Greek Island Coastal Track and Path Walking whilst on holiday on Skiathos Greece.

Visiting several of Sciathos's beaches and a hill walk via Panaghia Kounistra Monastery.

Whilst on holiday on the Greek Island of Skiathos we were staying at Troulos by the beach bus stop number 20 so our walks are shown as starting from around here. We used the Topo 25 (Anavasi) map which we found to be really accurate. The way the walks below are described were how we walked them however you can easily see from the Topo that you can extend or reduce the walks by using different tracks/paths.

Troulos - Meghalos Aselinos and Elias Bay - Troulos. A 14km circular walk across Skiathos on dirt tracks to visit several unspoilt and quite wild beaches - there are just a few fairly easy climbs.
Take the main island coastal road from Troulos Beach bus stop 20 heading uphill towards Koukounaries - at the top of the hill (just after bus stop 21) take a concrete track on the right by a large cream-coloured utility building. The track climbs steeply and quickly bends right - it soon levels out somewhat and you get excellent views of Troulos Beach and the surrounding hills. Follow the now dirt track as it undulates between pine trees to reach a major track junction. Keep straight ahead - the track climbs a little as it heads towards and then passes a large goat station on the left. At the next track junction take the right fork and follow this round the hills for another 1.3kms. This then arrives at a t-junction - go right and follow this winding fairly rough track down to a small metal road. Go left and walk along to reach Meghalos Aselinos Beach - there is a taverna here plus a cafe and also beach chairs and umbrellas are available.
To continue the walk - go back along the road and turn right back up the inbound track as far as the earlier t-junction - curiously it initially looks like a really hard climb but did seem to be quite easy in fact. At the juncton take a small path on the right which heads down through pine trees and then reaches a clearing with a ruined building in the middle. The path is quite indistinct here - you need to cross the clearing but staying to the left edge as much as possible - look for where the ground dips very steeply - here the path becomes obvious again.

Now follow this very nice enclosed path as it goes down to reach Agistros Beach - a small taverna exists here. Cross the beach and take the steps on the far side then at the top go straight on to shortly walk down on a narrow rocky path to reach the long sweep of Elias Bay and Beach - a taverna as well as beachchair/umbrella hire are available on this beach.
From here go back up the rocky path then at the top turn right and take the outbound track- this climbs to a track junction. Go left and slowly climb some more for a while to reach a track fork- take the right fork - the track now winds round the hills with lovely views of the island including the lake at Koukounaries.
About 1.5km along reach another track junction - turn right to re-join the original outward track - soon pass the goat station and then continue on back to the main coastal road.

Troulos - Koukounaries - Mandraki. Troulos to Koukounaries Beach on a lovely wooded track then via the coastal track via Krifi Amos to Mandraki. About 16km.
Starting from bus stop 20 at Troulos Bay walk uphill on the coastal road towards Koukounaries - just after bus stop 21 take a concrete track on the right next to a large cream coloured municipal building. The track climbs for a while then undulates to reach a main 4-way track junction. Go sharp left and start descending - the views are really good. This track flattens a bit more after a while and becomes quite shaded as it goes through lovely pine trees. Eventually the track comes out at the main coastal road. Turn right down hill and after about 400 metres take a small road on the left which leads to the harbour and beach.

The easiest and nicest way to walk (rather than walk the beach itself) is to take the narrow sandy track which goes along between the beach and the lake. At the far end of Koukounaries beach you come out by the bus terminal - go right along the main road soon passing the nice little church of Aghia Eleni. Shortly after the church take a tarmac road on the left - this goes uphill then just past the top of the hill take the dirt coastal road on the right which is signed to Krifi Amos. Follow the dirt road round as it more or less hugs the coast - eventually passing Krifi Amos Beach (there is a good path down to the beach and a taverna available). Stay on the road to eventually reach a sign pointing to Mandraki Beach. This is a really nice beach which is set in under small cliffs - there is a taverna here plus you can hire beach chairs/umbrellas or of course go to either end if you fancy some nude sunbathing and swimming.

Return back to the main coastal dirt road - turn left - keep straight across at the first track junction and then at the next junction turn right to climb up a little to a track fork. Go left here and follow this wooded track for around 1km to reach another track junction. Go right and stay on this main track - ignoring any left and right joining tracks - continuing all the way back across the island to eventually arrive back at the main coastal road near Troulos Bay.

Panaghia Kounistra Moni This is an 18km circular walk starting from outside Troulos to the monastery - then some coastal track meandering before walking back across Skiathos to Troulos.
There are some steep climbs on this walk which soon become quite wearing when/if the weather is particularly hot - in fact on the first part of this walk you start at sea level and never really stop climbing until you reach around 300 metres.

From the main road junction at Troulos (bus stop 18) walk uphill towards Skiathos Town - around 300 metres from the junction take a track on the left which hooks back off the main road - this track winds very steeply up. The track climbs across a ridge - ignore a track on the right - just stay on the main track to reach a t-junction. Here turn right and continue climbing up this track going right into the hills - eventually the track drops down a little to another track junction - it's great losing height after all the effort..
Go left and then enjoy a really steep climb up - you however soon reach another track junction - you need to take the middle track (however the small rough track on the right goes up to the fireman's lookout post - this small diversion is worth doing just for the views and of course you can have a chat with the on-duty fireman too).

Continuing on the walk - pass a shrine on the right and then arrive at what appears to be a huge plastic sheet covered area and varous conrete buildings on the left (not sure what this is for but seems to be some sort of re-cycling set-up...??). Carry on along the track trying to ignore this mess and then arrive at some steps on the right - takes these to walk onto a metal road where you go right to shortly arrive at Panaghia Kounistra Monastery. Take the steps up to the courtyard of this small but very interesting monastery - there is a covered seating area under the trees but there is no refreshments available that we could see - just a tap with spring water (there was no sign to say it was drinkable).

Back on the tarmac road turn right - this soon reverts to dirt track - follow it along now getting close to the coast. You get some good views of Meghalos Aselinos beach on the left and a little further on you can walk down to Mikros Aselinos on a path - this beach has a taverna (at least in July it had..). The track now swings inland - eventyually the track descends a little and just after passing a stream and a huge plane tree the track bends sharply left. There is a marked path right on the bend which will take you up to Aghios Ioannis Krifos - this is a fairly steep climb on a rocky and sometimes stepped path but really worth while - the church is excellent.

Return back to the track and turn right - continue climbing for a while and then the track at last starts to descend and you get views of Kechrias Bay. Cross over another stream bed where there is another huge tree which has a cross on it and a track junction - the dusty track to Lighares beach leaves on the left. Just by the junction and on the right there is a path (marked by a small cairn) - takes this as it follows the steam inland - the path continually criss-crosses the stream and for a while the going is fairly reasonable underfoot. However the path eventually gets really narrow and sometimes becomes indistinct - you find you are walking through really high ferns. Simply fight your way through basically trying to stay in the same direction to eventually come out by a gate on the left. The path now becomes a grassy track and winds it's way up to reach a main dirt road - there is a fir tree in the middle of the junction. Go straight across and continue on the main track and then after about 1km you start to find houses and civilisation again. There are several tracks around here so keep ahead to reach a 4-way junction where there is a huge plane tree in the middle acting as a roundabout.
Take the road opposite (i.e. staying in the same basic direction) - the road is now tarmac and it goes on through lots of houses and holiday accommodation. It comes out on the main coastal road at the Aghia Paraskevi bus stop number 16. Turn right and follow the main road back to Troulos or get the bus or ...

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