Our stay at Ormos Marathokampos in Samos
By: Michael Bakoep
Tags: Samos, Greece, Greece Travels, Greece Holidays, Travel

Ormos Marathokampos is a small fishing village on in the island Samos in Greece.

Ormos is touristy, but not mass-tourism like. You won’t find all-in hotels there, noisy beach bars or discos. Young party people will probably get bored within hours, but if you’re looking for a relaxing resting holiday then look no further.

It can be reached in about 50 minutes from Samos airport. Taxi costs €45, which is the official price from Samos airport to Ormos. If you’d rather rent a car: the Samos roads are well kept, but since it isn’t a flat island there are lots of curves and bends.

Eating out

Near the port, there are 6 tavernas, where you can enjoy a drink or Greek food and fresh fish. For about €10 you can enjoy a main dish + drink, for about €15–16 you can have starters + main dish + local table wine.

Actual prices at a taverna:

- 0,5l of local table wine: €4,50

- Greek salad: €5

- Plate of freshly grilled sardines: €7

- Chicken souvlaki (brochette) + fries: €8,50

We preferred Trata Restaurant:

- Tripadvisor: Trata Restaurant

- Facebook: Trata Restaurant

Trata has a number of basic dishes (try the Greek salad or Kalamares), and daily suggestions based on the catch of the day, or what the family prepared. The restaurant has been family-owned for 4 generations and started by the great-grandfather of the current manager who was a fisherman.

Gialos restaurant, which is at the end (or beginning) of the port, has slightly lower prices but also slightly smaller portions. The food was good too, but we preferred Trata.

We didn’t eat at all the tavernas, but there definitely is a difference in quality so after some ‘misfortunes’ we decided to eat at Trata and Gialos for the rest of our stay.

Shopping/groceries

There are 2 bakeries, 1 small supermarket, and 1 souvenir shop.

The bakeries have daily fresh bread and feta, cheese or spinach pies. They also have some sweets and cookies.

The supermarket has everything you’d need on your holidays: fresh fruit and vegetables, all kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, cheeses and salumi, basic kitchenware, shampoos,…

The supermarket is located on the main street at the port. If you step out of the supermarket and take the street to the left, then after about 200 meters you will find a little souvenir shop to the left and a bakery to the right.

Hotels/rentals

You can find a decent hotel or rental for less than €50/night for 2 persons.

Special recommendations go to these properties on Airbnb:

Velanidia beach house, which is about 20–25 minutes' walk from Ormos port.

Living in a Beach House, which is about 15 minutes from Ormos port but also includes the usage of 4 bikes which bring you to the port in 5 minutes. Slightly more expensive but definitely worth it.

Don’t be fooled by the locations on Airbnb: the second property is closer to Ormos than the first one.

Daytrips

From the port of Ormos you can take a ‘day cruise’ to Samiopoula (little Samos) island. The boat leaves at 9:30 and returns around 17:00.

More info here.

From Pythagorion or Samos city there’s also an excursion to Turkey to visit Kusadasi and Ephesus. Ephesus is by itself worth the excursion. The boat leaves at 7:30 though, and you will have to get to Pythagorion or Samos city first.

Maybe an idea for your last day on the Island: stay 1 or 2 nights at Pythagorion (where the airport is located), and take the excursion to Turkey?

More info here.

By foot, you can also reach the nearby Votsalakia, which is more touristy and has a sandy beach.