Italy and Greece holiday advice...

I was in Greece 16 yrs ago, get to Athens then hop to the island, that's how I got to Crete and back.

tell us why Skiathos? What sort of holiday?
We love Greece and Italy and choose them regularly. Happy to (try to) help

quote:

Originally posted by Nero:
tell us why Skiathos? What sort of holiday?
We love Greece and Italy and choose them regularly. Happy to (try to) help

Skathios is where the movie "mamma mia!" was filmed. The scenery is breathtaking and the tourist crowds under control. My fiance also wants to learn to dive. Since I'm a diver, I want her first experience to be so memorable. Logically, I'll take her to the red sea (an hour's flight for me), but we are looking for a more "remote" expedition.

The holiday is supposed to be a romantic getaway and for that reason I am looking at Italy and Skiathos.

Regards...

You fly to Italy then you both take the train from Rome down along the coast to Bari then ferry to Patras, train to Athens and onwards by ferry to Skiathos. Both romantic and lots of things to see on the journey south.

good suggestion Roy
OK, I'll come clean. I've not been to Skiathos or seen the movie. But I'm not sure I would go there right now, as I suspect it will be quite full of people going there because of the film, in the same way people went to see Kefalonia to find Captain Corelli. I'd be tempted to wait a bit, but IMO of course.
Greece is just stuffed full of spectacular scenery. If it helps, we tend to gravitate towards the island of Hydra, but I could be accused of trying to find the scenery of Sophie Loren's Boy on a Dolphin
50 years too late

Skiathos is a compact island, with a really scary runway, if memory serves.
As Nero says there are masses of islands, we have been to many each is the same but some how different. Crete and Rhodes are larger islands lots of archaeology very touristy, unless you go to the smaller resorts.
Samos was good , and had the advantage of being able to go to Ephesus in Turkey for a day trip.
Athens is not a great city but has the advantage of extensive historical sites.

The Greek islands are wonderful but they all have different characters so it very much depends on what sort of holiday you want, and what time of year you go. Mid July to the end of August is the peak season when most islands get very crowded, though you can usually escape to quieter places away from the main resorts. If you like the more unspoiled, off-the-beaten-track islands these can still be found, though they all rely on tourism to a certain extent.

People tend to love or hate Skiathos. It is quite small but has around 100 beaches, including some of the best in Greece. It is therefore very popular with package tour operators and gets hugely crowded in the summer. Having said that, it has a wooded interior with some lovely walks and some of the beaches on the north coast are less crowded, though also less accessible.

IMHO the whole Mama Mia thing has had an adverse impact on the island. We were there for a week late last August and instead of Greek music, you now get the MM soundtrack blaring out from many of the tavernas and bars, and on nearly all the boat trips. Mind you I’m not a fan.

Skiathos is not easy to get to by ferry from Athens. The most direct way is by bus from Athens, north to Aghios Constantinos, where you get a ferry. The bus takes over 2 hours and you have to change. I don’t think you can get a ferry direct from Athens’ main port, Piraeus, and it would be a long journey if you could. If you can afford it go for an internal flight. I am pretty sure Olympic have a daily scheduled flight from Athens to Skiathos (maybe also Aegean Air) and it saves a lot of hassle.

If you do get to Skiathos, I’d stay a day or two then get a ferry to the nearby island of Alonissos which is much less crowded and more relaxed. It has some of the clearest water in the Aegean and is great for snorkelling. You might need to check in advance whether they do diving there though. The whole area around the island is designated as a Marine National Park because of the rare protected Mediterranean Monk Seal.

I hope this helps.

Chris

Thank you all for your valuable input and helpful tips . I will surely take all of it into account. I think I'll end up flying from Athens to Skiathos.

Have a look @ Santorini. My partner (from Greece) took me there a few years ago, lovely, lovely place.

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:
Have a look @ Santorini. My partner (from Greece) took me there a few years ago, lovely, lovely place.

My favourite island by far - that view - one you will never forget. We much preferred it to Skiathos.

I love Paxos

I remember a day trip, a few years ago, from Crete to Santorini on a vessel called "The Flying Cat" (it was a catamaran, you see). Travel time was about 1 hour 45 minutes, but within half an hour of setting off, seasickness had set in, and many passengers had to use the sickbags provided.

The island is beautiful, and I have fond memories of sipping iced coffee with friends on a cafe terrace overlooking the "caldera" - albeit with a mounting sense of dread as the time for the return journey loomed . For the record, I "held it in" both ways - just!

To the OP - don't overlook Crete. It's a fabulous place with a bit of everything - beaches, mountains, wonderful monasteries, secluded villages, picturesque harbours, and the remains of the ancient Minoan civilisation (whence derives the Minotaur myth). I have friends out there, and discover new facets to the island every time I visit them.

quote:

Originally posted by Lontano:

quote:

Originally posted by Right Wing:
Have a look @ Santorini. My partner (from Greece) took me there a few years ago, lovely, lovely place.

My favourite island by far - that view - one you will never forget. We much preferred it to Skiathos.

It is the first place I have not wanted to leave.

We are going to Mykonos this year. Also meant to be very nice, but a bit more lively.

Skopelos is next to Skiathos and infinitely preferable we thought.
All was pre-MM though (I thought that the movie actually had been filmed on Skopelos, but I've never seen it). The three islands are all lovely, probably in part because of their inaccesibility - only Skiathos has an airport, and Alonyssos is now a nature reserve.

For another island suggestion, then think about Lesbos. You can avoid all the sapphic clichés (unless you want to) as it is a very large island. What endeared it to us was that it is one of very few Greek islands, maybe even the only one, whos main industry is NOT tourism (it's farming). Your mobile phone will switch from Greek to Turkish roaming with such a degree of irritating frequency that you will end up just turning it off altogether - no bad thing when on holiday.

Santorini is also lovely, but priced to match I found. It does, however, make some truly world class wines, because of its volcanic soil. Hard to get outside the island, let alone Athens and certainly even further afield.

Thanks once more for the feedback.

What kept me a bit off Santorini is that in the pictures the mountains look rather bare. Coming from Saudi Arabia, green mountains will have more of a wow factor.

Skopelos is the exact location where MM was filmed, but Skiathos was utilized as HQ for the production's logistics. I am more interested in Skopelos, but didn't get to that detail in the original post because I felt that if I reached the airport in SKiathos, getting to Skopelos would be a piece of cake.

My fiance and I, both enjoy cultural tourism but must have a well set up, furnished and serviced hospitality facilities wherever we stay. We're not real fans of roughing it out to enjoy a more "authentic" experience .

Regards...

quote:

We're not real fans of roughing it out to enjoy a more "authentic" experience Smile.

A certain amount of roughing it is what Greece is about, low rise small hotels no lifts , room service etc. It's just not the Greek way. They will look after you and use GMT (Greek maybe time), it's one of the charms of the country, the authentic Greece.

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
They will look after you and use GMT (Greek maybe time)

Reminds me of the Arabic "5 minutes" that span for an hour
Regards...