Food of all kinds, especially fruit and vegetables, are plentiful. If you prefer to eat out, there are tavernas and self-service restaurants. The nights in Skiathos are especially lively. After a day by the sea, visitors gravitate to one of the tavernas, cozy bars, or discotheques.

Koukounaries, the fabulous pine grove after which the region is named. It fringes a long stretch of golden sand for 1,000 metres, and most of its 30 metre width is shaded by pines and shrubs. There are hotels, restaurants and refreshment stalls. You can get there by bus from the town (12 kms), or by motor launch. Behind the grove there is a lovely lagoon, wheat fields and olive groves. From Koukounaries you can walk to the beach of Agia Eleni, which faces the southern shores of Mt. Pelion. It is splendidly isolated and offers good fishing. Also from Koukounaries, it takes 40 min. on foot to reach a quite unspoilt strip of coast, Mandraki, also known as the port of Xerxes. Lalaria, is another famous beach with large pebbles on the N.E. side of the island, accessible from town by boat.

The Kastro, or ancient walled town, lies two hours to the north of the town on foot. Accessible by motor boat as well. In the 16th century, the whole population moved to the impregnable rock which rises to the northeast of the town of Skiathos and built their Kastro. It stands on a rock projecting into the sea and overlooking a wild and jagged coast. A drawbridge was its only link with the rest of the island in the old days, but today it can be approached by climbing up some steps. Its walls once enclosed 300 houses and 22 churches. None of the houses remain, and of the two churches the Church of Christ is worth a visit for its icons and carved wooden screen.

Excursions are organised in summer daily to the nearest island Skopelos and to Alonissos. There are also organised tours round the island by boat.

An oblong island with a precipitous northwestern coastline, and a hilly landscape. The inhabitants work in the fields on the small but fertile plains, or else are shepherds and seamen. The centre of the island has submerged, leaving two small islets and several smaller ones still. A rock mass called Psathoura is all that remains of ancient Alonissos.

The sea round Alonissos has been declared as a "Marine conservation Park" where all human intervention is forbidden. The best way of getting about is by motor boats. These ply between the islands and the various beaches and excursion sites.

Kokkinokastro, 30 min. by caique from Patitiri, the small port of Alonissos. Hrissi Milia, Steni Vala, Kalamakia, Agios Dimitrios offer excellent bathing. On some of the surrounding, virtually uninhabited isles there are isolated, good beaches but no amenities.

At Kokkinokastro can be seen the remains of the ancient city walls, pot shards, tombstones and graves. It is thought that this is the site of ancient Ikos. At Ai-Dimitris there are ruins of an unknown ancient city, and at Agios Petros there is a sunken byzantine ship (1200 A.D.).

On the island of Gioura you will find Cyclop's Cave, decorated with varicoloured stalactites and stalagmites. Psathoura has remains of an ancient city, most of which lie submerged. The light-house on rocky Psathoura is one of the most powerful of the Aegean Sea.

Skopelos

The beauty of this island is apparent even as one approaches it by ship: picturesque large and small bays, golden sands, slopes covered with olive trees punctuated with pleasant little huts, churches and monasteries, dazzling white in the sun.

The chief town named after the island, Skopelos, climbs down daintily tier by tier in a semi - circle till it touches the shore - a beautiful vision in white. It is a seaport town with a local colour of itw own: cobbled narrow streets courtyards, filled with flowers, and gleaming rooftops in a fascinating variety of shapes. Many of the women, clinging faithfully to their island traditions, wear their local costume - a silk skirt embroidered with tiny flowers, a velvet short coat with wide flowing sleeves finely embroidered, and a gossamer - fine silk kerchief over their heads with justifiable pride. A visit to a Skopelos house is a pleasure in itself, not only for its interior decoration but also for the owner's hospitality.

Skopelos boasts a fair number of ancient ruins. Apparently, the island was a Cretan colony. Its first king and settler was Stafylos. His grave was discovered by the cove bearing his name in 1927. It contained weapons, a gold crown and funerary offerings, among other finds, all of which are housed in the Volos Museum. The 9th Century chapel of Agios Athanassios has been built on the ruins of an ancient temple. There are also the ruins of a venetian fortress, the Kastro, a vanage spot for a sweeping view all round.

Skopelos has lovely beaches, shallow and safe waters ideal for children too; at Stafylos Cove, Limnonari - to which you cross by boat from Agnondas, at Panormos, a wind protected bay; at Milia and Elios; and at Loutraki, the Glossa port. For those who enjoy a shingly beach there are Agios Konstantinos, Sares, Kastri and Glisteri. Many of these beaches have pine trees reaching down to the sea. An also worth visiting place is the Tripiti grotto.

Though only a small island, Skopelos contains about 360 churches, chapels, monasteries and convents. The chief town alone has 123. The 12 white - washed convents, which dot the gentle hillsides date from the 17th and 18the centuries. Many of them contain real works of art: handcarved "reredos" (altar - screens), frescoes and icons. So do some of the monasteries and churches such as Christ Church, with its reredo of beautiful miniatures of saints and a gold - decorated chandelier from mount Athos. The church of Zooodohos Pigi is reputed to contain a miraculous icon painted by St. Luke the Evangelist.