Most people who have never been to Ios think they already know what to expect. The reputation that preceded the island for so many decades was built on nightlife, beaches and the kind of carefree summer energy that draws young travellers from across the world every July and August. That reputation is not entirely wrong. Ios does have extraordinary beaches, and the Chora does come alive at night in a way that few Cycladic villages can match. But spend more than a day or two exploring the island properly and a very different picture begins to emerge. Behind the whitewashed lanes and the sunset terraces and the famous windmills is an island with a culinary heritage of genuine depth and distinction, and at the heart of that heritage is cheese.
Ios has been producing cheese from its sheep and goats for as long as anyone can trace the island’s history. The local breeds, which graze freely across the rocky hillsides on wild thyme, throubi, oregano and aromatic coastal plants, produce milk of exceptional quality and distinctive character. That milk, shaped by the island’s particular combination of rocky terrain, sea air and wild herbs, becomes a range of cheeses that are entirely unique to this island and to no other place in the world. The Skotyri, a soft and velvety cheese made from a blend of goat, sheep and cow’s milk, seasoned with pepper and wild savory and aged in cloth sacks called aski. The Xino, the island’s own tangy variant of xinomizithra, creamy and refreshingly sharp and wonderful in salads and pies. The Kefalotyri, hard and salty and aged for at least three months, a cheese of real presence and intensity. The Graviera of Ios, made mainly from cow’s milk with a mild and satisfying character. In September 2025, Ios was officially ranked first in a list of Greek destinations with the tastiest cheeses according to Dutch food experts, with Skotyri singled out as an exceptional example of traditional cheesemaking craftsmanship. That recognition is long overdue and entirely deserved. These are the five best experiences that will help you understand exactly why. 🧀
Table of Contents
1. Diaseli Traditional Creamery
Overall Information
Diaseli is not just the most important cheese experience on Ios. It is one of the most significant and genuinely pioneering cheese tourism destinations in the whole of Greece. The Haros family has been farming goats and making cheese by hand on this land in the northeastern part of the island for generations, passing down their recipes and their methods across more than a century of continuous production. In 2020, the family took the extraordinary step of reimagining their traditional working farm as a visitor destination, creating Greece’s very first dedicated cheese tourism experience at a time when the concept barely existed in the country. A small museum was built next to the production facility, a beautiful two-room stone tasting space was established, and a new brand was born. The result was an immediate success that attracted far more visitors than the family had anticipated and transformed the farm into one of the most talked about food experiences in the Cyclades. In February 2024, the Greek Ministry of Tourism officially launched the era of accessible cheese dairies in Greece, creating a formal national framework for this type of visitor experience, and Diaseli is recognised throughout the industry as the inspiration and the model that made that framework necessary. The quality of the cheeses produced here is exceptional, and the warmth of the Haros family’s hospitality makes every visit feel like a genuine personal encounter rather than a commercial transaction.
Location
Diaseli Traditional Creamery is located on the northeastern side of Ios island, Ios, 840 01, Greece. The creamery sits at the heart of a working family farm in the quieter, less visited northern part of the island, away from the crowds of Chora and Mylopotas beach. The setting is genuinely pastoral and beautiful, with the farm buildings surrounded by the rocky Cycladic hillside landscape, the sound of goats and sheep nearby and views across the northern part of the island to the sea beyond. The contrast between the bustling beach resort atmosphere of the southern coast and the quiet, traditional working farm environment of the north is one of the most striking and memorable aspects of the Diaseli experience. You arrive somewhere that feels entirely real, entirely rooted in its landscape and entirely focused on the quality of what it produces.
How to Get There
Diaseli Creamery is located in the northeastern part of Ios, which is approximately a fifteen to twenty minute drive from Chora by hire car. Hire cars and scooters are readily available from rental companies in the port of Gialos and in Chora itself, and a hire car is by far the most practical way to reach the northern part of the island. The tasting experience at Diaseli can also be reached as part of the guided hiking and cheese tasting tour offered through Hospitality Stories, which departs from Chora each morning at 9am and includes hotel pickup and return. This combined hiking and tasting tour is an excellent option for visitors who prefer not to drive and who want to combine the cheese experience with a walk along the traditional trails that once connected Chora with the broader island. Advance booking for all Diaseli visits is required and the contact telephone number is 0030 697 279 8071. Visits are available with advance notice throughout the summer season and should be booked as early as possible as availability is limited and demand has grown substantially since the creamery became internationally known.
Services and Experiences
Diaseli offers a comprehensive and deeply personal visitor experience that begins with a guided tour of the creamery’s outdoor area led by one of the Haros family members. During the tour, guests are introduced to the history of the family and the farm, the traditional methods of cheesemaking that have been used here across more than a century, and the story of how a small working dairy transformed itself into Greece’s first dedicated cheese tourism destination. The old tools of traditional cheesemaking are on display in the museum area, including the traditional uniforms and equipment and a stone wood-fired oven that transports you directly to the world of Cycladic agricultural life as it was lived for generations. After the tour, guests move into the charming two-room stone tasting house where the heart of the experience takes place. Here you will taste six different types of cheese produced on the farm, guided by your host who explains the character, production process and best ways to enjoy each one. The standout is undoubtedly the Skotyri, the velvety, spreadable cheese made from a blend of goat, sheep and cow’s milk seasoned with pepper and wild savory and aged in traditional cloth sacks called aski. It is a cheese of extraordinary character that you will be thinking about long after you have left. The tasting also includes the island’s Xino, their fresh goat and sheep Myzithra, and other seasonal varieties, all accompanied by local honey and traditional accompaniments. A visit to the animals is always the final part of the experience, giving guests the chance to meet, pet and feed the goats and sheep whose milk makes every cheese on the tasting board possible. Bottles of cheese and local products can be purchased directly from the farm.
2. Niotiko Dairy and Cheese Factory
Overall Information
Niotiko is the organised dairy that put Ios firmly on the cheese map of Greece and gave the island’s artisan cheesemaking tradition the kind of structured, quality-controlled production platform it needed to reach a national and international audience. The dairy was established in 2007 following an initiative by the then mayor of Ios, whose vision was simple and entirely justified: Ios had an extraordinary cheesemaking tradition rooted in the quality of its local animals and its island terroir, and it deserved an organised production facility capable of bringing that tradition to the world. In 2013 the dairy transitioned from a municipal to a private operation, which accelerated its development significantly and raised the quality of its production to a level that has since earned it awards and national recognition. Niotiko operates from a unique location approximately 450 metres above sea level in the northern part of the island, which gives it direct and constant access to the local farmers and free-range animals whose milk forms the foundation of everything it produces. The production uses local pure sheep, goat and cow’s milk from free-range animals without removing nutrients or adding preservatives, and the cheeses that result carry the flavours and aromas of the Ios landscape in every bite. The Aegean Smoked Kefalotyri, made from 100 percent pure goat milk of the area, is one of the most distinctive and celebrated products in the range and is distributed across Greece under the Bliss Point brand.
Location
Niotiko Dairy is located in the northern part of Ios island, at an elevation of approximately 450 metres above sea level, Ios, 840 01, Greece. The elevated location of the dairy is not a coincidence. Sitting high in the northern mountains of the island, the facility is positioned at the centre of the pastoral territory where the island’s goats and cattle graze freely on the aromatic wild herbs that give Ios milk its distinctive character. The nearby coastal plain of Manganari, one of the most remote and beautiful beaches on the island, is the grazing territory for many of the free-range animals whose milk feeds into the production. The combination of altitude, sea air and the wild thyme and savory that blanket the hillsides creates the terroir conditions that make Niotiko’s cheeses taste the way they do: clean, mineral, intensely flavoured and entirely unique to this place.
How to Get There
Niotiko Dairy is located in the northern elevated part of Ios, which requires a hire car or scooter to reach from Chora or Gialos port. The drive from Chora takes approximately twenty to twenty five minutes along the inland road that climbs through the northern part of the island. The elevation means the road is winding in places and offers genuinely spectacular views across the island and out to the Aegean as you climb. Contact Niotiko directly before making the journey to confirm visiting hours and availability, as the dairy is primarily a production facility and visits are by arrangement. The dairy’s products are also widely available at food shops across the island, including the Mosenta shop at the port in Gialos, at Chora shops and at the best tavernas on the island, which means you can taste the full Niotiko range without visiting the production site if you prefer. However, visiting the dairy directly at its extraordinary elevated location gives the cheeses an additional dimension of meaning and context that makes every bite taste even better than it already does.
Services and Experiences
Niotiko offers a behind the scenes view of organised artisan cheese production on a Cycladic island, from the reception of fresh local milk through the production process to the ageing and packaging of the finished cheeses. Visitors who arrange a tour in advance can follow the complete production journey, observing the traditional and modern techniques that Niotiko has developed over nearly two decades of dedicated cheesemaking on Ios. A tasting of the full range is the highlight of any visit, covering the island’s signature Skotyri, the tangy and refreshing Xino, the hard and deeply savoury Kefalotyri, the mild and satisfying Graviera, and the extraordinary Aegean Smoked Kefalotyri made from 100 percent goat milk, which carries a rich, smoky depth that makes it one of the most distinctive cheeses produced anywhere in the Cyclades. The full range of Niotiko products is available for direct purchase at the dairy and is also sold at Simposion and Bliss Point, both respected specialist food retailers in Athens and online, for visitors who want to continue enjoying these cheeses after they leave the island.
3. Hikes and Bites: Guided Hiking and Cheese Tasting Experience
Overall Information
The Hikes and Bites experience offered through Hospitality Stories is one of the most thoughtfully designed and genuinely memorable visitor experiences available anywhere on Ios, combining a walk along the island’s ancient traditional trails with a guided visit to a family-run creamery and a full cheese tasting of six different local varieties. The concept is beautifully simple. You begin your morning in Chora, walking along the traditional paved paths that once connected the main town with the broader island, passing the twelve historic windmills of Ios, three of which have been fully restored, and the outdoor amphitheatre dedicated to the Cretan poet Odysseas Elytis, whose family has deep roots in the Cyclades. From there the route leads to the creamery in the northeastern part of the island for the cheese tasting and farm visit. The return journey follows the traditional downhill path with panoramic views of Mylopotas Beach and the neighbouring islands spread out below. The total walking distance is nine kilometres at a moderate difficulty level, and the combination of physical activity, natural beauty, cultural context and genuine food experience creates something that stays in the memory long after the sunburn fades.
Location
The Hikes and Bites experience departs from Chora, the main town of Ios island, Ios, 840 01, Greece, with hotel pickup provided from accommodation in Chora, the port of Gialos, Mylopotas and Koumbara. The hiking route takes guests through the traditional inland trails of the northern part of the island, passing the windmills and the amphitheatre before arriving at the family-run creamery in the northeastern area. The route combines the most historically and scenically significant landmarks of the island’s non-beach side with the culinary heart of Ios’s dairy tradition, creating a genuinely rounded and deeply satisfying experience of a place that most visitors only ever see from a sun lounger.
How to Get There
The experience begins with hotel pickup at 9am from your accommodation in Chora, the port or Mylopotas. No hire car is required and no navigation is needed. Your destination angel, an experienced and knowledgeable local hiking guide, handles all logistics and transportation throughout the day. Bookings must be submitted at least three days before the desired date and the experience is available throughout the summer season. The meeting point for those not requiring hotel pickup is your hotel, house or yacht in Chora, the port, Mylopotas or Koumbara. Comfortable trekking shoes, sunglasses, sun protection, a hat and loose fitting clothing are recommended, and a swimwear and towel are suggested for those who wish to enjoy the beach after the hiking portion of the day. The experience is not suitable for guests with heart, lung or breathing conditions, and the moderate nine kilometre walking distance requires a reasonable level of physical fitness.
Services and Experiences
The Hikes and Bites experience is hosted by a local destination angel who brings a depth of personal knowledge and storytelling to every step of the journey that no general guidebook can replicate. The cheese tasting at the family creamery covers six different types of local Ios cheese and is conducted in a charming two-room stone house on the farm property, where your host explains the secrets behind each cheese, its production method, its history on the island and the best way to enjoy it. The tasting includes Skotyri, described by Dutch food experts as a velvety, spreadable cheese made from goat and sheep milk spiced with black pepper and matured in cloth sacks, alongside Myzithra, Xino and other seasonal varieties. Local honey and olive oil accompany the cheese tasting. After the tasting, a visit to the animals’ farm gives guests the chance to meet and feed the goats and sheep that make all of this possible, which is a surprisingly moving experience that connects you to the food in a way that sitting in a restaurant never quite manages. The experience is included in the booking price, along with hotel pickup and return, transportation by air conditioned vehicle, a bottle of mineral water, all tasting dishes and entrance fees. The hiking first aid kit is carried by the guide throughout the route.
4. Kambouris Taverna, Chora
Overall Information
Kambouris is the taverna in Chora that food-loving visitors to Ios return to with the most loyalty and the most enthusiasm, and its use of local Ios cheese across its entire menu makes it one of the most compelling cheese-in-context experiences available on the island. This beloved family-run taverna in the heart of Chora’s labyrinthine alleys has built its reputation on generous portions of genuinely home-style Greek cooking made with fresh, high-quality ingredients sourced from local producers wherever possible. The kitchen here does not try to be fashionable or contemporary. It tries to be honest, and it succeeds completely. The cheese is always local, always fresh and always treated with the respect of a kitchen that understands exactly what it is working with. On a warm evening in the lanes of Chora, with the bells of the Panagia Gremniotissa church faintly audible above the sound of conversation and the clatter of plates, this is exactly the kind of meal you will be glad you did not miss in favour of somewhere with a more polished facade.
Location
Kambouris Taverna is located in the pedestrian lanes of Hora, Ios, 840 01, Greece. The address in Chora is accessible on foot from anywhere in the main town, and the taverna sits in the most atmospheric part of the alleys that wind through the heart of the village. The contact telephone number is 0030 698 599 6335. Chora is connected to the port of Gialos below by a regular bus service or by a pleasant fifteen minute walk up the stone path that climbs from the waterfront. From Mylopotas beach, a bus service runs to Chora throughout the day and evening during the summer season. The taverna is open for dinner throughout the summer season and reservations are strongly recommended during July and August when the Chora is at its busiest and the best tables fill very quickly.
Services and Experiences
Kambouris serves the kind of menu that reminds you why Greek taverna cooking at its best is one of the finest food traditions in Europe. Local Ios cheese appears throughout the meal in ways that are natural, generous and completely without pretension. The Greek salad here is made with local cheese or feta or a combination of both, and the quality of the locally sourced dairy makes an immediate and vivid impression compared with the generic feta that appears on most tourist island menus. Traditional dishes including soutzoukakia, the beautifully spiced meatballs that have been a fixture of Greek home cooking for generations, arrive alongside slow-cooked beef in tomato sauce with handmade pasta and the classic kleftiko with lemony potatoes, all of them finished with local cheese in ways that carry the specific character of the Ios terroir directly onto the plate. The tsimetia, Ios’s extraordinary dish of zucchini blossoms stuffed with rice and local kefalotyri, appears on the menu in season and is one of the finest and most distinctive things you will eat on the island. The kalasouna, the traditional open-faced onion pie made with local sour myzithra, is equally essential and equally rooted in the island’s own culinary identity. The portions are generous, the prices are fair and the warmth of the family welcome makes you feel like a returning guest even on your first visit.
5. Grandma’s Restaurant, Liostasi Hotel
Overall Information
Grandma’s is the restaurant at the Liostasi Hotel on Ios that has attracted the most enthusiastic food writing and the most devoted repeat visitors of any dining destination on the island, and its approach to local Ios cheese is one of the finest examples of creative ingredient-led cooking available in the Cyclades. Chef Sotiris Evangelou brings a genuine creative intelligence to a kitchen that is rooted entirely in the traditions of the island, reimagining classic local dishes with a technical skill and a sensitivity to flavour that never loses sight of where the ingredients came from and why they matter. The result is a menu that feels simultaneously rooted in Ios and completely alive to the possibilities of what a great kitchen can do when its larder is this good. The sweet cheese tart made with local Ios goat cheese, garnished with a miniature biscuit goat and accompanied by seasonal fruit, is one of those dishes that encapsulates an entire culinary tradition in a single beautiful plate. It is the dish that people photograph, remember and talk about long after their holiday has ended, and it is the dish that best explains why the cheese of Ios is so much more than an ingredient.
Location
Grandma’s Restaurant is located at the Liostasi Hotel, Ios, 840 01, Greece. The contact telephone number is 0030 22860 921 40. The Liostasi Hotel is a beautifully designed boutique property with a position on the hillside above Gialos port and below Chora, giving it panoramic views across the bay and the Aegean beyond that are among the most spectacular on the island. The restaurant itself is one of the most atmospheric dining spaces on Ios, combining the warmth of a family home with the elegance of a kitchen that takes its craft seriously. The sunset view from the terrace is, by common consent, one of the finest on an island that is famous for its sunsets, and the combination of that view with the quality of what Chef Evangelou sends from the kitchen makes an evening at Grandma’s a very compelling reason indeed to dress up slightly and make a reservation well in advance.
How to Get There
The Liostasi Hotel and Grandma’s Restaurant are located on the hillside between Gialos port and Chora, accessible from both by a short drive, taxi or pleasant walk. From the port of Gialos, the hotel is approximately a ten to fifteen minute walk uphill along the path that connects the port with the main town. From Chora, the hotel is a short walk or taxi ride downhill towards the port. The restaurant is open for dinner throughout the summer season and reservations are essential, particularly during peak season in July and August when the limited number of tables fills weeks in advance for the best evenings. Contact the hotel directly by telephone to book your table and specify that you are booking for Grandma’s restaurant rather than the hotel reception to ensure your reservation is correctly recorded.
Services and Experiences
Grandma’s Restaurant offers a dinner menu that showcases the full range of Ios’s culinary traditions through the lens of Chef Evangelou’s creative and technically accomplished cooking. The cheese experience here is woven through the entire meal rather than confined to a single dish or course. Local Ios goat cheese appears in the extraordinary sweet cheese tart that has become the restaurant’s most celebrated creation, combining the tangy freshness of the island’s cheese with the sweetness of seasonal fruit in a dessert that is elegant, original and deeply rooted in the Cycladic tradition of pairing dairy with honey and fruit. The slow-roasted kid goat with wood-fired potatoes, another signature dish, is finished with local cheese in a way that adds a savoury depth and richness that makes an already exceptional dish even more memorable. The menu changes seasonally and reflects the availability of local produce from Ios farmers, which means every visit in a different part of the summer season offers something new and something worth returning for. The wine list, while focused on Greek producers, features labels chosen to complement the specific character of island food and the dairy-forward cooking style of the kitchen. An evening at Grandma’s does not feel like a hotel restaurant dinner. It feels like being cooked for by someone who genuinely loves the island and everything it produces, and that distinction is everything.
The Cheeses of Ios: A Quick Guide
Ios produces a remarkable range of cheeses from its local sheep, goats and cattle, and each one carries the specific character of this island’s wild herbs, rocky terrain and sea air. Here is what to look for when you sit down at a taverna table or browse the shelves of a local shop.
- Skotyri is the most celebrated and distinctive cheese of Ios, recognised in 2025 as the finest local cheese in Greece by Dutch food experts. It is a soft, velvety, spreadable cheese made from a blend of goat, sheep and cow’s milk, seasoned with black pepper and throubi, the wild savory that grows across the hillsides of the island, and matured in traditional cloth sacks called aski. The texture is creamy and giving, the flavour is gently spicy, subtly herbal and deeply satisfying.
- Xino is the island’s own variant of xinomizithra, a tangy, creamy fresh cheese made from free-range mountain milk with a refreshing sharpness and a gentle salinity that makes it ideal for summer dishes including salads, sandwiches and the traditional kalasouna pie.
- Kefalotyri is a hard, salty cheese aged for at least three months. The Ios version, particularly the Aegean Smoked Kefalotyri made from 100 percent goat milk at Niotiko, is one of the most distinctive hard cheeses produced in the Cyclades, with a deep, savoury intensity and a smoky character that makes it exceptional as a meze with a glass of tsipouro.
- Ios Graviera is made primarily from cow’s milk and has a mild, buttery character that is approachable, versatile and deeply pleasant. It is wonderful grated over the island’s handmade matsi noodles and mermitzeli orzo dishes.
- Myzithra is a soft, milky fresh cheese made from the whey of sheep or goat milk. The Ios version is gentle, sweet and wonderfully light, ideal eaten with ripe summer fruit, drizzled with thyme honey or used in the sweet fried kalasounia pastries that are one of the island’s most beloved traditional treats.
Tips for Cheese Lovers Visiting Ios
Ios is a far more rewarding cheese destination than its party island reputation might suggest, and visiting with a genuine curiosity about its food culture is one of the best ways to discover the real character of the island beneath the surface. Here is what to keep in mind.
- Book Diaseli well in advance. The creamery operates by appointment and the growing international reputation of Skotyri means that tasting slots fill up quickly during the summer season. Call 0030 697 279 8071 to arrange your visit as soon as your travel dates are confirmed.
- Combine the cheese experience with the Hikes and Bites tour if your physical condition allows for a nine kilometre moderate walk. The combination of the island’s traditional trails, the windmills, the amphitheatre and the cheese tasting creates a complete and deeply satisfying experience of a side of Ios that most visitors never find.
- Look for Skotyri on every menu you encounter. This is the cheese that defines Ios and it appears in different contexts across the island’s restaurants and tavernas. Tasting it at Diaseli where it is made, then again in the kitchen of Grandma’s or Kambouris, is one of the most interesting ways to understand how a great ingredient transforms as it moves from farm to table.
- Visit the Mosenta shop at the port in Gialos, which sells Skotyri alongside the island’s famous mosenta watermelon pie and other traditional Ios specialities. This is the most convenient and accessible place to stock up on local cheese and food products if you are arriving or departing by ferry.
- Try the kalasounia. These small fried pastries filled with local myzithra cheese and flavoured with cinnamon and orange, drizzled with thyme honey and dusted with more cinnamon, are one of the finest sweet cheese creations in the Cyclades and they are an Ios speciality that you will not easily find elsewhere. Any good bakery or traditional taverna in Chora should be able to point you towards the best version on the island.
- The best time to visit Ios for the full cheese experience is between June and October, with the summer months offering the finest fresh cheeses and the early autumn bringing the most complex and fully developed aged varieties.
Ios surprises you. That is the thing about this island that stays with you longest after the ferry pulls away from Gialos and the white hillside of Chora disappears behind the headland. You expected beaches and nightlife and you found those things, but you also found Skotyri, and the Haros family on their farm in the northern hills, and the lanes of Chora at dusk with a glass of local wine and a plate of tsimetia, and the sweet cheese tart at Grandma’s that made you understand for the first time that a cheese can carry the entire character of a place in a single taste. That is what great food does. And Ios, it turns out, makes extraordinary cheese.