Skiathos, which remained isolated and agrarian until the early 1970s, is today one of Greece ’s most cosmopolitan islands. The population of Skiathos according to the last census is about 6000 inhabitants.
Skiathos Town, the island’s major settlement and port, lies on the southeast coast. The town is a major tourist center. Opposite the waterfront via a short causeway lies tiny and inviting Bourtzi Islet. With some 65 beaches to choose from,the best, if most oversubscribed in the Sporades archipelago, beach-hopping on Skiathos can become a full-time occupation. There are over fifty strands (plus a few more on satellite islets), still not enough to absorb legions of visitors that the island hosts during summer. The most popular beaches are west of town along 12 kilometers of coastal highway. Koukounaries, Megali Ammos, Vassilias, Lalaria and Achladias are the most popular also crowded and developed.
Skiathos was the birthplace of famous 19th-century Greek novelist and short-story writer Alexandros Papadiamanti, whose writings draw upon the hard lives of the islanders he grew up with. His humble 1860 house is now a charming museum with books, paintings and old photos.
An excursion to the Kastro, the old fortress-capital on the northernmost point of the island, east of Lalaria beach is a must visit in Skiathos. The Kastro was built in a remote and spectacular site in the 16th century, when the island was overrun by the Turks. It was abandoned shortly after the War of Independence, when such fortifications were no longer necessary.
The islets Tsougria, Tsougriaki, Maragos, Arkos, Troulonisi and Aspronisi surround the island and belongs to municipality of Skiathos. Skiathos is the first island of the Sporades that we meet with Volos and Agios Konstantinos as a starting point. After Skiathos island we meet Skopelos island and the beautiful , full of green Alonnisos are very close. Skyros island lies a little further without lacking the beauty of Sporades Archipelago of course. The geographical coordinates of Skiathos are 39°09’55.8″N 23°29’21.5″E in the Aegean Sea.
