SKIATHOS is one of the Sporades group of islands, lying just off the east coast of mainland Greece, and it was one of the first to cash in on the Greek island holiday boom in the 1970s.
Skiathos is a compact island, just 12km long and about 6km wide, and its main claim to fame is a plethora of large, deep, sandy beaches strung out all the way along its southern coastline.
Skiathos is a very popular holiday island with Brits, Germans and Scandinavians. Recent years have seen an explosion in tourist infrastructure and nowadays a virtually unbroken line of hotels, apartments and neon-lit tavernas flank the once rural road that runs the length of the south coast.
A ban on high rise hotels has curbed major excess and the tavernas are more baklava than burgers, but Skiathos still teeters on the brink of package tour oblivion, groaning under its annual weight of tourist numbers.
Skiathos is renowned for its spectacular scenery, stunning sandy beaches and crystal clear waters. Holidays to the Greek Islands are often most cherished for this combination of sunshine, warm waters and beaches.
The lush pine forests and the numerous sandy beaches make Skiathos a hugely attractive holiday island. The better-known beaches get as packed as the buses, taxis and caiques that arrive by the hour.A few north coast beaches are just as sandy as the more popular south coast resorts but far less crowded. Most of the interior of Skiathos is hilly, heavily wooded and almost totally deserted.Nightlife is concentrated in Skiathos Town which has a busy, cosmopolitan air and a traffic-free holiday shopping street. It may be Greece with chips but, if you don't mind the noise of jet skis, enjoy the buzz of the crowds and warm to thump of music bars then this could be the holiday island for you.The island is now calling itself 'Mamma Mia Island' in the wake of the global success of the movie musical of the same name. In fact, most of the movie scenes were shot on neighbouring Skopelos. Skiathos had only a bit part to play.
Skiathos Airport takes charter planes from all over Europe on its notoriously short runway. There are also daily domestic flights to Athens, about 40 mins away by air.
Regular ferries services run from Volos and Agios Konstantinos and there are daily ferry and hydrofoil runs to Skopelos and Alonissos.
A single busy road runs along the south coast of Skiathos. There is a good bus service and plenty of taxis.
Skiathos is famous for its fine sandy beaches. There are more than a dozen along the 12km south coast.
Beaches are well served by buses and taxis and all have facilities either on the beach or nearby. The most popular will be very busy in the high summer.
North coast Skiathos beaches are fewer and less accessible but more scenic and they can be worth finding if you prefer to escape the crowds in the south.
Skiathos is a small island in the Sporades group off the east coast of Greece and just 50 sq km. The islands of Skopelos and Alonissos form part of the group
Skiathos is about 12km by 6km with 44 km of coastline and a regular population of 6,200. There are no mountains and Skiathos is covered in pines and plane trees.
Beaches are mostly sheltered and summer temperatures average 30-35°C and can reach 40°C in July and August.
