Samos International Airport to Mytilinioi
About 12 km from SMI on the Vathy road; the KTEL airport bus passes through on its way to Vathy, and a taxi runs €16–22.
An inland village on the road between the airport and the capital, with a paleontology museum holding fossils of prehistoric mammals found in the surrounding hills — a working village rather than a resort.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Mytilinioi, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €28). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €2.5) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €2.5 | €28 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €5 | €28 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €10 | €28 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €2.5, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Under four euros and about twenty minutes. Being on the airport line makes this village unusually easy to reach without a car, though the timetable is still only a handful of departures.
Where to catch it: The Vathy-bound airport bus routes through Mytilinioi, so this is one of the few places on Samos reachable directly from the terminal.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Modest fare for the distance. The village is compact and the streets are narrow in the old centre, so expect the car to stop on the main road if your accommodation is deep inside.
Where to catch it: Eighteen minutes inland on the main cross-island road.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Worth coordinating with whoever holds the keys — in villages like this the handover matters more than the transfer, and owners will often meet the bus if you tell them which one.
Where to catch it: Mostly booked by people renting village houses rather than hotel rooms, where the address is a lane and the owner is meeting you.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Sensible for a village stay, since Mytilinioi has shops and tavernas but no beach — the coast is ten minutes in either direction and the mountain roads start behind the village.
Where to catch it: Eighteen minutes; parking is straightforward at the village edge.
Best for travellers who want to exploreMytilinioi & Samos in photos
Buying tickets in Samos
Samos has no rail. KTEL Samou runs one airport route: terminal → Pythagorio → Mytilinioi → Vathy, at €2–4 depending on distance, a few times a day Monday to Saturday and thinner on Sundays. Everywhere else — Kokkari, Karlovasi, the west — means changing at the KTEL station in Vathy, which is where all island routes begin. Pay the driver in cash. Because the timetable is built around islanders rather than flights, check the board on your way out of arrivals: if the next departure is three hours off, the taxi rank is a few steps away and fares here are modest by Greek island standards. Pythagorio's harbour also runs the 90-minute crossing to Kusadasi in Turkey, which is how a large share of visitors actually arrive.
Taxi scams & safety in Samos
Samos is a low-risk airport and fares are reasonable — roughly €12 to Pythagorio, €20–30 to Vathy, €26–33 to Kokkari, with a night rate on top. The practical risk is not overcharging but availability: this island handles few flights and the taxi fleet is sized to match, so one full arrival can clear the rank and leave you waiting. If you land on the last flight of the day, or have a same-day ferry to Kusadasi or an overnight boat to Piraeus, book ahead rather than assuming. For car hire, reserve before you fly — the island fleet is small and August genuinely sells out, which is a more common problem here than any dispute over a fare.
Getting from SMI to Mytilinioi
Mytilinioi is one of the few places on Samos you can reach directly from the terminal, because the airport bus routes through it on the way to Vathy. Twelve kilometres inland on the main cross-island road, about twenty minutes, and unusually for this island there is no change involved.
On the airport line, which is rare here
KTEL Samou's Vathy service calls at Mytilinioi, so a single fare of two and a half to three and a half euros gets you there in around twenty-two minutes. On an island where almost every destination requires changing at the capital, that directness is worth something. The usual caveat applies — a handful of departures a day from Monday to Saturday, thinner on Sundays — so check the board before deciding against the rank outside.
Sixteen to twenty-two euros by road
A taxi does the same run in eighteen minutes for €16 to €22, which is modest for the distance. The village is compact with narrow streets in the old centre, so expect the car to stop on the main road if your accommodation is deep inside. Samos taxi fares are among the more reasonable in the Aegean and this is a good example.
A paleontology museum, which is not a joke
Mytilinioi's unexpected attraction is a museum of fossils found in the hills around the village — bones of prehistoric horses, giraffes, rhinoceroses and mastodons from a period when this part of the Aegean was savannah rather than islands. It is small, municipally run, and genuinely surprising for a village of this size. Opening hours are limited, so check before making a trip specially.
A working village, not a resort
What you get here is ordinary Samos: a square with a couple of kafeneia, a bakery, a butcher, tavernas that serve the same food at the same prices all year. There is no beach — the coast is ten minutes away in either direction — and no visitor infrastructure beyond a few rooms and village houses to rent. For people who want the island rather than the coastline, that is the appeal; for anyone expecting a sea view, it is a mistake.
Renting a village house, and the key handover
Most of what is let here is houses rather than hotel rooms, booked directly with owners who live nearby. That changes the arrival logistics: there is no reception desk, and the person with the key needs to know when you are coming. Coordinating that with the bus or transfer time is the actual task — several owners will meet the airport bus if you tell them which one you are on, which is easier than it sounds given how few there are.
Central for driving, which is the real advantage
At €25 to €45 a day, a hire car turns Mytilinioi's inland position from a drawback into an asset. You sit near the middle of the eastern half of the island: Vathy is fifteen minutes north, Pythagorio and the airport fifteen south, Kokkari twenty-five over the hill, and the mountain roads to Vourliotes and the monasteries climb from just beyond the village. Parking is free and easy at the village edge, which is not true at the coast.
Seasons, and why the village barely notices
Unlike the beach resorts, Mytilinioi runs the same all year — the shops and tavernas serve residents rather than visitors, so an April or November stay works here when it would not at Votsalakia. That makes it a reasonable choice for a shoulder-season trip, provided you have transport and are not counting on swimming weather.
The road over the shoulder to the north
From the village a secondary road climbs north over the ridge towards Vourliotes and the Nightingale valley, joining the coast at Kokkari. It is narrower and slower than the main route through Vathy but it is the interesting way across, through terraced vineyards and pine, and it halves the distance to the north coast. Nobody signposts it as a scenic route and the buses do not use it at all.
Practically: under four euros on the airport bus if the timing works, €16–22 in a taxi otherwise, and a hire car if you are basing yourself inland — which is the main reason to choose this village at all.
