The capital of the Greek island of Karpathos is Karpathos city, but it is also often referred to as Pigadia. You can read all about this place in this blog!

Where is the capital of Karpathos?

The capital of Karpathos is located on the east side of the island. It is about 20 minutes away by car from the airport. Although the capital is called 'Karpathos city' you can't really call it a city. It's more like a big (chaotic!) village.

The city is the heart of Karpathos. It is the most touristic place on the island. You will find many hotels and restaurants here and various tours are also organized from Karpathos city.

Good to know is that Karpathos city consists of many steep slopes. Karpathos is therefore not really a wheelchair test island. The boulevard at the harbor is fairly flat. The harbor and the boulevard is a pleasant place, especially in the evening. At the harbor there are several restaurants with a beautiful view of the sea.

The beach of Karpathos town

Karpathos has many beautiful beaches. For example, Apella was once voted one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe and Diakoftis also has a real Caribbean vibe. Yet the beach of Karpathos city is not a pretty picture.

It is a long sandy beach on the left side of the city and we always compare it a bit with a Dutch beach. If you really don't want to leave Pigadia, it is of course a great beach for a swim and sunbathe, but for the really beautiful beaches you should not stay in Karpathos town.

If the boat comes from Athens

We find the port of Karpathos very cozy. Especially when the boat comes from Athens, we really enjoy sitting on a terrace at the harbor. It always becomes one chaotic mess when the boat arrives. Cars are driving, people are walking off the boat with their trolleys and all trucks are going up and down. Everything happens at such a moment. Nice Dutch maybe to people watch from a terrace, but highly recommended! ????

Our favorite restaurants in town

The capital of Karpathos has many nice restaurants. There is choice for everyone! We are happy to share our favorites with you. We don't come to the city every day, but when we go out for dinner or want to have breakfast outside, these are our favorite places..

in Plo

This is our favorite spot for basically everything haha! We like to have breakfast here, but you can also come here for cocktails, dinner and football. En Plo has a beautiful location on the harbor, nice staff, good food and a cozy vibe. The Greeks also come here a lot!

Mesogios

We also like to eat at Mesogios when we are in Pigadia. The reason we first went there for dinner years ago was because Minas is not 'luring' you in front of his tent. That is sometimes a disadvantage, we find in the tourist city of Karpathos. But that didn't happen here and we really liked that!

In addition, Mesogios has daily fresh dishes on the menu. He shares this every day around 3 – 4 pm via his Facebook Page .

Tours from Karpathos city

Various tours start from the capital of Karpathos to discover the island! Below we explain!

Walks and creative workshops

Those who enjoy walking or prefer to do something creative have come to the right place at Art & Walk! Renate and Thom have their own company where they offer various walks from Pigadia to discover the island. In addition, they also give mosaic and painting workshops.

Mountain biking

Ion Club offers mountain bike tours from the capital. If you prefer windsurfing, then you've come to the right place in the village of Afiartis! Here is Ion with their windsurf club. Did you know that Karpathos is one of the world's best hotspots when it comes to windsurfing ?

Boat trips from Karpathos town

From the port of Karpathos you can do various boat trips. Every day several boats leave for Kassos and Saria, but you can also take the boat to the beaches of Kyra Panagia, Ahata and Apella. Most boat trips start around 10:00 am and you will arrive back at the port of Pigadia around 5:00 pm.

Do you want to book a boat trip? Go to the harbor early in the morning and get on one of the boats to ask when there is space (usually you can go the same day). You can also ask the evening before - when the boats are back in the harbor - if you can join us the next day.

Read our blog about the boat trip to Apella and Kyra Panagia here.