I always stay here because I love this place. The kitchen has everything you need, the house is clean, the sheets are beautifully ironed and you feel like you are in a real Greek home.
Inside the house it's always lovely and cool (the walls are so thick). There are showers, baths, and comfortable bedrooms. From memory, all are curtained and shuttered, and I sleep better in this house and Andros than anywhere else.! Outside, there are lovely orchards and grassy areas on different levels to relax.
The owners are always really friendly when I book and have always recommended good places to go and companies to use.
What to do: there are so many beaches that we normally go to a different one each day. Some have little restaurants nearby where you can spend a couple of shady hours; others we take a picnic too, and glory in the fact there are still some beaches in Europe with no bars, parasols or disco. Andros is a truly unspoilt island.
My favourite morning activity is to drive in to Gavrio, pick up fruit and vegetables from the farmers who arrive daily and sell groceries from the back of their trucks, then supplement it with visit to the supermarket and green grocer, before selecting one of many cafes for my morning greek coffee.
In the evening, we probably eat in 25% of the time and enjoy really cheap greek wine, gorgeous fruit and vegetables with some fish or cook up a bolognese; but there are also great restaurants - in Gavrio there are lots the facing the port, but also on little squares. Just up from the house is a fabulous restaurant. I have no idea what is called (we just call it the "goat" restaurant ... for no known reason), but just turn right out of the house and its about a kilometre up the hill off the road to the left. The food is really delicious...we have often had to place a second order for more! Children queue up to ride on the ponies that come out in the evening, and all is very safe, quiet and idyllic.
Tips:
- there is a spring nearly opposite the house which we ran down to each day to fill up the bottles with the purest water that runs from the mountains.
- you need a car and the roads are rough - try Anna Vrettou in Gavrio (good English/good range cars)
- the ferry runs in the morning and the afternoon, so make sure your flight fits well with this....alternatively, once I mis-timed it and spent a lovely evening in a good basic hotel on the mainland at Rufina where the restaurants serve great fish