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Welcome to Ios!
The world offers us places for parties,
locations for lovers and setups suited for sex. And then there is Ios.
Port to Paradise:
The insanity of Ios begins here.
Ios is in a class all its own, a true Greek God among hedonistic adventures
drenched in doses of cheap alcohol. Diversions from such gratification
are non-existent, forcing one to focus full attention to the pleasures
at hand.
Ios pretty much just consists of a port, a town and a beach. One road
connects all three and during the day, a pair of buses travel this route
back and forth. It take 30 minutes to complete the journey, so you know
you can catch a bus at the beach every half-hour.
Life on Ios is about as uncomplicated as the bus service.
Rooms to Let
Sometimes, Ios "sells out," when it reaches its capacity of revelers.
In the height of summer, officials sometimes will not allow passengers
to depart the ferry unless they have advance reservations. Advance reservations
in Greece means one day ahead of time; this can be arranged through
a travel agency on another island. Otherwise, use the tourist office
at the port; the place is so small that there are not people to greet
you with rooms as is the case at other islands.
Better yet, just ask for a room at Francesco's. For 2500dr
per day you get a clean bed, a shower with enough hot water to get the
job done and a working toilet. You even get a couple of shots of alcohol
upon check-in and VIP privileges (meaning a few free drinks) at the
bar Francesco owns, the Blue Note Cafe.
Rooms are hostel-style, so sleeping with strangers is commonplace.
Okay, sleeping with strangers is commonplace in Ios, but what we mean
is that it's typical to bunk with other travelers. The rooms are amazingly
clean considering the beating they take from their guests.
Some people opt to stay at the beach at the humorously-named Far Out
Cafe. This way, they figure, they can roll out of bed in the afternoon
and be passed out on the beach in minutes. The downside is really down
– it's a dark and steep walk home down the side of a cliff at night
when one's equilibrium is seriously off-kilter.
PubClubbing
There are only three real activities on Ios: drinking, mating and recovering.
There are no excursions to take, no ruins to see, and renting a moped
would be like signing a death certificate. The crowd is young –
mostly early to middle 20s – and overzealous drinkers pass out
in the middle of the streets and alleys. Some don't make it back to
their rooms until the next evening.
By Day
The island is a sleepy community when the sun it out. People emerge
from their bunkers well after high noon and slowly stagger to the beach.
There is a bus stop from town, but most people choose to make the 15-minute
walk down the hill. On the way back from the beach, when faced with
a serious uphill climb, that's the time to take the bus.
The Far Out Cafe offers food and shelter from the sun. Some people
swim, daredevils jump off the cliffs and a few hangover-immune Aussies
will try to entice beach goers into silly little drinking games. Most
people, however, lay dormant on the sand until about 4, when the lure
of 16-ounce, 500dr beers becomes too much to ignore.
This is when the real action on Ios takes place. The "meet now/meet
out later" strategy is implemented with great effectiveness here. The
Far Out Cafe is the best meeting spot on Ios.
By Night
The tiny town square, dormant much of the time, comes alive at midnight.
It is the central meeting spot and provides a prelude to the bar activity.
Stay at Francesco's
and party like a Greek God at the Blue Note.
Ios town is not much more than a series of small bars wrapped around
this square. People tend to float between their 3-4 favorites –
picking them out of the more than 100 available – and the most
popular are the aforementioned Blue Note; the Flame, which
serves flaming drinks and the Slammer Bar, specializing in tequila
slammers. At the latter, patrons don a batting helmet, then after one
slammings a shot, get whacked on the head with a bat to amplify the
effects of the tequila.
The newest hot spot on the island is Aftershock a true dance
club in every sense of the word. With sexy go-go dancers and hip music,
it brings a bit of Euro-club flair to Ios.
The Pegasus Club is often crowded and has a "fastest drinking"
contest each night (welcome to Ios!).
As far as the other clubs, go with your favorite choice of music: Homer's
Cave is heavy metal/punk music; Amadeus is jazz, blues, salsa
and reggae Ios Blue is rock and roll; Disco 69 is current
and classic hits; and so forth.
For those seeking a romantic getaway without trekking to Santorini,
Ios Club sits at the top of a hill and provides majestic views
of the sea. It's perfect for sunsets.
Most of the bars are small in size, but here size doesn't matter due
to overhwelming quantity.
Drinks are cheap -- beers for 300dr, shots for as little as 600dr and
mixed cocktails for 700dr -- and so is the quality of the alcohol. On
Ios, however, it's quantity that counts the most.
The bars in town close at 3, at which time there is a drunken stampede
to Scorpion Bar. It's a dance club on a cliff just outside of town with
a cover and slightly more expensive cocktails; some people never make
it and pass out along the way. Scorpion Bar is a round cave-like
building; with all the people inside and alcohol inside one's system,
it appears to be a huge disco. In reality, it's fairly small.
Most people can take this lifestyle only in small doses. On the other
hand, some spend their entire Greek holiday on Ios. They experience
none of the culture of being in one of the world's oldest civilizations
and meet hardly any of its people. But they sure do have a party.
 Next
stop on the Party Bus: Santorini
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