The new 2012 guide book
The ‘A to Z Guide to Kos’ was the second book in the ‘A to Z’ series. A comprehensive, accurate and impartial book that covers all aspects of the island, its history and the many attractions to be found on Kos, the neighbouring island of Nisyros and the nearby Turkish mainland.
Tony Oswin the author of the ‘A to Z Guides’, is a British expatriate now living on the Greek island of Thassos. He realised the need for such books during his many visits to the Greek islands, finding it always difficult, costly and time consuming acquiring accurate information locally. With this in mind his objective has been to create a series of guide books that accurately cover all the subjects of interest to the holidaymaker and general traveller, to help make their stay more enjoyable and problem free. These include:
- History & mythology of Kos
- Local culture and customs
- Different ways of visiting the island
- Hotels, studios and apartments
- Camping on the island
- Places to visit
- Organised trips
- Activities for the younger visitor
- Beaches and resorts
- Archaeological sites on Kos
- Visiting the volcanic island of Nisyros
- Visiting Bodrum (mainland Turkey)
- Eating and drinking out
- A guide to Greek food
- Sports & recreation on the island
- Car & Scooter hire
- Public transport
- Bus information
- Ferry and hydrofoil information
- Weather facts
- Local products
- Carnivals and religious events
- Money matters
- Health facts and contacts
- Simple advice on bugs and critters
- Shopping guides
- Hints and tips for the visitor
- Maps of Kos, Kos Town, the Asklepion and Bodrum
- 2012 Calendar
- Greek glossary
The book has been revised for the 2012 season with all the latest facts, money saving tips and comprehensive information on Kos. The ‘A to Z Guide to Kos 2012’ is published by Arima Publishing and is priced at £9.95
Printed with a monochrome interior and full colour cover, 188 pages.
ISBN-978-1-84549-532-9
You can order the ‘A to Z Guide to Kos 2012’ from all good book stores. However, if you want to be guaranteed the very latest edition, you can purchase the book online from our publishers Arima, or our eBay site below.
The following is a selection of major international book retailers. To go directly to their website click on the name.
Direct from ‘A to Z Guides’
Arima Publishing (Worldwide)
eBay (UK)
Dispatch within the UK
Dispatch within the UK and Internationally
Dispatch within Europe and Internationally
Dispatch within the US and Internationally
KOS QUICK FACTS
• One of the main Greek island holiday destinations
• In easy reach of Bodrum on the Turkish mainland
• Nearby volcanic island of Nisyros
• Many fine beaches
• Bustling in the high season
• Island airport
• Many all inclusive resorts
• Kos Town café culture
• Archaeologically interesting
• ‘High octane’ night-time venues
OUR TOP FIVE RECOMMENDED ATTRACTIONS FOR KOS
1. Trip to Bodrum
2. Trip to Nisyros
3.The Asklepion
4. Kos Town
5. Casa Romana
DISCLAIMER • The comments posted below are the opinions of the reviewer only, and unless expressly stated otherwise, are not the opinions of ‘A to Z Guides’ or its representatives. ‘A to Z Guides’ also reserve the right to delete any comment at any time for any reason. • To the fullest extent permitted by law, ‘A to Z Guides’ and Tony Oswin expressly disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to any person or business, in respect of the content of a posted comment. Please note that when submitting a comment, the email address confirmed by you on the form has to match the source address. To eliminate unwanted spam, our system automatically rejects any submitted comments that do not comply.
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15 Comments
Comparing to other guides and short info books about Kos Island this is definitely the most useful and COMPLETE. Congratulations to the author.
We are returning to Kos this summer and decided to buy your 2012 book and the new Marco Polo guide to the island. I just thought I’d let you know that your book is still the bset. Lot’s more information thanthe MP and your new website is the “icing on the cake”. Thanks again for a great guide book.
Impressed with the guide book and the linked website. A novel idea to keep the book up to date and receive the latest news from the island. Together they seem to have all the information and facts we will need for our holiday on Kos.
(Amazon.co.uk review)
Hi
Thanks for such a brilliant book and website. Together they contain all the information we need for our holiday on Kos this summer. As for the lack of photos, absolutely no problem, they tell you very little in comparison to accurate and up-to-date information!
Best wishes and thanks,
Brian and Jean
(Received by e-mail)
Dear Mr. Oswin
My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful holiday in Greece (first time for both of us), visiting the island of Kos and staying near Kamari. It was rather a last minute thing and your guidebook was indispensible. Highlights for us were bathing in the sea beside the ruins of Agios Stefanos and the Roman House in Kos town.
Thanks for helping us get the most out of our trip. We will definitely return to Greece and to another of the islands in the Dodecanese.
With all best wishes
Jane Eade
(Received by email)
Hi Tony,
First of all I would like to thank you for all the helpful tips your
book has provided my wife and I during our week’s holiday on Kos. We
came back 1 week ago.
From using the bus as main transport method to the detailed
description of the places to visit that has helped us in selecting the
best destinations according to our holiday taste.
I bring also the greetings of your friends at Tigaki tours. Following
your advise we booked with them the 3 island cruise and the visit to
Nysiros. When they saw me reading your book on the boat, katerine the
guide said, I know this guy in the picture. She immediately
remembered your visit last autumn. During the trip to Nysiros we have
been so lucky to have one of the three Brits living in the island as
our guide, Michael who is living in the village of Nikia. We have been
even luckier to have lunch with him and listening to his incredible
experience of life in Nysiros.
I have honestly to say that the tours are well worthy, not only for
the excellent service they provide but also for the excellent price
(our tour operator was charging almost double for the nysiros trip
for example).
Concerning the book, other than to say that is really well written, we
would like to provide you with the following feedback:
- bus tickets can now be purchased only on the bus
- Tigaki tour have no longer an office in Psalidi
- you may want to provide an explanation how to reach the beach of
Agios Stefanos from Paradise Beach. At the hotel reception for example
they wrongly advice us that is possible to walk from one beach to the
other.
- you should stress even more of what you already did to avoid to hire
a scooter or a quad. It is definitely not advisable. For example we
met on the bus a young Italian guy who was rushing to the hospital to
visit a friend who just had a serious accident while driving a quad.
What else to say other than congratulating you for the passion you
have written your book with.
Let us know if you ever will be around London, we live in Hersham
(Surrey). We would be happy to share a drink with you.
Ciao
Denis & Elena
(Received by email)
Just returned from Kos.This book was very helpful and informative. No pictures which kept the cost down but certainly had it’s finger on the pulse of this brillaint island. We normally buy the AA guides but I can certainly say this one was much more concise and not full of waffle. Told you exactly what you needed to know. I would certainly recommend if it’s your first time to kos
(Amazon.co.uk review)
We love eBayers like this! Great guide & great comms – sent IMMEDIATELY too!
A to Z Guide to Kos 2011, incl. Nisyros and Bodrum
(Feedback on eBay.co.uk)
We are going to Kos in July and wanted a guide-book that would cover all that the island has to offer as we like to tour as well as relaxing on a beach. Friends of ours used the A to Z Guide to Thassos last year and found it excellent, so we decided to go for the Kos edition. The book is very comprehensive and we are impressed with the useful holiday information and latest news on the book’s web-site. However we would have liked photos of the island, the author does explain that to allow for regular book updates it has to be printed by a special process that can’t include colour photographs. On the plus side to compensate, he has added a very good photo-gallery on the book’s web site. All in all a very good guide-book just the one small negative.
(Amazon.co.uk review)
Having used another of the A to Z books before, we had no hesitation in purchasing the Kos guide for our holiday this year. Once again a very useful guide book, full of information and as another reviewer has commented the book’s website is innovative and very comprehensive. Recommended book.
(Amazon.co.uk review)
We received the book last week and it’s “as it says on the tin”, very comprehensive, packed with lots of useful information and easy to read. We haven’t been to Kos before, but from what we’ve read elsewhere, it seems to cover everything and in great detail including a clear description of the island’s beaches, towns and historical sites. We’ve also browsed the book’s website and found that to be the icing on the cake, so much useful information to help plan our holiday and the very latest news on Kos to keep the book right up to date. Compared with other guide books we’ve used before, it’s up there with the best.
……Have just returned from Kos and found the A to Z Guide brilliant, spot-on with the facts and so helpful! It became our bible wherever we went. We picked up one of the local ones to compare and it was published in 1992 and had pictures of men on donkeys….we never saw one!!
(emailed and Amazon.co.uk review)
Thanks for the book on Kos. It really got us through our fabulous trip. The information on the historical sights was more than helpful, and we never needed to buy a guide or info leaflet about the site. Although this book says to be wary of parking when you drive a car, we had no problems whatsoever with parking all around the island. Just be as careful as your normally are at home and you’ll be fine.
The information given on Bodrum was great as well. We brought the book with us there and read through the history and sights. It is unfortunate that there are no pictures, but we can understand why that is the case. Regardless, it is a must to go to the Askelpion!!
Thanks for all the tips. If you get this book for your trip on Kos, it will more than get you through!
(Posted Comment)
Dear Mr. Ketcher-Murrell,
First may I thank you for your review. With regard to your comment on photographs I agree, in a ‘perfect world’ I would have liked to add these to the books. However, my decision was that the regular addition of the latest information on the island was more important for the traveller. As you will see though, I have added a ‘Photo Gallery’ on this site to compensate for this necessary omission.
Where bars and restaurants are concerned, having visited many of the local hostelries, I have found that the quality of both the service and food can change from one visit to the next. This can be due to many factors such as changes of staff and the time during the season. A further reason for not recommending specific bars or restaurants in my books is that peoples’ perception of quality differs widely, what is excellent for one can be unsatisfactory to another.
With these factors in mind I decided not to recommend specific restaurants, but to give both a detailed guide to eating out on Kos and information on the types of food available.
I hope this explains my reasons and that you agree with my decision.
Once again, thank you for your review.
Kind regards
Tony Oswin
This guide is good for people new to Kos. Shame it doesn’t have any photos but gives a great insight into the island. Good tips of what to look out for and what to avoid.
It doesn’t tell you about the best places to eat or drink to be impartial but this would be very useful, especially if there is somewhere that shouldn’t be missed.
Useful guide with just a couple of negatives.
(Amazon.co.uk review)
I bought this travel guide prior to departing to Kos. It was actually recommended to me by a fellow holiday maker. I found this book to be extremely useful, It offers comprehensive information on where to stay, where to go, what to see, how to get around, including taxi phone numbers, bus fares and details of car and bike hire. Also, holiday hotspots, local healthcare if things go wrong and even what to do if you are stung by a jelly fish. It also answers questions that someone like me who had never travelled to Greece needed answers to, such as whether to carry all my money round with me and if faded menus in restaurants are a sign of poor quality, (they are not by the way, just extreme heat!)
The only negative is the absence of any pictures. The author has a valid explanation for this in that each copy is printed when ordered and it would be extremely expensive. From my point of view, while it is not essential, it does help to have a visual of where you are planning to go. However, that aside, this is extremely useful and I would recommend.
(Amazon.co.uk review)
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