I’ve been wanting to do more lifestyle content for a while now, and somehow it was never the right moment. When I was traveling, I’d always be very busy, and then as I never keep notes of my impressions, a few weeks after I’d left, I would pretty much forget all the details and useful facts I thought were worth sharing with you, therefore I never end up actually sharing “Travel tips” on my blog.

This summer I really want to let you have a closer look into my life and daily routine, and show you more, starting from basic “what to pack”s, to nail or travel advice. (you can always keep up with my activity on my Instagram).

Greece pleasantly surprised me with its hospitality, friendly people, and good knowledge of English. Having had travelled a lot throughout Europe, I’m very familiar with the “no hablo ingles” situation in many countries, so the Greek people impressed me with their basic to advanced knowledge of the English language.

I guess you might be asking yourselves what made me choose Skopelos, from all the thousands Greek islands. Well, to speak the truth, I didn’t. My mom was the one who made the choice, excited to visit the island where the “Mama Mia” movie with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan was filmed, and I just went along with it, trusting her (usually good) travel instincts. She’s quite the professional when it comes to organizing a trip, and even my “researching” skills seem like candy floss compared to her preparations. However, the only little detail she didn’t quite get right is that traveling by car is the worst idea, or at least that’s what it seemed at the time of booking the ferry.

1. So as you’ve already figured, the ferry and car are the first things I want to talk about. My advice would be to either rent a car on the island, or actually come on your car (if you live in Europe of course). Yeah, you heard me, driving your car wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Once we got to Skopelos, we realized how unpopulated, local, and quiet it is. You can’t walk anywhere, as it’s all hills and forests, but the cabs are awfully expensive (we were told that a taxi drive from the Skopelos Town to our hotel would cost 150€). So what was it that I didn’t like about the idea of your own car on the islands? Well, the tricky part is to plan your time, and book the ferry and hotel at the same time. My mom didn’t take into consideration the fact that Skopelos is not a very touristy island, therefore only a few ports on mainland Greece has ferries there, and there is usually a limited number per day, and maybe one that has a garage. So we ended up departing from Volos, with a connection in Skiathos, as the only direct ferry was overbooked and there was no way we could get to our destination directly.

  • a detail you need to know about bringing your car is that it’s probably the most expensive option. As we had an SUV, we paid about 200€ + aprx. 40€ per person.
  • also make sure to fill up your gas tank on the mainland Greece.  The prices on the island are about 20-30 cents higher. 

2. Once you get to Skiathos, my advice is to IGNORE ALL THE GPS, if you don’t want to end up on the top of some mountain that has no roads, no civilization, with a flat wheel, and no space to turn back or reverse. There are a few direction signs, and due to the small size of the island, it’s more than enough to get where you need to, safely and alive.

3. Don’t worry about the food! The first thing you see once you get to the port (more Skopelos, but even Glossa) is rows of tavernas. But I’ll talk about that another time, and share with you some of my favourite restaurants and dishes in Skopelos.

4. The hotel we stopped at is Adrina Resort Spa. It is situated in Panormos which is a very quite area in the South-West part of the island. It is the perfect choice for big families, as they offer 2 floor villas with 2 bedrooms and your own pool.

  • One thing I really dislike about Skopelos is the lack of sand beaches. I’ve always loved long golden sand beaches, where you can run, play Badminton, it’s just my perfect idea of how a beach should be. Apparently there is one half sandy half rock beach somewhere on the island, but it’s only accesible by boat. 

5. The Skopelos Town is just as I imagined the Greek islands look. All the buildings look like they’re white toy houses, decorated with painted in blue or brown wood, with flowers covering 3 floor walls, wide stairs as streets, and lots of local shops. I’ll be sharing more photos with you in the Photo Diary I’ll be posting soon.

Skopelos truly is the perfect destination if you want a quiet and totally relaxing holiday. However, if you’re young and look for night hanging outs and parties, Skiathos would be a better choice for you.

Hope this was useful!

Love,
D

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