Evia (North) vs Evia (South)
Side-by-side comparison — beaches, culture, atmosphere, and the practical question of which one suits your trip.
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Select two islands to compare side-by-side.
Our verdict
The short answer: South Evia, 3.9 to 3.6, and the reason is the coastline — 4.6 for beaches against 3.8, the biggest beach gap anywhere on the island. The wild east-facing shore below Mount Ochi, from Kallianou down past Potami and Agios Dimitrios, is the best swimming on the second-largest island in Greece and almost nobody outside Greece knows it. North Evia's answer is different: thermal springs at Loutra Edipsou, the cheapest prices on the island at 4.8, and forest instead of granite. Both are quiet — nightlife 2.5 either way. Choose by whether you came for water or for water that comes out hot.
Choose North Evia if…
- You want thermal baths. Loutra Edipsou has been a spa since antiquity, the water arrives around 40°C, and you can sit in it where it meets the sea.
- You want the cheapest week on Evia — 4.8 for affordability, the best value of the three regions.
- You want green rather than bare. North is pine and olive to the water; South is granite, gorse and wind.
- You want Lichadonisia, the shallow turquoise islets off the northwest tip.
- You are coming from Thessaloniki or central Greece — the Arkitsa and Glyfa ferries land you straight in the north.
Choose South Evia if…
- Beaches are the whole point. 4.6 is the highest beach score on Evia and one of the better ones in the Aegean: Kallianou, Potami, Agios Dimitrios, Giannitsi, Thapsa.
- You want to hike something real. Mount Ochi rises to 1,398 m and the Dimosari Gorge descent to Kallianou is one of the best day hikes in Greece.
- You want the Dragon Houses — the drakospita on Ochi, megalithic slab structures nobody has convincingly explained.
- You want Karystos: a planned 19th-century town under a Venetian sea-fort, with a proper waterfront and good fish.
- You are coming from Athens by ferry — Rafina to Marmari is about an hour, the quickest crossing to any part of Evia.
The beaches are not close
South Evia scores 4.6 and North 3.8, and once you have driven the road below Ochi you understand why. The east coast faces open Aegean, so the water is cold, clear and deep, and the beaches sit at the bottom of steep valleys with nothing built on them. Kallianou is where the Dimosari gorge comes out — you can walk down to it and swim at the end. Potami, Agios Dimitrios, Giannitsi and Thapsa are all pebble or coarse sand with the same startling clarity. On the west side, Marmari and Bouros are gentler and more organised.
North Evia swims well but tamely: Rovies, Pefki, Agia Anna, Agios Georgios, mostly pebble, mostly sheltered, mostly with a taverna. Comfortable, family-friendly, unmemorable. The one genuinely special swim in the north is Lichadonisia, and that requires a boat.
What North has instead
Hot water and low prices. Loutra Edipsou is one of Europe's oldest continuously used spa towns — the springs are mentioned by Aristotle, Sulla came here to treat his gout, and the Belle Époque hotels are still standing in various states of grandeur and decay. The water surfaces at around 40°C and runs into the sea, where you can sit in the mixing zone for free. For anyone with a bad back or a long winter behind them, this is a real reason to choose north over south.
Affordability is 4.8 against 4.5 — not a huge gap on paper, but the north has less of the second-home money that has pushed up Karystos and Marmari, and it shows in taverna bills.
Wind, and the honest caveat about each
South Evia is windy. The Kafireas strait between Evia and Andros is one of the windiest places in the Aegean — which is why the ridgelines are covered in turbines, a sight some people find impressive and others find ruinous. In July and August the meltemi can make the east coast unswimmable for a day or two at a time, and you plan around it by crossing to the sheltered west.
North Evia's caveat is the 2021 fire, which burned a large area of forest. The coastal villages and beaches were mostly spared and regeneration is visible, but some inland drives still pass through burnt ground. Worth knowing before you go rather than after.
The honest verdict
South Evia is the better region and the more surprising one: the best beaches on the island by a clear margin, the best hiking, a town in Karystos with actual character, and an hour's ferry from Rafina. Choose North if you specifically want the thermal springs, the lowest prices, or a green forested base rather than a bare granite one — all three are legitimate and none of them is a consolation prize. But if a stranger asked which half of Evia to see first and gave no other information, the answer is south.