By type of crime
- 63Overall safety
- 74Property crime
- 51Violent crime
Kos scores 63 out of 100 (modelled estimate, Eurostat 2021–2024) for overall safety — average crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. It is home to about 33,388 people (2021 census), 115 per km².
The score is absolute, not a ranking: 50 is the offence rate of Greece as a whole and every doubling of the rate costs the same points, so any two places compare directly. How the scores are made
Updated · police figures: Eurostat 2021–2024 · What's new
What Kos is actually like
Kos is the second most populous island of the Dodecanese, with 37,089 people at the 2021 census, on a strip of land about 42 km long. Kos town is the main port: a fortress built by the Knights Hospitaller in 1315 guards the harbour mouth, the Plane Tree of Hippocrates stands in the centre, the ancient agora ranked among the largest of its time, and the ruins of the Asklepieion recall where Hippocrates learned medicine. Tourism, built on the beaches, is the island's main industry. Lambi and Psalidi are the resort strips either side of town; Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari line the sandy north coast; Kardamena on the south coast is the liveliest resort; Kefalos and Kamari in the south-west keep the quietest beaches. Residents shop at the Thursday laiki on Emmanouil Pappa in Kos town, 07:30 to 14:00.
After dark
In Kos town the bars cluster on Diakon and Nafklirou streets. In Kardamena the evening starts on Bar Street; the bars close or turn the music down around midnight and the harbour clubs carry on into the morning. Reported trouble is occasional and late: a nightclub fight in June 2025 and an early-hours robbery near the Kos town marina in August 2026. Resort roads are the other night hazard: a pedestrian was badly hurt on Tigaki's main road at 22:30 in September 2026.
What to watch for
- Kos town marina: in the early hours of 2 August 2026 a group of six young men demanded money from three 21-year-olds, took one's bicycle by force and made another withdraw €150 at a nearby cash machine; police identified them from security-camera footage, found their hotel and arrested all six the next morning
- Nightclub violence: a fight late on a Saturday night in June 2025 at a club on Kos left two men seriously hurt, one of them sent on to Athens with an eye injury that put his sight at risk; police arrested five men
- Tigaki main road: at about 22:30 on 8 September 2026 a 67-year-old visitor on foot was seriously injured by a motorbike ridden illegally by a 16-year-old; the rider and his father, the bike's owner, were arrested
- Eleftherias Square, Kos town: on a Sunday evening in September 2026 a man was called by his name, startled, and had a small bag with his documents and cash taken; police traced and arrested the suspect shortly afterwards
Staying here
Yes. Kos town is the obvious base if you do not need a beach all day, with Lambi's quieter pebble beach just north. Families suit Tigaki or smaller, calmer Marmari, and Mastichari's shallow water works for small children and windsurfers. Kardamena is for nightlife, with fewer buses to town. Kefalos and Kamari have the quietest beaches but need a hire car.
Streets and squares: Nafklirou Street (Kos town) · Diakon Street (Kos town) · Eleftherias Square (Kos town) · Kos town marina · Bar Street (Kardamena) · Kardamena harbour · Tigaki main road · Lambi
Sources
- Wikipedia - Kos (accessed October 2026)
- The Mediterranean Traveller - Where to stay on Kos: beach resort guide (May 2026) · May 26, 2026
- Holiday Hypermarket - A clubber's guide to Kardamena and Kos Town (accessed October 2026)
- Kosnews24 - Robbery of three young visitors in Kos, six tourists arrested (August 2026) · August 4, 2026
- Greek City Times - Brawl between tourists in a Kos nightclub leaves two injured (June 2025) · June 9, 2025
- Kosnews24 - Serious accident in Tigaki: 16-year-old on a motorbike hits 67-year-old tourist (September 2026) · September 9, 2026
- Kosnews24 - Bag stolen from a man in Eleftherias Square, Kos town (September 2026) · September 15, 2026
- Laikimap - Farmers' markets (laiki) in Kos
Districts in Kos
6 places, by overall safety
Safest
Most crime
All districts, largest first
The number on the right is how many people live there. The one on the left is its safety score out of 100.
Nearby municipalities
Questions people ask
Is Kos safe?+
SafetyMap estimates Kos (Κως) at 63 out of 100 for overall safety — average crime, on a scale where 50 is the Greek average. It is a modelled estimate, not a count of crimes recorded there: it comes from the police-recorded offence rate of its regional unit (Eurostat, 2021–2024), apportioned by how built-up Kos is and by documented local reporting. As a rate, the estimate comes to roughly 260 property and 97 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year. The written notes on this page class it as “Ordinary precautions”.
Is Kos safe at night?+
In Kos town the bars cluster on Diakon and Nafklirou streets. In Kardamena the evening starts on Bar Street; the bars close or turn the music down around midnight and the harbour clubs carry on into the morning. Reported trouble is occasional and late: a nightclub fight in June 2025 and an early-hours robbery near the Kos town marina in August 2026. Resort roads are the other night hazard: a pedestrian was badly hurt on Tigaki's main road at 22:30 in September 2026.
How does Kos compare with the rest of Dodecanese (Rhodes, Kos, Kalymnos, Karpathos)?+
Kos is estimated at 63 out of 100 for overall safety, against 59 for Dodecanese (Rhodes, Kos, Kalymnos, Karpathos) as a whole — safer than its surroundings.