Thassos Holiday and Travel Guides Beaches Photos Walks Thassos Greece Holidays

The Greek Island of Thassos is located in the North Aegean and has no airport so your flight usually lands at Kavala on the mainland and you are then transferred via short coach and ferry trip to the Island. We went on holiday to Thassos in June 2001, and stayed on the edge of Thassos Town. The almost circular island has a good quality road running round it - about 95 km from start to finish, however there are no direct road routes across the island. There is a regular-ish bus service which can get you to mostly anywhere on the coast at reasonable cost. We found plenty of decent walks and lots to photograph on Thassos.

Thassos Town has two harbours, a good selection of tavernas and also an amazing amount of ancient sites most of which are free to enter.

Skala Kallirachis fishing harbour Thassos

The tavernas are typically Greek Island - really great to relax in and spend hours during the evening trying to run them out of house red wine... There are two marvellous beaches which should be visited, namely Golden Beach and best of all by far -

Paradise Beach (nudist beach).
Aliki beach looked pretty good (but always seemed to be very crowded) and does have some ancient sites and saltpans to wander around. Other equally nice beaches can be found at Skala Prinos - and then southwards.
From a hiking/walking point of view whilst on holiday there are really good walks around Thassos Town, Panagia, Potamia, Megalos Prinos and Maries

Thassos Town. (Limenas) Limenas is unbelievably quiet compared with most Greek Island capitals, rush hour appears to be three scooters, a farmer's pickup and two hire cars - on a busy day.
You can easily spend a morning or afternoon wandering around the harbours, side streets and the archaeological sites - especially the Ancient Agora (located just behind the old harbour); when we were there in June 2001 there was no entry fee, you could just wander around as you pleased - it occupies quite a large area inside it's walls.

An interesting walk is to visit the Ancient Theatre which is located above the town - the path to it is marked from the old harbour. In fact there quite a few sites associated with the Theatre and you can make a complete circuit to pick up most of them - it takes around 2 hours or so and you get some good views up there. (actually a lot of people meander up to the Theatre during the evening - perhaps to try and walk off yet another nice taverna meal -- not to mention the jugs of house red.)

Another pleasant walk takes you from Limenas to Golden Beach

and takes around 4 hours or so, but do remember to take some bottled water with you. Also the tracks are deep in dust in places so walking boots or high backed pumps are best to walk in.
Start off from the old harbour and head along the marked road and then path which takes you up to and through the Ancient Theatre and then turn right onto a track heading away from Limenas. Follow this as it climbs and winds through the hills until eventually the resort of Makryammos comes into view - (divert up over the rocks to get a good view of the beach etc way below). To continue your walk backtrack to just before the rocks and then turn left and follow the track down to the road. Turn left and then pick up the dirt road on the right after a few yards (the entry to Makryammos beach - a pay beach in high season is straight ahead).

Continue on the dirt road passing two marble quarrys and also several very messed up little beaches. Eventually you arrive above Golden Beach where a Taverna perched in the trees is a welcome and cooling site. (We eventually continued down and then along the beach to Skala Potamias where you can catch a bus back to Limenas.) Remember to buy your ticket for the bus (at the kiosk) before getting on it or they will chuck you off.

A drive around Thassos starting from Thassos Town/Limenas.

Our first picture is of the small beach called Tarsanas. As you leave Thassos Town on its eastern end take a sharp right (and steep) turn just after the roundabout - park on the grass if necessary.
The impression is almost as if it was a private beach, since their is a large taverna, holiday flats and also the beach is full of the Taverna owners sunbeds.
Heading east the road winds through the countryside with various small rocky and sandy beaches to explore.

Eventually you arrive at Skala Rachoni, a small fishing village which also has a huge beach which stretches as far as Skala Prinos - it's just a question of pulling in at various places and having a look - there is loads of parking as you pass by the pine forests bordering the sandy beaches.
Continuing on the main road you arrive at Prinos - an absolute nightmare on a Monday when they hold a market - its unbelievable the angles they get the lorries and buses through - but do enjoy the various "discussions" going on between stuck drivers and the complete indifference of the local police.

You then - eventually - come to Skala Sotiros, another small fishing village which is fine for a wonder around and a cup of coffee and then onto Skala Kallirachis where there is yet another small fishing village - but these are always nice to look round.

After Skala Kallirachis the road continues to Skala Maries, passing a narrow stoney beach for quite a distance - we found this quite "tatty" and did not linger too long on this part of the trip. Up til now the coast has been quite flat but now you start to climb and wind around coves and small beaches until arriving at Limenaria, a quite large town.

Beaches continue as you head towards Pefkari and Potos (don't be too thirsty in Potos since the prices for drinks seemed ridiculous to us compared with elsewhere on Thassos).
Eventually you reach the Monastery at Archangelou, which you can visit if you wish but you do need appropriate clothing to do this. You do get some good views of the coastline however, from the side of the car park which is free.

Next place to stop at is Paradise Beach - you need to look carefully for the turn off since the road is heavily wooded both sides and the turn is on a sharp bend.

The dirt track is very steep in places, extremely rutted and has hairpin bends most of the way - however it's well worth going to this beach.
The sandy beach has two tavernas and also you can hire sunbeds and umbrellas if you wish.
The beach itself is more or less split into two parts, with the nudist beach on the left side as you face the sea - however nobody seemed too concerned about anybody else's activities (as in beach dress or lack of) on the entire beach.

Nearly back now, however after passing through Skala Potamias (Golden Bay) you come to the hillside villages of Potamia and Panagia - these are really worth stopping off for a walk round and should not be missed - if you are out of time - go back another time.

Potamia is all about wandering round the small pretty streets and looking at the springs, churches and old buildings - there are plenty of photo opportunities and it's nice for a stroll after a day out on the beach. The road goes right through the square in Panagia and we found the best place to park was to go just through it and you will find the road divides - park by the railings.

For an interesting walk (assuming you park as mentioned), cross the main road and on the right a few yards along you will see a road on your left (which has yellow railings), follow this UP and you get a great view of the village.

Keep going past small houses and then you will come to a small square (Three Springs Square) which is really interesting to see with its springs and canals. Continue from here past the church and circle back to the main square. This square has many tavernas and also a public fountain - which has lovely cool water flowing constantly. If you stop off for a drink there you can sit and enjoy watching the locals driving up in their pickup-ups, cars and even lorries to fill they bottles from the spring or just taking a quick drink. They make no effort to park neatly so the end result is often a nice traffic jam and lot's of arm-waving.

We also have Travel and Holiday Guides for around 16 other Greek Islands - these are full of holiday information plus walks and photos.

Greek Island of Thassos Holiday and Travel Guides.

Also Guides for Walking as well as information about Tavernas and Beaches on this Greek Holiday Island.