Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING AROUND
By bus
Buses run five times daily between Skýros Town
and Linariá (€1.60), connecting with the ferries; in town
the bus stop is near the bottom of the main street, by the
school. In summer there are also four buses daily from
Linariá to Magaziá and Mólos via town, and two daily from
Skýros Town to Kalamítsa.
By taxi
There are plenty of taxis (
T
22220 91666) to meet
the ferries, with taxi stands by the main square in town,
and close to the bus stop.
By car and scooter
Skyros Travel (see p.688) rent cars
(trading as Pegasus;
T
22220 91600,
W
skyrosrentacar
.com), or you can get scooters from several places including
Vagios (
T
22220 92957), in a side street just below the
main square in town.
10
Skýros Town and around
Once through the rather scruffy outskirts,
SKÝROS
TOWN
(Hóra)
is a beautiful place, its
Cycladic-style white, flat-roofed, red-tiled houses clinging to the inland slope of a pinnacle
rising precipitously from the coast. In legend, King Lykomedes raised the young Achilles
in his palace here, and also pushed Theseus to his death from the summit. A single main
street leads up to a central platía; beyond that, cobbled and increasingly narrow and
traffic-free, lies a 150m stretch lined with almost everything you'll need - shops, many of
them selling classy jewellery, crafts and antiques, restaurants, banks and sophisticated bars.
Wander off the main street and the place is suddenly bigger than it first seemed. There are
always fascinating glimpses - covered passageways, churches and front doors open to reveal
traditional house interiors with gleaming copperware, antique embroideries and the proud
local crafts of painted ceramics and elaborately carved wooden furniture.
Kástro
The Byzantine-Venetian
kástro
atop the ancient
acropolis
above town is a very steep
climb, so unless you're interested in seeing the picturesque old quarter along the way,
you may want to check that it is open following reconstruction - it was badly damaged
by an earthquake in 2001. Even from outside there are great views; inside is the
Byzantine
monastery of Áyios Yeóryios
.
Rupert Brooke memorial
he British poet Rupert Brooke is always associated with Skýros, though in fact he
spent only a few days here, arriving as a naval officer of the south of the island on April
17, 1915, and dying six days later of blood poisoning on a French hospital ship. He lies
buried in an olive grove above the bay of Trís Boúkes (see p.693). The
Rupert Brooke
memorial
comprises a nude bronze statue of “Immortal Poetry”, in a quiet square
overlooking the coast; it's right on the edge of town, reached by following the main
street uphill and taking the signed left fork, or by steps up from Magaziá.
The archeological museum
Below the Rupert Brooke memorial • Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm • €2
Skýros's two-room
archeological museum
is far better than you might expect, with the
added bonus of a lovely setting above the sea. The highlights are Early Bronze Age
pottery, obsidian axe-heads and stone blades and tools from Palamári (see p.692); later
artefacts include a Geometric-era ceramic rhyton in the form of a Skyrian pony and a
vase with eight ducks being beset by snakes. There's also a side room in the form of a
traditional Skyrian house, with carved wooden screen and furniture.
Manos Faltaïts Museum
Below the Rupert Brooke memorial • Daily 10am-2pm & 6-9pm • €2 •
W
faltaits.gr
An early nineteenth-century mansion built over a bastion in the ancient walls houses
the eccentric
Manos Faltaïts Museum
, in the family home of a prolific local painter.
Along with his own works it's an Aladdin's cave of local history and folklore, with
traditional furnishings and costumes, curios and books.
