Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sporades and Évvia
The Sporades lie close off Greece's eastern coast, their hilly terrain betraying
their status as extensions of Mount Pílio, right opposite on the mainland. The
three northern islands, Skiáthos, Skópelos and Alónissos, are archetypal
Aegean holiday venues, with wonderful beaches, lush vegetation and
transparent sea; they're all packed out in midsummer and close down almost
entirely from October to April. Skýros, the fourth inhabited member of the
group, lies well southeast, and is much more closely connected - both
physically and historically - to Évvia than to its fellow Sporades. These two
have less obvious attractions, and far fewer visitors.
10
Skiáthos
, thanks to its international airport and extraordinary number of sandy
beaches, is the busiest of the islands, though
Skópelos
, with its
Mamma Mia!
connections, extensive pine forests and idyllic pebble bays, is catching up fast.
Alónissos
, much quieter, more remote and less developed, lies at the heart of a National
Marine Park, attracting more nature-lovers than night owls. Traditional
Skýros
sees
fewer foreign visitors, partly because it's much harder to reach, though plenty of
domestic tourism means no shortage of facilities. Between Skýros and the mainland,
Évvia
(classical Euboea) extends for nearly 200km alongside central Greece. Although
in spots one of the most dramatic of Greek islands, with forested mountains and
rugged stretches of little-developed coast, its sheer size and proximity to the mainland
means that it rarely has much of an island feel; mainlanders have holiday homes
around numerous seaside resorts, but foreigners are very thin on the ground.
An indented coastline full of bays and coves to moor in, relatively steady winds and
the clear waters of the National Marine Park, also make the northern Sporades, rightly,
a magnet for
yacht flotillas
and charters. Many companies have bases in Skiáthos, in
particular.
GETTING THERE
THE SPORADES AND ÉVVIA
By plane
The airports on Skiáthos and at Vólos on the
nearby mainland (see p.223) receive regular international
charters as well as scheduled domestic flights. Skýros has a
domestic airport, but only about three flights a week from
Athens and Thessaloníki.
By ferry
Frequent ferries and hydrofoils run from Vólos
(p.223) and Áyios Konstandínos (p.217) to Skiáthos,
Skópelos and Alónissos. Skýros is accessed from the port of
Kými on Évvia (p.696), where ferries connect with buses
from Athens. Two or three times a week in midsummer, this
same ferry runs between Kými and Alónissos and Skópelos.
For Évvia, local ferries shuttle from various strategic points
on the mainland.
By bus and train
Évvia is joined to central Greece by two
bridges. Buses from Athens run to various points on the
island, and there are trains to the island capital, Halkídha.
Skiáthos
Undulating green countryside, some fine rural monasteries and a labyrinthine old town
notwithstanding, the real business of
Skiáthos
is
beaches
: by far the best, if also the
most oversubscribed, in the Sporades. There are over fifty strands (plus a few more on
Skiáthos's top ten beaches
p.675
Walking on Skópelos
p.681
Hiking on Alónissos
p.684
The Mediterranean Monk seal
p.687
Carnival on Skýros
p.688
Skyrian horses
p.692
