ISLAND

The islands of Sporades constitute one more popular destination for our summer holidays. Their wonderful waters combined with their dense pinewoods make the islands, distinguish from the rest islands of the Aegean.

One moment you are under the sun in one of their splendid beaches and the other moment you are refreshed under their thick pines. Their beautiful landscapes provoke you to explore them and enchant each traveler.

Sporades are constituted by several islands, however the important ones and well-known are four: Skiathos, Alonnisos, Skopelos and Skyros, and you can find them opposite from the coasts of Evia and Thessaly. They are known as the emerald islands of the Aegean because of the dense vegetation and their aquamarine sea. They own their name in their geographic place as they are scattered all over the Northern Aegean.

Skiathos is the nearest island in the city of Volos and the only island in The Sporades that has an airport. It is famous for the 65 beaches, for its night- life and the sightseeing, and it is one of the most cosmopolitan island of Sporades. Reaching in the island's harbor, we pass from the four islets that secure the entry of island. The city is built as an amphitheatre bewitching us with its wonderful lanes, where you can find the most picturesque corners scattered with colors from the bougainvillea and geraniums. As for the beaches, Skiathos can offer to you big emotions as it is acquaintance for its sparkling seas and its either small or bigger santy beaches. The wonderful beach “Koukounaries” is one of the most famous beaches in Greece where the pines lean their brushes up to watersof this closed gulf with the golden sand, while there also a lot of small harbors that you can approach with caciques. In Skiathos, and mainly in its southern department, you will find abundance of tourist shops, restaurants, modern coffee shops and big hotels. The northern department of the island is less developed as a tourist destination and it offers calmer moments.

Alonnisos, the old den of pirates, is an all over green island that hides in the bottom of its sea a big number of shipwrecks. The older name of island, Ikos, succeeded the name Alonnisos from the word “als” that in ancient Greek means sea, in other words they named it “marine island”! The country of Alonnisos is constituted by beautiful small houses with verandas and a lot of plants that make the landscape more colorful than it is already. Although the essential tourist infrastructures exist, the island keeps a more alternative style in comparison with the other islands of Sporades. It has wonderful sandy shores, like St Dimitrios that many consider as the most beautiful shore of the island with a white band of sand that is lost when it is sunk in the blue water.

Skopelos is probably the “greenest” island of Greece, also named as “island of the forest”. It is positioned between Skiathos and Alonnisos and it charms the travelers with the green forests, the beaches with the pebbles and the picturesque harbors. The island is an immense forest that in most cases reaches up to incredibly limpid waters of the sea. The country has intense islander characteristics with paved streets and whitewashed houses but it also has room for amusement. For example, many bars can be found along both sides of the harbor with an amazing view.

The fourth island of Sporades, named  Skyros, is a remarkable island that has quite a lot of differences from the rest of the islands. Geographically, it is part of  Evia. It is quiet enough and it is advisable especially for relaxing moments. Northern Skyros is full of green with the perfume of pine flooding the atmosphere, while Southern Skyros is characterized by a wilder landscape with low vegetation and stony ground. It has several beaches to suit every taste. Some with beautiful shores with soft sand and others  with small pebbles, crowded beaches but also desolate ones.

Sporades can offer to you unbelievably natural beauty with the full of green landscapes and the blue of the sea waters. Romantic strolls and wanders in the splendid harbors will make you relax and they will travel you in a magic world. So…don’t MISS the opportunity to visit and enjoy them.

Επιμέλεια: Άννα Αποστολίδη