Archeological Site of Skarkos

Skarkos is an Early Cycladic settlement on a low hill about a kilometre north of Chora, one of the best-preserved Bronze Age villages in the Cyclades. Excavations uncovered houses standing in places to more than one storey, with lanes, doorways and stairways that let you read the plan of a village from around the third millennium BC. Finds from the dig are shown at the Archaeological Museum of Ios in Chora.

It is a modest site, and part of its charm is that very few party-season visitors ever make it here. There is little shade, so go early or late in the day with water, and check the opening hours before you set out, as they are shorter than at the big state sites. Combine it with the museum on the same morning.