Almost at the southern tip of Evia, Karystos is an attractive town of mainly modern origin. Otto, the first king of modern Greece, liked the site so much that he modestly renamed the town after himself. He made it the new capital of Greece, inviting a Bavarian architect to create a grand town plan of long, wide streets lined with mansions.

Today it is one of the destination points for the ferries from Rafina on the mainland, making it busy but in a lively, appealing way. Dominating the town, the Castello Rosso is a massive medieval fortress that looks over modern Karystos from the site of the ancient acropolis.