Greek Island of Thassos Holiday and Travel Guide.
Guides for Walking as well as information about Tavernas and Thassos Beaches.
The Greek Holiday Island of Thassos is located in the North Aegean and has no airport so if arriving by air
from Northern Europe 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 just on
the edge of Thassos Town. The almost circular island has a good quality road running round it for a distance of 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 whilst on holiday 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.
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...
Thassos has two marvellous beaches which should be visited if possible, namely Golden Beach and best of all by far -
Paradise Beach (Thassos's naturist beach). Aliki beach looked pretty good to spend a while lazing around on (but this is a popular beach
with holidaymakers and always seemed to be very crowded) - the area does have some ancient sites and saltpans to wander around.
Other equally nice beaches can be found at Skala Prinos - and then more beaches as you head on southwards. Please see a little further
down this page for a photo beach guide for Thassos's Beaches.
From a hiking/walking point of view whilst on
holiday on Thassos 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 on holiday on Thassos during 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 Thassos Town - the path to it is clearly 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 need to remember to take some bottled water with you. Also the tracks are often deep in
fine 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.
Holiday Beach Photo Guide for the Greek Island of Thassos.
Thassos Beaches. Below are just a few photo of the beaches we visited and enjoyed whilst on our Thassos holidays. There are quite a few small coves to be found on various parts of the island especially on the west coast where even during busy holiday periods you are quite likely to be fairly alone and can enjoy a nice naturist swim and sunbathe since they take a tiny bit of effort to get too in some cases and seemingly lots of people don't do "effort". Thassos's Paradise Beach is we think definitely the best naturist beach to visit with minimal effort if you have a hire car or bike although cycling up the track back to the main road when leaving the beach will warm your knees a little.
Paradise Beach - Thassos. This was in our view the best beach on the island. Although there is a
taverna at one end near the car park (this is simply a sandy area - not tarmac), the beach gives quite a nice
wild impression. You go down a steep bumpy winding track to the beach from the main road.
The beach is quite long and split into two parts in effect - the half
nearest the car parking area and taverna has sunbeds and sunshades etc. and is used by non-naturists - of course
being topless is normal for everyone though. Go past the large rocks half way down the
beach and this then becomes the naturist part of the beach - lovely water and perfect for a few
hours sunbathing and swimming in the afternoon after a long walk in the hills (the long walk is not
compulsory ...)
Golden Bay Beach, Thassos. This is a very long and sandy beach - mainly used by families and we
never saw anyone stripped off on this beach although many sun-worshippers only wore trunks/bottoms. There are plenty
of shops and tavernas as well as sun beds/umbrellas and all the usual facilities you would expect on such a popular family beach.
Aliki saltpans on Thassos - these saltpans are quite extensive and we saw a few people using the
flat areas for sunbathing, including a few naturists hidden away as well. Aliki beach itself is quite picturesque - the
beach is very popular and therefore does get pretty busy. All the usual amenities i.e.. sunbeds,
umbrellas, tavernas, drinks etc. are available on this tree lined sandy beach.
Moni Archangelos - hope this is useful to give an idea of it - we didn't get any nearer than the
photo indicates since we were actually out walking the hills at the time.
Makriammos Beach seems well organised. We beleive this is a private set-up and you therefore have
to pay to use it - not certain if this applies all times or what. We just cannot get on with "private"
beaches so we did not go any nearer.
Tarsanas Beach is reached by going through some tourist accommodation - there is a taverna and
sunbeds for hire. Cannot imagine anyone stripping off on this fairly small beach although it is of course fine
for women and men to go topless..
This is just a distant view of the numerous small coves and beaches which can be found on the west coast of Thassos.
As can be seen the beaches are not too well populated so presumably should be nice and peaceful and possibly ideal
for naturists to use.
A drive around Thassos starting from Thassos Town/Limenas. Thassos is crammed
with beaches so this route obviously picks up quite a few of them (including those mentioned above) however you can
get an idea of exactly where these beaches are on the Island.
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, full of pot-holes 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 sun umbrellas if you wish.
The beach itself is more or less split into two parts, with the naturist 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 then really consider going back to them 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 place to stop 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 plus lot's of arm-waving and shouting.
You may be interested in our other Thassos Topic - Thassos Walks and Photos
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Other Resources
Thassos by Greeka
Thassos Greece Travel Guide from Greek Island Postcards