News/Blog - About Greece

By Roger Fox - Glossa Houses.
Photographs are by Jonathan of Angels Greek Island Homes.

Skopelos, the greenest Greek island, is becoming the place of choice for those in the know. Last summer’s filming of Mamma Mia The Movie has put the island with its dramatic scenery and lovely beaches in the spotlight.

Skopelos Town is a lovely place to have a holiday home. It has small tranquil squares, quaint churches and a waterfront with taverns, bars, restaurants, upmarket antique and jewellery shops. The old town is a designated preservation area as its traditional architecture is unique amongst Greek islands. New buildings must retain the old style.

For those who love the idea of owning a house in a year-round working Greek village, Glossa may be ideal. Plenty of opportunities exist to renovate traditional houses or to buy fast disappearing plots of land for building inside the town plan. There are also houses for sale that are ready to live in; some are furnished, some sell with household items.

The architectural style of the village is similar to that found in northern Greece, white-washed buildings with wooden balconies and terracotta roof tiles. Around 1400 people live here throughout the year with the usual amenities open to serve the local population. You can get quite breathless walking the steep pathways and stairs but the magnificent views make it all worthwhile!

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Skopelos, the greenest Greek island, is becoming the place of choice for those in the know. Last summer’s filming of Mama Mia has put the island with its dramatic scenery and lovely beaches in the spotlight.

Skopelos Town is a lovely place to have a holiday home, but the real undiscovered gem is Glossa on the other end of the island, sitting above the port of Loutraki – only 15 minutes by Flying Dolphin hydrofoil from Skiathos and its airport.

For those who love the idea of owning a house in a year-round working Greek village, Glossa may be ideal. Plenty of opportunities exist to renovate traditional houses or to buy fast disappearing plots of land for building inside the town plan. There are also houses for sale that are ready to live in, some are furnished some sell with household items.

The architectural style of the village is similar to that found in northern Greece, white-washed buildings with wooden balconies and terracotta roof tiles. Around 1400 people live here throughout the year with the usual amenities open to serve the local population. You can get quite breathless walking the steep pathways and stairs but the magnificent views make it all worthwhile!

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Mary - Glossa Skopelos

Sunday 31^st August 2008. Today for the first time I really understood the destructive power of Mother Nature. Yesterday, the air was thick, heavy and humid, the usual signs of an impending summer storm and at around 5am this morning a huge electrical storm hit Glossa Skopelos. We were woken up by thunder and lightening that snaked down over the sea and that seemed to shake the very foundations of our house. Then a warning church bell sounded out over the village. We went outside in the dawn light to see that lightening had struck the trees in the hilltop area above the villages of old Klima and Elios, the fire had taken hold, was bright orange, intense and was starting to burn down the mountain side.

A siren sounded and an announcement came over a tannoy, although we don’t speak Greek, we guessed it was telling people to stay in their houses or calling up people to help fight the fire. Fire engines raced to the scene of the fire and we could see after about an hour they had contained it, spreading now outwards rather than downwards towards the houses below. Thunder and lightening was still striking directly overhead as the fire was being brought under control.

After about another hour heavy rain finally came, raining solidly for about 5 hours, finishing off the work of the fire fighters in extinguishing the blaze to what is a now a smouldering pyre. Smoke still floats upwards towards the now calm and sunny sky. The time is now 3pm and the village has once again come back to life, the sounds of usual every day normality float upwards towards us, people going about their business, just another Sunday afternoon. And we’ve just found out that some of our neighbours even slept through it all!

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By Roger Fox - Glossa Houses
The traditional one roomed cottage called a “kalivi” is a common feature of the Skopelos countryside. It is here that people stay for short periods whilst harvesting olives or almonds for example. Some are used more long term by goatherds. In recent years it has become easier to drive to the land daily and some kalivis have fallen out of use.

Within their single room, they usually have a good fireplace for cooking and heat and places to sleep. Some have a dedicated barbeque area outside as well. They make wonderful summer houses for you, your family and friends or to rent out on the open market.

They usually need a bathroom constructing, but happily this is a simple job. One issue that has to be addressed is water. 

Properties outside the main settlements usually have (or construct) a water tank which collects rainwater during the winter for use all year round. Provided the tank is of the right size, the ample winter rains will supply all your water needs. Some people supplement this with bottled water just for drinking. Some properties are suitable for boreholes to provide you with spring water. If your tank is new and hasn’t yet been filled by rain, you can get water delivered as long as the truck can get to the kalivi.

One of the great things about kalivis is that you can get restoration permits easily and cheaply and you can restore to the original foundation line. If you also want to build a new house on the property, the kalivi does not count against your building allowance.

Size matters

Without going into detail, if you buy a building plot inside a town plan, you can build up to 200 sq metres, provided you leave 30% open space. If you buy outside a plan, you must have a minimum of 4,000 sq metres to be allowed to build your 200 sq metres. In either case, the 200 sq metres is the total floor area of the building – e.g. 100 sq metres on each of two floors.

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By Jonathan - Angels Greek Island Homes

One of my favourite beaches on the south side of the Island is Milia (pronounced mille – yaa).

It is a very beautiful shingled beach which has a feeling of quietness at one end and is more vibrant at the other end. Many consider it to be the best beach on Skopelos Island. It reveals itself about half way on the main road from Skopelos Town to Glossa.

It offers shade in the morning and sun in the afternoon. I often spend the day lying on the beach, looking at the sea, reading a book, being lazy and dinking a cold beer. The best time of day for me is watching the sunset. Or sit on the rocks in the romantic moonlight with your partner.

The beach itself is long and gently curving with amazing clear water. It is surrounded by a forest of pine trees as they sweep to the edge of the land only stopped by the rocks at the waters edge.

Opposite the beach is the uninhabited Dassia Island which can be reached by boat.

How to get to Milia Beach.

Milia beach is just off the main road that runs the length of Skopelos Island. This road links Skopelos Town to Glossa. Along the way are all the popular south side beaches and villages of the island.

Milia Beach Skopelos is about half way – about 21 kilometres, a 30 minute bus ride from either Skopelos Town or Glossa.

The public bus stops at the Milia beach bus stop on the main road and the bus driver announces ‘mille-yaa. You then walk down the road through the natural pine tree forest to the beach. It takes about 10 minutes.

When you arrive at the bottom there is a family run tavern on the right that offers home cooked Greek food. Depending on the heat of the day, I like to order a Greek salad and an ice cold beer.

It is a short walk through the car park to the beach where in season you can hire deck chairs and umbrellas.

This beach does draw the crowds from June to the end of August.

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By Jonathan, Angels Greek Island Homes
Getting to Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos is easy. There are a variety of routes available. Fly direct to Skiathos during the tourist flight season (May to October). Fly to Athens and take an internal flight to Skiathos. Fly to Volos or Thessaloniki.

There are no airports on Skopelos Island or Alonissos.

From Skiathos

Once you arrive in Skiathos Airport it is about a 5 minute taxi ride to the Port where you can take the car or fast ferries - flying dolphin / flying cat to the Skopelos ports of Loutraki (for Glossa), Skopelos Town and then on to Alonissos. It is advisable to check ferry schedules before your departure to Skiathios as these can change. It is also advisable to book a ticket in advance during the high season. This can be done on websites or by telephoning Skiathos ticket agencies direct. One company is Hellenic Seaways Tel: 0030 24270 22209.

Travel times from Skiathos are about 25min on the fast ferries to Glossa Skopelos, 45min to Skopelos Town and about 90min to Alonissos.

From Athens airport

you can get an internal flight to Skiathos. For travel by bus and ferry or you can either take the Metro to Omonia Square and walk to Alkon Travel in Kanigos Square. You can also take the Metro / Airport Bus to Syntagma Square and then take a Taxi to Kanigos Square. There are also Taxi’s from the Airport however; the journey by bus or metro is quite easy and cheaper!

On the corner of Kanigos Square (97 Akademias Street) you will find Alkon Travel Agency, a company which runs special buses to connect with the ferry at Aghios Konstantinos. They generally  open at around 6.30am. Next door there is a coffee shop where you can wait. I always order a Greek Coffee.

It is important to buy the combined bus and ferry ticket. The coach leaves from outside Alkon Travel, generally around 7am but, this is dependent on the schedules. It is important to check these before you travel as it can change. You can’t book the bus ticket online at the moment so it is best to telephone. Alkon Travel Tel: (00 30) 210 3832545 or 3843220.

The coach takes about two and half hours to Aghios Konstantinos where a connecting Flying Dolphin or ferry awaits.

From Thessaloniki (Salonika)

At most times of year you can get flights to Thessaloniki (Salonika). There are many airlines operating services and from 2008 Easy jet have a regular flight from the UK to Thessaloniki.  You can then take the public bus to Volos and the flying cat to the sporadic islands. At certain times of the year there is a car ferry service from Thessaloniki to Skiathos and Skopelos. It is best to contact SAOS Ferries or G.A Ferries for information and schedules.

Adverse Weather Conditions

Sometimes in winter there is no sea transport due to bad weather, if this happens it can be fun to stay a night in Athens. Book into a hotel, do some sightseeing, go to a good restaurant and try again the next day.

Alternatively you can travel on the public bus from Athens to the port of Volos from where ferries and Flying Dolphins may run more frequently.

Go to the Liossion Street bus station in Athens and take a bus to Volos (about a five hour journey).  This bus also passes through Agios Konstantinos. From Volos the Flying Dolphin / Flying Cat to Skiathos takes around 90 minutes, and around 2 hours to Skopelos.

If you need to stay in Volos overnight there are hotels opposite the port. There is often a Flying Dolphin or Ferry at 8.00 am, but again you must always check the schedules and availability.

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See video link of Perivoliou beach Skopelos.  By:Jonathan – Angels Greek Island Homes
Perivoliou beach is lovely wild and remote. It is the last north east beach on Skopelos Island and is away from the tourist trail and bus route. It offers sun in the morning and natural shade from the rocks in the afternoon.

A short drive (about 4km) or a wonderful nature walk from Glossa that takes around two hours, you can take in fantastic views of both sides of the island.

Remember to pack your lunch and drinks as there are no restaurants or facilities.

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