"An Accidental Discovery" a Tinos Island Travel Page by johngayton

Having missed my late night ferry from Mykonos to Samos due to being at the wrong port, or should I say being in the bar at the wrong port, I ended up with an unplanned overnight stay on Mykonos which led to a rearrangement of my travel plans to get back to Athens for my flight the following day.

I had now missed 2 ferries on consecutive days and so decided to play it ultra safe and get an early ferry from Mykonos to somewhere which would be en route back to the mainland later that day. Having a chat with the friendly woman in the ferry office at Pier1 she suggested Tinos which has regular connections on to both Pireas and Rafina and so Tinos it was.

Not knowing anything about the Island it was pleasantly surprising to disembark and find myself virtually the only tourist there, especially having spent the previous three days on Thira and Mykonos.

I hadn't actually booked an onward ferry but had by now worked out that as a foot passenger there is no problem buying a ticket at the port even if the ferry is literally in harbour and so spent a liesurely morning and lunchtime in Tinos town.

Tinos is, as I now have discovered, the major place of pilgrimage for Orthodox Greeks with its magnificent Church of our Lady (or whatever appellation you find in the guides - in true Greek manner they are all different) up the hill from the port. I had been wondering why all the touristy shops on the way up sold nothing but religous artefacts.