Chora Andros Town

At a glance: Eastern coast of Andros, the island’s capital and second port, around 32 kilometres from Gavrio, where ferries from Rafina dock. Built where Cycladic whitewash meets grand 19th century neoclassical mansions, funded by the island’s shipping wealth. Best suited to travellers who want real architecture, museums and a dramatic ruined castle rather than a purely beach focused base.

Is Andros Town worth visiting

Andros Town, known locally as Chora, looks different from most Cycladic capitals, and its shipping history explains why. Grand neoclassical mansions line the central Riva promenade and the streets behind it, built by wealthy Andriote shipping families in the 19th century, standing alongside the more familiar whitewashed Cycladic houses found elsewhere on the island. At the tip of the peninsula, a stone arched bridge leads out to the ruins of a Venetian sea castle, one of the town’s most striking sights. It suits travellers who want genuine architectural and maritime history, with museums, a good waterfront and a quieter pace than the island’s busier port at Gavrio.

Highlights

• The Riva promenade, lined with neoclassical mansions built on Andriote shipping wealth, running out to the tip of the peninsula
• Kamara, a single arched stone bridge built during the Dandolo dynasty period (1207 to 1233), leading to the ruins of the Venetian sea castle
• The Maritime Museum, housed in a neoclassical mansion in the Square of the Unknown Sailor, tracing the island’s seafaring history back to 1750
• The Archaeological Museum of Andros, with finds from the Geometric settlement of Zagora and sculptures spanning the Archaic to Byzantine periods
• The bronze statue of the Unknown Sailor, standing at the square built where mansions destroyed in the 1943 German bombing once stood

A castle destroyed in war, a town built on shipping

At the very tip of Chora’s peninsula stand the ruins of the Venetian sea castle, reached by Kamara, a single arched stone bridge built during the Dandolo dynasty in the early 13th century. The castle survived largely intact for more than seven centuries, until German forces bombed Andros’s port in 1943 and destroyed it, leaving only the dramatic ruins visible today. That same wartime bombing also flattened many of the mansions once standing where the Square of the Unknown Sailor now sits. Much of the rest of the town’s grandest architecture, however, survives from the 19th century, when Andros turned decisively to shipping and its most successful families invested their wealth in the neoclassical mansions that still line the Riva and the streets behind it, a legacy the Maritime Museum documents in detail.

Where Andros Town is

Getting to Andros Town

From Gavrio port: Andros Town is about 32 kilometres away, around 60 minutes by car.

By ferry: Andros has no airport of its own, so the island is reached by ferry from Rafina, near Athens, a crossing of around 2 hours to Gavrio, the island’s main port.

Getting around once there: See getting around Andros and Andros taxi for onward travel around the island, and the Andros bus timetable for scheduled services.

Arriving on Andros: For full ferry routes and journey times, start with how to get to Andros.

Where to eat

Andros Town has a good spread of tavernas and restaurants along the waterfront and through the streets behind the Riva, with several serving fresh, simply prepared seafood close to the water. It is a relaxed place for a proper sit down meal away from the busier ferry port at Gavrio.

Where to stay

Andros Town suits travellers who want a genuinely elegant, historic base with museums and architecture on the doorstep, rather than a beach resort setting. For a private villa with a pool elsewhere on Andros, see Andros villas with a private pool.

Beaches near Andros Town

Andros Town sits on a rocky peninsula rather than a swimming beach. See the Andros beach pages for the island’s wider range of beaches, most reachable by a short drive from the capital.

Best time to visit

Spring and autumn suit a walk along the Riva and out to the castle ruins particularly well, with comfortable temperatures for exploring on foot. Museums and cultural sites are generally quieter outside the peak summer months, giving a more relaxed pace for visiting the town’s neoclassical mansions and collections.

Continue exploring Andros

See more of the island’s villages on the Andros villages guide, or head back to the Andros island guide for beaches, ferries and getting around.