Milos Day 6: Adamas, Milos Airport, Athens Flight Home

Monday 13th May 2024

Last Day of the Trip

The final day of my trip had arrived. It felt like only yesterday I was walking off the plane in Santorini, but I’ve had a great time and managed to pack quite a lot into such a short visit. It wasn’t over yet, either.

I woke quite early despite not setting an alarm, but as I didn’t have much planned for the morning, I spent some time on my laptop finishing off a blog post I’d started yesterday. I’m leaving Milos on an internal flight back to Athens, but it doesn’t depart until 4:50 p.m., so I’ve got a good part of the day on the island. I’d asked for a late check-out at the hotel and been told I could keep the room until 1 p.m., which was helpful. This meant I could have a relaxed morning without my luggage, then return to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes.

Breakfast

Keen to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s slightly disappointing breakfast at Aggeliki, I’d researched some alternatives and settled on Egoist, just east of the port. They had a set breakfast menu with all of my favourites: Greek yoghurt, honey, coffee, bread, and jam. It even came with croissants and a small fruit bowl. I had to chase the bread, though, as they’d forgotten to bring some out. The food was delicious, just what I needed to start my last day abroad.

Adamas

Despite my hotel being in the port town of Adamas, I hadn’t taken many photos or videos of the resort, nor had I explored beyond the cafes and tavernas that line the harbour area. To put this right, I returned to my room after breakfast, grabbed my camera and set off on a little village tour. As my hotel was west of the port, I started by walking to the nearby Lagada Beach and following a footpath left of the beach that climbs slightly towards the headland. There’s a little beach here and a small French military cemetery with a monument. It seems like a strange place for it, but it makes for a pleasant walk and sightseeing opportunity.

Heading back towards Lagada Beach, I retraced my breakfast route past the port and continued through the harbour area, taking in the peaceful atmosphere and getting lots of photos on the way. I walked all the way along the seafront, stopping close to Milos Mining Museum before turning left and heading back to the centre of the village. Adamas is a pleasant but fairly bland and not overly picturesque resort away from the harbour: its streets are dotted with apartments and small shops, but none of it has the same charm you might experience in places like Naxos Town or Parikia in Paros. I took a few photos, but it wasn’t the most exciting of places, so I started working my way back towards the hotel.

Lazy Lunch

I spent a while back in the hotel room, reluctant to check out much before 1 p.m. as I didn’t have to be at the airport until after 3 p.m. I packed slowly, took a shower, and made my way down to reception as check-out time approached. I’d had a very enjoyable stay and thanked the staff for their hospitality.

Weighed down with my luggage, I strolled back to the port in search of a shady and cheap lunch spot. It was another gloriously sunny day, which I was pleased about, but it meant that the temperature was much higher than in Santorini and carrying luggage was hard work. I spotted the aptly named Let’s Meat Souvlaki, which was not far from where I’d eaten breakfast. It had plenty of free tables in the shade and sold cheap pork gyros and large bottles of Mythos, so I was sold.

I took my time eating the gyros and watching people as they walked by. I usually bring a Kindle out for meals and read or watch videos on my phone, but I tried to take in my surroundings and appreciate the last few hours on a Greek island–until my next trip, anyway!

With more time to spare, I fancied a dessert and a change of view, so I moved a bit further round to Aggeliki to try their ice creams. I ordered a scoop of caramel and one of Ferrero Rocher. It was quite sickly but delicious and would give me plenty of fuel for the next leg of my journey.

Walking to Milos Airport

For some reason, public transport on Milos is lacking. A local bus service exists, but even in high season, it’s not the most comprehensive service. In May, it provides a bare minimum schedule mostly aimed at local residents rather than tourists. As such, there is no bus to or from the airport (their website only shows an airport connection starting in June). Keen to avoid the cost of a taxi, I decided it wouldn’t be too difficult to walk: it’s five kilometres from Adamas and mostly along the beach road that curves around the bay.

I set off from Aggeliki at 2:15, intending to arrive at the airport between 3 and 3:15 p.m. The first couple of kilometres were a breeze, though the extra backpack I was wearing on my front was a bit uncomfortable. It pressed down on my stomach with every step, which didn’t feel good on top of pork gyros, beer, and ice cream!

Before I reached the southern end of Papikinou Beach, I was quite hot and needed a break. I found a convenient place to step down onto the sand, removed my luggage and cooled off by dipping my hands into the sea and splashing the water over me. It felt amazing, and I wished I could’ve gone for a swim, but the prospect of dried salt water on my skin for the next 12 hours wasn’t appealing.

Back on the move, I was slightly regretting my decision to walk as it felt much warmer than any previous day of the trip. There were patches of shade from the trees that line much of the beach, but as I passed the halfway point and headed towards the Imerys industrial plant, the road climbed away from the sea for a brief stretch, and it felt even hotter.

Thankfully, the road soon dipped back down and resumed its route along the coastline. I could see my destination, the control tower visible over the salt flats that border the airport, and knew my journey was nearly over.

Milos Airport

I made it inside the small terminal building, relieved to be out of the sun. Covering the 4.4 km took just under 50 minutes, so I arrived in plenty of time.

Milos is the only domestic Greek airport I’ve ever used, though I’ve seen several from the outside. I love how small the terminal is: in the photo above, the left doors are the main entrance/exit, the check-in desks are on the right and passport control is straight ahead. It’s so much less stressful than navigating large international airports, often with long queues for security and bag drop.

Despite arriving with hand luggage only on my easyJet flight to Santorini, I had to check my large camera rucksack into the hold for this flight as it was too large and heavy to take on the plane. To protect my more sensitive and valuable equipment, I transferred my SLR camera and laptop into my smaller backpack, swapping them for some clothing to make room. I then checked in the larger bag, remembering to remove my passport before it went into the luggage system.

Internal Flight to Athens

There were quite a few other passengers waiting at the departure area, so I assumed the flight was fairly full, which surprised me, given the time of year. I bought a can of Fanta Lemon to quench my thirst and waited patiently for our flight to be called through security.

Spotting movement at passport control, I got up and got ahead of the queue when the doors opened. Despite removing all my loose items, I managed to set off the alarm on the scanner machine twice, so I was treated to a pat-down by a security officer. Then we were at the departure gate (literally a right turn after security; it’s the same room). I decided not to sit, guessing that it wouldn’t take long before we would head out to the plane.

Our 4:50 p.m. flight was delayed, but it wasn’t by much. We were led out onto the tarmac just after 5 p.m. and quickly boarded the waiting plane.

I remember my first-ever internal flight back in 2020, which was actually from Athens to Milos on my first time on the island. I’d been nervous about flying on such a small plane, but it had been fine and over very quickly. After my terrible ferry experience on Friday, this time, I was glad to be taking a plane back to the mainland: I had considered the ferry and probably would have taken it had it been cheaper, but the flight not only cost less but takes just 30 minutes to reach Athens. On a ferry, it’s 2.5 hours plus another hour spent getting from Piraeus to the airport.

The flight was brilliant, with great views over eastern Milos as we climbed and headed north back towards the mainland. I filmed the take-off on my phone and have uploaded it in case anyone is interested in watching:

The stewardess came around a few minutes into the flight with packets of biscuits and small water bottles. No sooner had I finished both than the captain announced that we were beginning our descent and, just like that, we were back on the ground again!

Waiting at Athens Airport

Despite the internal flight arriving slightly late, I still had hours to spare at Athens Airport before my flight back to the UK. I was through passport control and had collected my slightly damp rucksack by 6:15 p.m. The weather in Athens was nothing like Milos: overcast and with a light drizzle. It felt like I was back in England already!

I was so early that my 10:30 p.m. flight wasn’t even showing on the departures board, so I didn’t know where I needed to head for the departure lounge. My plan was to find a quiet spot where I could get my laptop out and kill a few hours working on this blog or some YouTube content planning. I wandered around the terminal and ended up at Burger King in the upstairs restaurant area. I was quite hungry and decided to take the opportunity to have a substantial meal now rather than wait until I was in the departure lounge or on the plane, where my choices would be limited and the prices even higher.

Fortunately, the seating area was quiet, and I secured a table next to a plug socket so I could charge my phone while I worked. For some reason, my laptop refused to connect to the free airport WiFi, but my data allowance from the UK covers Greece as well, so I used my phone as a hotspot so I could get online.

I spent a good couple of hours working, and the time passed quickly. It was just after 8 p.m., so I decided it was time to pack up and head towards the departure area. I’d been notified via the easyJet app that our flight was delayed by 90 minutes, which wasn’t ideal, but I couldn’t do anything about it and still had to get through security and to the boarding gate according to the original flight schedule.

UK flights depart from the newer satellite terminal, which is quite a long walk from the main building. It’s all indoors, and there are moving walkways to make it easier. Several people rushed past me, clearly in a hurry to make their flight departures, but I was happy to pass the time and let the walkway carry me along at its own pace. Going through an airport with time to spare is much nicer than being late and stressed out!

The Flight Home

I was worried that the initial 90-minute delay would worsen and that we might not take off until the early hours of Tuesday morning. I checked the mobile app regularly and was pleased to see that the outbound flight had departed, meaning our aircraft was at least on its way. The delay actually reduced to 75 minutes, which was good news.

Once I was in the departure lounge, I found a quiet seat and watched some videos on my phone to pass the time. Eventually, our gate was displayed, and we boarded a short while later, taking off just after midnight. I still had a 2.5-hour drive home from the airport, so I hoped to get some sleep on the plane. I did manage to nap, but not as well as I’d done on the way out. We landed back in the UK just before 2 a.m. local time. By 2:30, I had made it back to my car and was ready to start the drive home.

I made it home shortly before 5 a.m. when the sun had risen on a new day. I was exhausted but happy to have had such a great trip. My bed was calling, though, it was time to rest.