Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NIGHTLIFE
Anatoli
Kástro
T
24240 22851.
Veteran rembétika
musician Yiorgos Xintaris performs at this tumbledown
place on top of the kástro; music from late June to early
Sept, when his sons (who accompany him) return from
university in Athens. By day there's a café with
incomparable views.
Daily 10am-late
.
Bardon
Old Olive Factory
T
24240 24494.
Vast lounge
bar in this food-and-nightlife complex, occupying a
restored industrial area directly opposite the harbour car
park. Cocktails, dance music and occasional live bands.
Daily 6pm-3am.
Merkourio (Mercurius)
T
24240 24593.
Cool bar, just
up from the ferry jetty between Souvláki Square and the
Folklore Museum, with views over the harbour action.
Cocktails are served on candle-lit terraces, to a soft-rock
and Latin soundtrack; also open during the day for
breakfast and coffee.
Daily 10am-2am.
Oionos Blue Bar
T
694 24 06 136.
Old-house bar, well
signed inland from the centre of the harbour, with a jazz,
blues and world-music playlist, plus a staggering variety of
imported beers and whiskies.
Daily 10am-2am.
Platanos
Harbour
T
24240 23661.
Evergreen bar on the
northwest quay, just past
Englezos
restaurant, with jazz
and world-music soundtrack. Great too for a morning
coffee or breakfast and people-watching under the
namesake plane tree outside.
Daily 9am-3am.
10
South and west coast
Many of the island's best, and certainly the most accessible,
beaches
lie just of the
main road and bus route, which heads south across the island from Hóra and then up
the west coast.
Stáfylos
Barely 4km from Hóra,
Stáfylos
is the closest decent beach, though it gets very
crowded in season. There's a noisy beach bar, so if it's peace you're after walk to the end
of the beach and climb over the headland to larger, more scenic, sand-and-fine-gravel
Velanió
, with a summer-only
kantína
and a bit of a nudist scene.
Agnóndas and Limnonári
The beautiful bay of
AGNÓNDAS
has very much the feel of traditional old Greece, with
yachts moored and a pretty fishing harbour where the water laps right up to the tables
of several tavernas. There's not much of a beach, though, so for that follow the side
road to
LIMNONÁRI
, about 1km west, 300m of white sand in a steep-sided bay.
Pánormos and around
PÁNORMOS
is the biggest resort outside Skópelos Town, though still very understated
and low-key. An extensive pebble beach lines the expansive bay, with plenty of tavernas
(most offering free loungers for customers), shops and rooms. Adjoining
Blo
inlet is a
beautiful, quiet anchorage, though there's no beach here.
The wide-open spaces of
Miliá
, immediately beyond Pánormos, comprise two 400m
sweeps of grey sand and pebbles opposite Dhassía islet, divided by a headland with a
sometimes obtrusively noisy beach bar at the south cove. Having found fame as the
Mamma Mia!
beach,
Kastáni
, almost adjacent to Miliá, has become very crowded, with
a big beach bar pumping out dance music. Nonetheless it's a beautiful place, with fine
sand and crystal-clear water. Beyond unattractive
Élios (Néo Klíma)
, isolated
Armenópetra
boasts two spectacular beaches either side of a point. There's no shade
and no facilities, but great views of Glossá on the hillside above.
ACTIVITIES
SOUTH AND WEST COAST
Watersports
In Pánormos you can rent motorboats
(
T
24240 24788,
W
holidayislands.com/boathire) or
kayaks (
T
694 70 44 870) to explore the surrounding
bays.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Adrina Beach
1km north of Pánormos
T
24240 23371,
W
adrina.gr.
Beautiful, ivy-clad, four-star bungalow
complex tumbling down a hillside to its own private beach.
Wonderful sea views from the rooms and duplex
