Its interior is characterised by small valleys, and its coastline alternates between rocky cliffs, beaches and isolated coves.

[7] In addition to its many historical sites, the island's isolated beaches, many reachable only by small boats, are popular with tourists.

The Municipality of Sými includes the uninhabited offshore islets of Gialesíno, Diavátes, Kouloúndros, Marmarás, Nímos, Sesklío, and Chondrós.

[citation needed] In Homer's Iliad, the island is mentioned as the domain of King Nireus, who fought in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks and was described as the most handsome man in the Achaean forces, after Achilles.

[10] Thucydides writes that during the Peloponnesian War there was a Battle of Syme near the island in January, 411 BC, in which an unspecified number of Spartan ships defeated a squadron of Athenian vessels.

In 1522, Symi was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, along with nearby Rhodes, but it was allowed to retain many of its privileges, so its prosperity continued virtually uninterrupted.

[15] At the end of World War II, the surrender of German forces in the region took place on Symi to the British.

[citation needed] On 5 June 2024, British TV and radio presenter Michael Mosley went missing on the island while on holiday with his wife.

After four days of searching, his body was found on 9 June, on the rocky slope outside the wall of a private resort called Agia Marina.

Since its inception, it has attracted many Greek musicians, Katy Garbi, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Glykeria, Alkistis Protopsalti, Dimitra Galani, Miltos Pasxahildis, etc., to perform at free open-air concerts in the main square of Yialos, and includes many dance and theatre events.

In 2008, Tarpon Springs, Florida, a town with a high percentage of Greek Americans, established a sister city-relationship with Symi.