is drinkable on the mainland and on most larger islands, and on smaller ones it is often desalinated or cistern-fed and worth asking about.
The Chios Packing List
Base layers, for heat and dust
The pattern here is a hot stone village, a car with cold air conditioning, a windy beach and a cool evening, repeatedly. Fine merino at 160gsm moves moisture off the skin instead of trapping it, stays fresh across several days in dry heat, and a long sleeve one covers your arms in villages and sites with no shade, which is better than reapplying sunscreen you cannot reach. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A merino wool base layer for women also handles an overnight ferry, which is air conditioned to an unreasonable degree.
Sun protection, which is the main category
A wide brim sun hat with a chin cord for the meltemi, proper sunglasses and high SPF sunscreen. There is no shade at Anavatos, little in the Mastichochoria alleys and none at Mavra Volia, where black pebbles make the beach hotter than sand would be.
Footwear with grip
Walking shoes with grip, closed rather than sandals. Anavatos is loose stone with drops, the fortified villages are worn cobble and steps, and Nea Moni has polished marble floors. Merino wool socks, which handle heat and dust better than cotton.
Water, more than you plan to drink
A refillable bottle with real capacity. The villages have tavernas and the sites largely do not, and dehydration on an unshaded cliff village in August is the most common thing that goes wrong here.
A mid layer and a windproof
A fleece mid layer for the ferry, the hill monastery and spring and autumn evenings. A packable rain jacket for women as the windproof on a boat deck and for the winter rain, which is substantial here.
The small things
Something to cover your shoulders and knees for Nea Moni, which is a working monastery with a dress code and will lend a wrap if you need one. A swimsuit and something for your feet in the water, because Mavra Volia is pebble and the coves are rocky. Cash in euros, because village tavernas and mastic producers often prefer it. And space in your luggage for mastic products, which are the obvious thing to take home and are genuinely only from here.
Essential Resources for Women in Chios
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Non-emergency police: the Hellenic Police are reachable through 112, and Greece's Tourist Police handle visitor incidents in English. A theft needs an in-person report to produce the document an insurer requires.
Main hospital or clinic: Chios General Hospital in the main town has an emergency department, which is better provision than most islands in this guide because Chios has 51,000 residents. Serious cases still transfer to Athens by air, and that transfer depends on weather. Village health posts cover basic problems and a farmakeio handles minor ones without an appointment.
Official health authority: the Greek National Public Health Organisation. A UK GHIC or EU EHIC gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident, which is not the same as free and does not cover repatriation.
Driving: roads are narrow and mountainous with goats and farm traffic. If you rent two wheels instead, the FCDO singles out quad bikes and mopeds because people are killed and seriously injured on them in Greece every year, so wear the helmet, inspect brakes and tyres, and check your insurance covers your licence category.
Wildfires and heat: Chios has suffered serious fires including in the mastic groves, and starting a forest fire in Greece is a criminal offence even if unintentional. Greece's civil protection service publishes fire risk and extreme heat warnings; in July and August act on the heat ones by moving sightseeing to the early morning.
Ferries: Piraeus to Chios is a long crossing, often overnight. On an overnight sailing alone, a lockable cabin is worth the cost over a deck seat. Services are weather-dependent in winter.
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Athens.
US State Department travel advisory: the Greece advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/greece, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Official tourism authority: Visit Greece, with the Chios municipal service for Nea Moni opening hours, which are limited and include a long midday closure, and for the mastic cooperative, which runs a museum in the south.
Solo women safety assessment: Chios is one of the easier Greek islands to travel alone precisely because it is not a tourist island. It is a working place of 51,000 people with a large shipping diaspora, and a woman on her own in a village taverna tends to be treated as a guest rather than a customer, sometimes to an overwhelming degree. Violent crime against visitors is rare, Chios Town is populated in the evening, and the villages are small and safe. The theft the FCDO names belongs to the Athens metro and crowded tourist places, so the caution applies to your journey in; on an overnight ferry from Piraeus travelling alone, pay for a lockable cabin rather than a deck seat. What will actually hurt you here is the heat, the driving and the ground. The mastic villages are shadeless stone alleys, Anavatos is an exposed cliff spur, and Greek summer at these temperatures is a medical risk rather than a discomfort, so go early and carry far more water than feels necessary. The roads are narrow, mountainous and shared with goats and farm traffic, and if you rent a scooter instead the FCDO's two-wheeler warning applies in full, including the insurance exclusion most policies carry. Anavatos specifically is a ruined, unsupervised village on a cliff with loose stone, collapsed floors and unfenced drops: walk it carefully and not at dusk. And Chios has burned badly before, so treat the fire warnings seriously.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Greece travel guide for women. For why fine wool suits dry Aegean heat, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
