Paleo Pili is the ruins of a Byzantine castle close to the middle of
Kos island. It’s about 18km from
Kos town and that’s around a 25-30 minute drive.
The castle and grounds are vast, it would probably take hours to explore the whole site if you wanted to. Around the site you’ll find a couple of different walking paths, one leads up to the castle itself and passes by an old church. The other heads down to the cafe. From there you can get refreshments and use the facilities before continuing on to see the rest of the ruins.
One of the best things about Paleo Pili is the spectacular views that you get from the very top. On a good day you can see over to the neighbouring islands of Pserimos and Kalimnos to the north and even to mainland Turkey to the north east. Don’t forget your camera!
Getting to Paleo Pili is relatively simple as there’s a good tarmac road leading most of the way up, it does get narrow in places but there’s no huge scary drop offs like you find on some Greek castles in the hills. At the end of the road there’s ample space to park the car and from there you carry on through the trees on foot.
The route from the parking area to the top is signposted but it can be challenging so make sure you’re wearing good walking shoes and don’t forget to take water with you as it gets hot on the walk.
