Skyros Villages: The Chora, Linaria, Magazia & Aspous

Skyros keeps its life in a few small villages, led by the car-free Chora on the east coast and the port of Linaria on the west. Between them sit the beach villages of Magazia and Molos, which hold most of the island's rooms, and quieter coastal spots at Aspous, Kalamitsa and Atsitsa. This guide walks through each in turn.

Capital

Skyros Chora

Port village

Linaria

Beach villages

Magazia & Molos

Chora to Linaria

9 km

Skyros Chora

Skyros Chora is the car-free island capital on the east coast, a hill town of narrow cobbled lanes, small squares and white houses, built up in the shape of an amphitheatre below a Byzantine castle. The streets are too narrow for cars, so you climb on foot past the houses to the castle, the monastery of Agios Georgios and the two museums at the top. The town keeps much of its original charm because most tourist rooms sit outside it on the beaches at Magazia and Molos. The castle, monastery and museums are described in the Skyros sights guide.

Linaria

Linaria is the port village of Skyros, on the west coast, founded in 1828 and built up a hillside in the shape of an amphitheatre in a bay sheltered from the wind. The largest church on the island, Agios Nikolaos Limarias, crowns the hill with a tall bell tower and a wide view over the harbour. All the island's ferries dock here, linking Skyros with Kimi on Evia and, in high season, the northern Sporades. The village is quietly lively year-round, with tavernas, shops, a bakery and a petrol station, and lies 9 km from the Chora with a regular bus. In summer caiques run from the harbour to the sea caves and to the islet of Sarakino with its Glyfada beach.

Magazia & Molos

Magazia and Molos are the two beach villages of Skyros, on the east coast just 4 km north of the Chora, sharing a long sandy beach. This is where most of the island's accommodation sits, along with a good spread of tavernas and beach bars, and it is the only stretch with a bus link from the Chora. It suits travellers who want to stay on the sand within easy reach of the capital. The beach is described in the Skyros beaches guide.

Aspous

Aspous is a quiet village set in a sandy bay on the north-east coast, about 5 km from the Chora. Its houses are scattered across the green hills above the beach, and it has a few tavernas, a mini market, a cafe-bar and a petrol station, but little other development. It makes a calmer base than the beaches just north of the capital, and canoes and pedal boats are for hire in high season.

Kalamitsa

Kalamitsa is a small village at the windsurf beach of the same name, just south of the port of Linaria and about 10 km from the Chora. It sits in the path of the wind, which draws windsurfers, and it is organised, with tavernas, cafes and a surf club along a long sand and pebble beach. Seaside self-catering rooms stand within a short walk of the water.

Atsitsa

Atsitsa is a village on the north-west coast of Skyros, about 17 km from the Chora and well connected by road, named after a small island offshore. It sits in a pine forest that runs down to a pebble beach, among olive and fruit trees. Ruined buildings on the coast and stone pillars in the sea are remnants of a railway built around 1900 by a German company that mined metals in the hills. Since 1982 an alternative holiday centre here has run yoga courses.

Katounes

Katounes is an area in the north of Skyros, 6 km from the Chora on the road towards the airport, just before the turn to Palamari. Its large tumbled stone buildings look at first like ruined forts, but they are the remains of very large sheepfolds and shepherds' houses from the days before the modern road, when a sizeable community of shepherds grazed their flocks here. The houses date from the 19th century, and the pretty little church of Agios Georgios stands on a hill above them.