About Fourni
Fourni lies close to Samos and Ikaria. As its plural name Φουρνοι ('ovens') implies, it’s a little archipelago with islets and an inhabited partner, Thymaina Θημαινα, almost as high, which lies close to the west.
Sustained by regular hydrofoil links and a good water supply, its population of 1600 or so swells appreciably in the summer. But it hasn’t yet been over-run by tourism and it has much to offer island walkers. The sea is rarely out of sight and islets, bays and coasts, near and far, are always in view. But from the harbour you can hardly see any sea horizon at all: it's all hemmed in more like a lake than sea.
Fourni’s attractions include:
- craggy but fertile hills and islets
- a range of settlements served by summer day boats, including nearby islets
- a walkable serpentine ridge, with views down to coves, out to islets and to more distant islands
- an acropolis site with, in my opinion, one of the best views in the Aegean, unfortunately marred by an illuminated Easter sign
- scattered chapels, churches, monasteries and shrines
