Folegandros has no airport and no cruise links, so every arrival on the island is a crossing someone has to plan. Gundari answers that by running both private routes itself: its own speedboat from Santorini, Milos, Paros, Sifnos and other nearby ports, and helicopter transfers from Athens and the surrounding Aegean islands.
The resort gives its own distances as 3 km to Chora, 5 km to the port and 2 km to the heliport. The long part of any journey here is the water, and the island has stayed that way on purpose. It is 12 square miles with two towns, no sunloungers laid out on the beaches and agricultural terraces still worked for farming, and it paved its first road only in the early 2000s.
The boat from Ammoudi Bay
The house vessel is a Rafnar 45, which the resort calls a high-performance luxury boat. It collects guests at Santorini’s Ammoudi Bay, the speedboat quay below Oia, rather than at the ferry port at Athinios. The crossing takes about 45 minutes. A fast ferry covers the same water in 50 minutes, and the ordinary sailings take anywhere from one to three hours. When the meltemi blows down from the north the crossing is a rough one, which is part of why the buildings sit on a slope sheltered from those winds. The boat also works from Milos, Paros, Sifnos and other nearby ports, which matters for a guest already somewhere in the Cyclades.
The helicopter and the single helipad
Folegandros has one designated helipad, and every charter flight to the island lands there. For private aviation it is the only way in. Gundari arranges transfers from Athens and from the surrounding Aegean islands. The flight from Athens runs about 46 minutes, from Santorini about 15 and from Mykonos about 27, against ferry connections that are often routed through Piraeus or an intermediate island and take half a day. Luggage travels in the cabin, and soft bags are the advice, because the allowance changes with the aircraft. Charter operators ask for 48 to 72 hours’ notice, and longer through July and August, when the slots go first.
What the public route asks
Daily ferries reach Folegandros from Athens, Santorini, Milos and the major Cycladic ports through the season. In winter they run only a few days a week, and only when the weather allows. Beyond a couple of sailings a day, the transfer from Athens or Santorini is a helicopter or a speedboat, which is why the resort keeps both. The settled months for either are May to early July and September to October. August is when everything is asked for at once.
The house at the other end
Gundari opened in May 2024 on the south-eastern coast, beside Petousis, the first agricultural settlement on the island. The hotelier Ricardo Larriera bought an 80-acre plot of farmland on the cliff edge, and five years passed between the first spades and the opening. Block722, the Athens studio that drew the buildings, worked in stone excavated on site and sand-coloured cement. There are 25 suites and two villas, each with an infinity pool, and seven of them are cut into the ground. The land around the resort is known as a resting place for birds migrating between Europe and Africa. The approach is a gravel track at the end of the road, and an electric fleet runs it.
What the boat does between transfers
Once a guest is on the island the Rafnar goes back to work as a day boat. The resort runs private tours of the Folegandros coast, taking in hidden bays and sea caves, and crossings to Polyaigos, Milos, Sifnos and Sikinos. Sikinos is 30 to 40 minutes away by boat. Two of the trips are built around a table: Cantina Sifnos, and a sunset dinner at the Sikinos winery. A guided hike can also end at a deserted bay, with a private boat back to the hotel for lunch.
Who is this for
It suits couples, a family taking one of the villas and anyone moving through the western Cyclades who would rather hand over the crossings. About 600 people live on the island out of season, and the Chora is a labyrinth of small squares with boutiques, cafés and tavernas under pink bougainvillea. In the evening locals gather there to play cards and backgammon over a glass of wine. Classes at the resort are held outdoors, among lavender and fig trees.
