The Skiathos Bulletin Board

Zeus · Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 45 Location: UK

Bit late than never but we have had our two weeks fix in Skiathos and now back to the grind.
We were lucky because as mentioned in other forum since we had to book late there were no XL flights. Had we booked early we would have got to Skiathos but not home or since we went to Skiathos a week later than normal, 12th Sept we would never have got there.
Finally found a package with first Choice to Zorbas at Agio paraskevi.AS mentioned by others we had a great time there. Owner was very nice people beach 5 mins and supermarket only a couple of mins less to walk to.
All the things we planned to do this year went out of the window and to some extent due to weather on the last week. First couple of days were spent around the pool recharging the batteries and then off to troulos beach, never disappointed there.
Next was Banana beach which was empty except for little banana, never seen so many naked bodies and I feel a bit a uncomfortable taking a picture of the beach, it was the beach honest. Went to Tsougria and as always never disappointed ,warm sea, quiet. This year the sea just around the rocks to the right when the boat comes in was warm and the sea was calm so I was able to snorkel right round the corned ,to be rewarded was a shell about 6-7” long. We made a box and even managed to get it back to UK.
One thing which we did not plan was a trip along the North side of the island on what basically is just a dirt track. The idea was to drive just up the hill, about 1 min drive to take some photos of the Zorbas from above. Once that was done I said lets drive on a bit further and I am glad we did. We finally ended up on the Troulos – Asselinos road, the views on that drive were excellent.
Then decided to drive towards Asselinos beach but diverted off the tarmac road to little Asselinos and that was where the fun began. We drove all the way on tiny tracks just wide enough for our small car. We were told that due to rain some parts of track had disintegrated and best done with a 4 x 4 but it was too late now and was having fun. We drove through a stream full of rock and nearly got shaken to bits. Most of the drive was safe & easy but one part seemed to be just a load of rocks in the road and was a bit skiddy on the tyres. At one point we came to view of a large beach way down on the right , we were high at this point and I can only describe the view similar in height like that of looking down on Myrtos beach Kefalonia.
We were far from anywhere when we came down a dip and the track in the dip consisted of rocks still buried in the track. My little car wheels would not go up the slope as the rocks were damp. My wheels were spinning and I though okay, no chance of turning round as this was perhaps the narrowest part of the drive, just wide enough for small car. Reversing was not an option as I would have to reverse for ages to try and find somewhere to turn around and my reversing is not that straight so over the edge we may have gone. By turning my wheels to the left & right we made it up the slope.
The thing that struck us were the large amounts of virgin forest, nothing like you see from the South of island, unbelievable amount of trees and virtual no a building in sight, only word is gobsmacked.
This track took us to about a mile from what I think is called the Platenos tavern, which itself have marvellous views of Skiathos and is not far from the road that drops down to the Panorama Pizza. The views of Skiathos town were stunning and a shame it was an overcast day. This is a must to take a photo on a sunny day with a tripod.
We then drove all the way to Kastro to complete our2 minute drive!! Overall it must have took about
1 :1/2 hours to drive it as was worth every minute. I fully recommend that anyone that wants to see Skiathos besides the beaches will fully appreciate the beauty of the island in the full, take plenty of film in cameras. We will do it again but this time when it is sunny as it was a shame it was overcast. You do not need a 4 x4 but and i will do it again in the normal small car ,but not when the tracks are wet as then you will need a 4 x4 .If you are comfortable driving on tracks just go for it ,you will not be disappointed.
We ended up most of our time on Agio Paraskevi beach using the Skiathos Princess Hotel beach beds.Never known beds so comfortable as they were. 3” thick foam,about 2` 6” wide and about 7` foot long ,sorry for not converting to cm. A long as you by a drink you can stay on them all day,we purchased the two cheapest drinks at 2.5 Euros each and they were happy.

I did enquire about staying in the presidential suite at the princess for two weeks in preparation when we win the lottery and need to stay somewhere while purchasing villa .It works out about £15,000 for the two weeks and you can drown yourself in a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne every day at a mere 210 Euros a bottle, cheap at half the price, dream on.