Skiathos

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The Beautiful island of Skaithosis a place I have been to a few times. For those who aren't familiar with the island it is in the Northern Sporades off the coast of mainland Greece near Thessaloniki. Skiathos has always been a popular tourist destination but really shot to fame in 2008 with the release of the film Mamma Mia! which was filmed partly on the island an partly on its neighbouring island, Skopelos. The first time my wife and I went was after seeing the film, the beautiful blue sea and white sand. The coupled with Greek culture, I have been to a few islands, made it a no brainer.

The Island is very small, around 4 miles by 7 miles so it is easy to get around. Skiathos Town , the main port and capital of the island. It features the historical site of The Bourtzi, built by Venetians in 1207 as well as the the home of famous greek author Alexandros Papadiamantis which has now been converted to a museum. It is also the home to the clock tower which is used on the opening scene of Mamma Mia!. Also in the centre is an open air cinema where they play a few different films, however, unsurprisingly the most frequently shown and most popular is Mamm Mia!



To the North of the island is the less populated and have fewer places to stay but there are some fantastic sites. You can get to these easily by taking the round the island tours from Skiathos Town. The first stop on the tour is the beautiful Lalaria Beach and the second is the old town of Kastro. I will write more about these in my next post. I just wanted to give a little flavour of the island in this first post

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