Ikarian Centre: Greek language courses & learning holidays — Hotel in Icaria Municipality

TL;DR: if you're not into big hotels with breakfast service and stuff, this is the best place ever.

We've visited the Ikarian Centre in its guesthouse incarnation, and it was completely wonderful.

The location is really breath-taking, quite isolated, but not too far from the tiny and characterful town of Arethousa, atop a hill, with a really marvellous vista over Evdalos port and a beautiful valley.

Mikelis, the person running the place (and teaching Greek, if you go for the Greek language course) has been exceptionally welcoming, pointed us in all the right directions for nice non-touristic beaches, tavernas, towns and anything we were interested in, quite literally like having an Ikarian friend draw you a custom map of the place, taking his time explaining everything and asking you what you'd be interested in.

The room was wonderful, very cute in a rustic way, quiet and with plenty of windows looking over pretty places, clearly built with care, also confirmed by the fact it included quite literally anything you could want to have in a room, a fridge, a sink, a bathroom, a fan, a little cooker, pots and pans, cutlery, even down to mosquito repellant and a couple of little bedsit lamps.

In the mornings you can have breakfast sitting outside, chat with the other guests/students, take in the vistas, and pick figs straight off the tree.

Can't quite think of a better place to stay in Ikaria, or generally on a holiday, good location, good atmosphere in a place clearly made to be pleasant in a genuine way.

And for some reason Google doesn't want me to...

I wasn’t planning to leave a review but I see there is none yet for 2025 and I would like interested students to have access to an updated one :-).

I took a one-week course and I am very pleased with the experience. From the pickup at the airport (very convenient) to the activities organized during the week (a hike, a dinner, a dancing lesson, coffee at the village regularly, etc. Everyday there is something which you can decide to join or not. Since the location is very up the hill, its extremely convenient that transportation back and forth is included.

As for the accommodation, the room has everything you might need for your stay (including a very convenient fridge and hairdryer). It’s clean, includes towels, the bed is comfy and the views are simply amazing. Also the heating is very good. You get a key but you end up not even using it because it’s a family vibe where you feel very safe. Also, you have access to all the premises, including common areas and kitchen (with washing machine and even dryer).

Regarding the classes, Mihalis first makes an assessment of your level and then decides what class is best for you, also taking the levels of the other students in consideration. I find extremely difficult to do what he does (adapt to whoever enrolls regardless of levels) and yet he does it very professionally. I feel I learned and refreshed my knowledge, which was the goal!

In summary, highly...

This place is so much more than a language school. Of course, you receive exceptional, intimate, professional instruction from your teaching during daily language lessons. These lessons bring you into close proximity to the language. Your classmates are committed to learning the language and sharing in the transformative experience of learning Greek both inside and outside the classroom. In addition to the language course, there are frequent excursions to the major sites on the island. The location of the centre is ideal—tucked away in the mountains, but only a 20 min walk to the nearby village of Arethousa and a short drive to the port town of Evdilos. The centre becomes the perfect place for more than language learning: it is a peaceful place for hiking, reading, writing, and cultivating other creative and recreational hobbies. The quiet and simply life here at the center is transformative. I could not recommend this school enough.

(I would recommend getting a car during your stay to make the most of your time on the beautiful...