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Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Sporades

Skiathos round-trip.

Sail seven days from Skiathos through Skopelos, Skyros and the Alonissos Marine Park, with monk-seal anchorages, cliff villages and golden Koukounaries.

The route

Day-by-day route

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Skopelos
Day 1

Skiathos Marina → Skopelos

An easy 15-mile warm-up east to Skopelos, with a swim at Stafylos and a stern-to berth under the pine-clad old town.

Distance

11 NM

Sailing

~2.2h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – early October (peak Jun – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Skiathos

Sailing area

Sporades

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Skopelos
1
Day 1

Skiathos Marina → Skopelos

Fifteen miles is a gentle first leg, and a good one for shaking down the boat before the longer hops ahead. The meltémi here blows from the north at fifteen to twenty knots through July and August, softer than anything you'd meet in the Cyclades, so most crews carry a comfortable beam reach across to Skopelos. Drop the hook at Stafylos, four miles short of town, for a lunch swim over sand. Skopelos harbour takes you stern-to along the quay, well tucked from the northerly. In the evening, climb the stone lanes above the waterfront as the light goes gold. The whitewashed chapel from the Mamma Mia films, Agios Ioannis Kastri, sits out on the east coast and is easiest reached by road. Book a taxi if you want it before the day-trip crowds.

Things to do

Swim over sand at Stafylos Bay

Climb Skopelos old town's stone lanes

Taxi to Agios Ioannis Kastri chapel

Order yemista at Ouzeri Anatoli

Mooring tip

Berth stern-to along Skopelos town quay, roughly €25-40 a night and sheltered from the northerly. If it fills up, Loutraki over on the Glossa side is a quieter fallback.

Skyros
2
Day 2

Skopelos → Skyros

This is the longest day of the route, close to forty miles, so we usually slip the lines by nine to reach Linaria in daylight. With the meltémi behind the beam it's a fast, rolling sail; keep an eye on the swell building on the quarter as you clear the shelter of Skopelos. Skyros sits apart from the rest of the group, and it feels it. Linaria, a small working harbour on the southwest coast, gives good protection from the north. From there it's a short taxi or a stiff walk up to Chora, the old town spilling down beneath a Byzantine castle. Wander the lanes and you'll pass workshops carving the island's famous little wooden horses. Save an appetite for goat stew in a courtyard taverna once the heat drops.

Things to do

Hike up to Chora's Byzantine castle

Watch a craftsman carve a Skyrian horse

Swim at Pefkos Beach, south coast

Eat goat stew in a Chora courtyard

Mooring tip

Go stern-to in Linaria, about €25-40 a night with solid cover from the north. For a quiet night on the hook instead, Atsitsa Bay on the west coast is well protected.

Kira Panagia
3
Day 3

Skyros → Kyra Panagia

Kyra Panagia has no village, no road and nowhere to tie up, which is exactly the appeal. You come here to anchor and to have the place more or less to yourself. Planitis, on the north coast, is an almost enclosed lagoon; motor in through the narrow entrance and drop onto sand in five to seven metres, sheltered whatever the meltémi is doing. This is the heart of the Alonissos marine park, home to Europe's monk seals, so keep the swimming quiet and the spearguns stowed. Ashore, a half-hour climb leads to a working twelfth-century monastery still tended by a monk or two. Come evening there's little to do but eat in the cockpit under the anchor light, listen to the cicadas in the scrub, and count stars.

Things to do

Anchor and swim in Planitis Bay

Hike to the 12th-century Panagia Monastery

Snorkel quietly for monk seals

Read on deck as the cicadas start

Mooring tip

This is a free anchorage on sand in five to seven metres, protected from the north with no services ashore. Park rules apply: no spearfishing and no fires on the beach.

Alonissos
4
Day 4

Kyra Panagia → Alonissos

After the solitude of Kyra Panagia, fifteen easy miles bring you back to signs of life. Alonissos is the only island people actually live on inside the reserve, the largest protected stretch of sea in Europe, and it wears that lightly. Patitiri, the main harbour on the south coast, is where the charter boats go stern-to among the ferries and fishing caiques. Leave the waterfront and climb, on foot or by taxi, to Old Alonissos, the original village high on the ridge, car-free and quiet after the day-trippers leave. Divers can visit the Peristera wreck, a fifth-century BC cargo ship of amphorae, but only with a licensed operator. Back down at the port, the local kitchens do a good lobster pasta, the astakomakaronada that Alonissos is known for. Steni Vala, a few miles east, is the calmer overnight if the harbour feels busy.

Things to do

Walk car-free Old Alonissos on the ridge

Dive the 5th-century BC Peristera wreck

Try astakomakaronada lobster pasta at the port

Join a marine-park snorkel trip

Mooring tip

Patitiri takes you stern-to at roughly €25-40 a night, sheltered from the north among the ferry berths. Steni Vala on the east coast is smaller and usually calmer if you'd rather not fight for space.

Koukounaries
5
Day 5

Alonissos → Koukounaries (Skiathos)

Twenty miles carries you back into Skiathos waters and to Koukounaries, the beach that fronts half the island's postcards. It's a long arc of pale gold sand with a pine forest pressing right down to the shore, and from the water it earns the reputation. Anchor off the beach in four to six metres over good sand, tucked in from the northerly. Behind the dunes lies a small wetland worth an hour's wander, where herons stalk the shallows and, some springs, flamingos stop over. This is a livelier corner of the trip after the quiet islands, so make the most of it. We often stay on the hook for sunset, then dinghy across to Achladies for a drink. If the anchorage is crowded or the wind swings, run the last couple of miles into Skiathos Marina and take a paid berth on the town quay.

Things to do

Anchor off Koukounaries' golden sand

Walk the wetland behind the beach

Sundowner at Achladies Beach Bar

Catch rembetika near Bourtzi in Skiathos Town

Mooring tip

Anchoring off Koukounaries is free, on sand in four to six metres and sheltered from the north. When it blows up or fills in, the town quay at Skiathos Marina is the paid stern-to fallback nearby.

Skiathos
6
Day 6

Koukounaries → Skiathos Marina

Only eight miles separate Koukounaries from the marina, so there's no rush and plenty of reason to take the long way round the top of the island. Lalaria is the stop to make: a beach of smooth white pebbles under pale chalk cliffs, reachable only from the sea, with a natural rock arch at one end. Anchor off, swim in, and mind your footing on the stones. The water there is startlingly clear over the pale bottom. From Lalaria it's a short run down to Skiathos town, where you tie up stern-to on the quay beneath the little Bourtzi fort guarding the harbour mouth. Spend the last evening ashore over grilled octopus at one of the waterfront tavernas, then square the boat away for morning. Top up fuel at the entrance berth before you take your spot.

Things to do

Swim at boat-only Lalaria Beach

Photograph Lalaria's white rock arch

Walk out to the Bourtzi fort

Grilled octopus at Taverna Alektor

Mooring tip

Skiathos Marina is a lazy-line stern-to berth at around €40-60 a night. Refuel at the fuel berth by the entrance before you back in, and confirm your handover slot with the base a day ahead.

Skiathos
7
Day 7

Skiathos → Check-out

The boat is usually due back before nine, so it pays to have bags packed and lockers cleared the night before. The base manager walks the deck and hull with you, checks the inventory, and signs off; with nothing amiss the deposit comes back to your card within a week or so. If there's an hour to spare, wander into Skiathos town for a last frappé and a warm spanakopita from the bakery before the taxi. Skiathos airport sits barely five minutes up the road from the marina, one of the shortest transfers in the Aegean, which makes the final morning refreshingly unhurried. A week in the Sporades tends to send people home already planning the next boat.

Things to do

Final walk-through with the base manager

Grab a spanakopita from Skiathos Bakery

Last frappé at a town café

Five-minute transfer to Skiathos airport

Mooring tip

Have the boat back on the Skiathos Marina quay before 09:00 for the handover inspection. The deposit is typically released within seven days once the checks are done.

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