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We went on holiday to Skopelos Greece - and stayed in Skopelos Town - in the second half of
June 2003 and were delighted to find it to be a typical small Greek Island with
a laid back atmosphere, as always very freindly people and good (and inexpensive)
food. Skopelos Town has a great little port to wander around and the tavernas are perfect to sit in during the evening and watch the
rest of the world pass by - just what you would expect and hope to find on a Greek Island - and just as importantly (for us anyway) there are plenty of
tracks and paths available for hikers too. Skopelos is very hilly, in fact apart from the 4 or 5kms between Skopelos Town and Stafilos (which only rises between the two coasts a little) you are pushed to find anywhere particularly flat for more than a few hundred yards. Skopelos Town is quite quiet with very little traffic - the front by the tavernas and bars is shut to traffic (allegedly) in the evenings so mostly only people (beware of prams) and a couple of pony/horse carriages are likely to potentially mow you down. We were told that the town gets very busy from mid July and then through into August since many Greeks from the mainland as well as Italians arrive for their summer holidays - then even getting a table in one of the many tavernas during the evening can be difficult. |
Buses and Taxis and Ferries. When we arrived in mid-June the bus service was fairly limited through
the day with sometimes 2 hour gaps between services and not all buses going right through to Glossa.
However by the second week more and more buses were
being added to the timetable. The longest route is between Skopelos Town to
Loutraki and takes about an hour and at the time cost 3 euros for two of us..
The buses do pretty well keep to timetable - they do however get very very
packed - especially if you want to get on at Stafilos to return to Skopelos Town
on the last bus. One early evening the last bus arrived and already maybe a
dozen people on it were standing, and am sure around another 30 or so of us then got on - talk about sardines.
Taxis can be found near where the hydrofoils come in (Skopelos Town harbour) and are quite reasonable - a bit of negotiating is always worth while on the cost for your journey and anyway as normal the price should be agreed prior with the driver (around 8 to 10 euros seemed to get you quite a way most often). Taxis also linger around Panormos, Glossa and Loutraki.
There is a very good ferry and hydrofoil service between Sciathos - Skopelos as well as the mainland - the hydrofoil trip between Sciathos and Skopelos takes about 45 minutes - they are quite small hydrofoils with good windows so you can get a good view of both islands on the trip since the boats keep quite close to the two coastlines. Much larger ferries also visit Skopelos several times a week - usually in the evening - and the chaos surrounding their arrival and departure beats any tv. One point worth mentioning, the ferries turn round very quickly:- they unload and reload and are gone in just a few minutes so being late to catch one is not a good plan.
Car Hire. There are plenty of car and scooter hire facilities in Skopelos Town - am too old for scooters now so am unable to say their costs. We hired a small Fiat for three days for 72 euros - the insurance is a bit weird in that you cannot get true fully comprehensive cover - they have a damage fee which varies between 200 and 300 euros should you wreck the car. (Note that if you hire during a Greek holiday weekend the prices at least double). Apart from the Skopelos Town to Loutraki main road, most of the roads are very very narrow and full of tight hairpins - as well as being very hilly - and hiring anything other than a small car just makes it harder to drive round. Also many of the roads are tracks - you can hire a jeep but curiously we never came across one jeep in our 100 odd miles of track walking whilst there - nor did we see one jeep whilst we were driving on the tracks in the car, we only noticed them on the tarmac roads. One particular issue to consider re jeeps could be the bees - at times we had to close the car windows whilst on the tracks because we were being bombarded by bees and twice by wasps (the latter do try and sting you) - if you were in a jeep escaping them is not a choice of course.
Snakes, lizards, jellyfish, sea-urchins, bees and wasps. The
only snakes we saw were on the tarmac roads, where they had been run over
and from the amount we saw there must be a lot of snakes (and ex-snakes) on the
island. We did twice see live snakes crossing in front of us whilst driving on
the road (and nearly put the car into the ditch to avoid running one over on one
occasion so thank goodness at least that snake lived to see another day). Far as
tracks and footpaths were concerned - we walked over a 100 miles on the island
and never saw one - as normal with most snakes they will try and stay out of
your way so the noise of you walking on tracks will scare them off, and when
walking on paths especially near damp areas we always scuff a little now and
again to let them know we are around. Have not yet come across a viscious
killer lizard yet on any Greek island so they are
seemingly not a problem and there are plenty to watch and enjoy.
We came across jellyfish in the sea (where else..) at
Stafilos, they were around 2 to 3 inches across and at times there were quite a
few - they were mostly in the first few yards of the shore just floating along
enjoying the warmer water etc. like the rest of us - was unaware whilst we were
at the beach that anyone got stung. Freinds of ours were in Skopelos a few weeks
before we went and said that at Panormos beach they had a problem with sea-urchins - we had some very lighweight bubble-shoes
which we used when going into the sea so did not have any problem with this -
actually these shoes were useful anyway a) because the sand was very hot to walk
on and b) helped when walking into the sea due to the numerous rocks and stones on the seabed.
There are so many bees on the island it's unbeleivable - they did not sting
us at least, but they are quite large and one type have very luminous
green/torquoise eyes. We found that if you are not moving they will land on you
and may give you a sort of "nip" but they seemed unable to land if you are
walking. The wasps are a different issue - they will happily land on you whether
you are moving or not and they do try and sting you. We found that the wasps
seemed to be mostly near wet/damp areas and of course where there were fruit
trees with rotting fruit. On the beach which we mostly used - Stafilos nudist
beach - an occasional bee would turn up but when told politely to "bug off" they
would do just that. Occasional wasps turned up especially if you were eatiing
fruit but a few swipes with a towel or hat would also make them clear off - so
not a problem on the beaches really.
Beach Tavernas and rip-off sunbeds/shades. Generally the cost of sunbeds(2) and umbrellas
was 5 Euros on the beaches we visited - this in June 2003 so it may alter
obviously. These were the prices being charged on for instance Panormos and
Klima and not a lot different to the old Dracula days - similarly the prices in
the beach-side tavernas were much the same as found around the island. However a
glaring exception were the costs on the 3 Stafilos Bay beaches -
sunbeds/umbrella were 8 Euros and the beach tavernas were charging over the odds
for a couple of fantas/cokes. Needless to say the tavernas were not so very busy
and - apart from weekends when the local islanders were on the beaches - very
few of the sunbeds etc were being utilised. Whilst still on my grump - airport
drinks+food are often expensive compared to the real world and Sciathos
airport is no exception - its therefore worthwhile considering taking some
drinks and a bit of grub before getting there for use whilst waiting for the
plane back. Also maybe think about the trip back in that aircraft have to refuel
on the mainland as a rule, and this is usually at one of the military airfields.
You have to just sit on the plane and wait - we have had to do this 3 times this
year on the way back from islands and each time we were around 90 minutes - so a
couple of cold drinks are worth taking on board with you (you can of course
maybe get water from the cabin crew or one of their tiny but very very expensive cans of something).
Photos of Old Klima, Glossa, Loutraki plus a few misc.
Old Klima was destroyed during an earthquake in 1965 but recently people have been
buying and renovating the houses. This is well worth a visit but note you cannot drive into the village, either get off at the bus stop on the main
road or there is room for a few cars to park.
Glossa can be easily reached by bus - takes about an hour from Skopelos Town - the bus
ride is actually a very good way of seeing the island coastline since you get really good views most of the time. You can also park just outside the
town, near where the bus stops before it heads down to Loutraki. Glossa's small alleys have loads of steps.
The only way to see Glossa is wander around the place, actually using a car inside is not really possible anyway.
There are two tavernas we found, one near the bus stop and another is in the town itself. Glossa is high above Loutraki, you can
either walk or drive down via the main road or there is a very steep old cobbled path and track which cuts out the hairpins to walk down.
Loutraki itself has a few tavernas, a bus stop and is also an alternatve ferry port.
The small church of
Agh Iaonnis (the
photo on the far left sitting on its rocky foundation) can be reached easily via a very windy narrow road
which starts from the main road just before you reach Glossa.
This church is very definitly a don't miss trip, and if you walk the 100 steps up to it you will probably not forget it either.
There is also a walk which starts at Old Klima but of course you probably will have to walk back as well - quite a few kilometres.
We did not have time to do this - what looked like quite a complicated walk - so have not given any instructions for doing it
To the left are two of the island's little churches,
Agh. Riginos and
Agh Triada
On the left are a couple of pictures of Elios (also known as
Klima) - note this is not to be confused with
Old Klima.
On the far left is a picture of Aloupi and the other 2 photographs are of a Skopelos bee - we had trouble taking it's
photo since for some reason it did not want to pose - bees are like that...
Our Skopelos Topics
Skopelos Walks
More Walks
Skopelos Stafilos Walks
Neighbouring Greek Islands of Alonissos and Skiathos
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GPS fixes to calibrate a map - using wgs84
Skopelos Lighthouse - N39°12'28" E023°35'36"
Agnontas - Limnonari Beach road junction N39°05'04" E023°42'24"
Aerial Masts - Mt. Palouki N39°06'20" E023°45'34"
Glisteri Beach (road end) N39°08'35" E023°43'03"
agh Ioannis N39°10'30" E023°39'05"
Skopelos's Highest point - Firemen's Hut on Delfi N39°08'42" E023°40'12"
Other Resources
Skopelos Greece Travel Guide from Greek Island Postcards
Skopelos by Greeka