Mini Markets

A mini market on Kos is typically a single room, tightly stacked from floor to ceiling, with a chiller of cold drinks by the door and everything else fitted in around it.

What they give up in range they make up for in position. There is almost always one within a few minutes' walk of wherever you are staying, which is the entire point of them.

The mini market is the backbone of daily life outside Kos Town. Every village and resort has one, usually family-run, usually on the main street, and it will cover bread, water, coffee, milk, beer, sun cream and the thing you forgot — which is most of what a holiday actually requires.

Their real advantage over the supermarkets is hours. Mini markets tend to open earlier, close later and take a more relaxed view of Sundays and public holidays, which makes them the dependable option for a late arrival, an early ferry or a Sunday morning when everything else is shut.

Many also carry a shelf or two of genuinely local produce alongside the standard stock — island honey, olive oil, herbs, homemade preserves. In the smaller villages these are often supplied by neighbours rather than distributors, and they are usually better value than the equivalent in a souvenir shop.