Sporadi
The ferry from Volos has barely cut its engines before the scent of pine resin drifts into the cabin, mixed with salt: it rarely h...
Updated 10 July 2026
Sporadi
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Sporadi now
The story
The story of Sporadi
The name and origins
Ancient sources already called this archipelago "Sporades" in classical times, distinguishing it from the Cycladic islands further south. The earliest settlements date back to the Bronze Age, with Minoan and Mycenaean traces especially on Skiathos and Skopelos, favored by their position along the trade routes linking mainland Greece to Euboea and the northern Aegean. Legend has it that Skopelos was founded by Staphylos, son of Dionysus and Ariadne, and by his brother Peparethos: a myth that explains why, even today, the island bears the ancient name of Peparethos on older maps and remains linked to the cult of the vine.
Byzantines, the Ghisi and Venice
With the fall of the Roman Empire the Sporades passed under Byzantium, remaining for centuries a peripheral province often prey to piracy. In 1207, after the Fourth Crusade, the archipelago fell into the hands of the Venetian Ghisi family, who built the fortified castles still visible on Skiathos and Skopelos: square towers, thick walls, a design meant to withstand sieges from the sea. The Ghisi were succeeded by the direct rule of the Republic of Venice, which held the islands until the arrival of the Ottomans in the sixteenth century, alternating periods of relative autonomy with corsair raids that repeatedly depopulated the coasts.
From the Ottomans to union with Greece
Under Ottoman rule the Sporades retained considerable administrative autonomy, paying tribute but remaining largely Greek in language, religion and customs. The inhabitants devoted themselves to seafaring and shipbuilding, an activity still passed down in a few artisan workshops on Skiathos and Skopelos. The islands took part in the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s and were among the first to raise the flag of free Greece, officially becoming part of the new Hellenic state in 1830.
The National Marine Park of the Sporades
Established in 1992, the National Marine Park of the Northern Sporades covers more than 2,200 square kilometers around Alonissos and the uninhabited islands to the northeast, and is the largest protected marine area in Europe. It was created to protect the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), among the most endangered mammals on the planet, which still finds isolated caves here to give birth away from human disturbance. The park also protects dolphins, the white-tailed eagle and colonies of seabirds, and is divided into zones with different levels of protection: some islets, such as Piperi, are a strict reserve where access is forbidden except for scientific research.
Skiathos, the worldly gateway of the archipelago
The closest to the mainland and the most visited of the three major islands, Skiathos is famous for an impressive number of beaches, more than sixty counted along just a few dozen kilometers of coastline, and for one of the liveliest nightlife scenes in the Sporades. It is also the birthplace of the writer Alexandros Papadiamantis, considered the father of the modern Greek short story, and its harbor still holds the small fortified islet of Bourtzi. It deserves a guide of its own, but remains the natural starting point for those arriving by plane or ferry from Volos and Athens.
Skopelos, the green set of Mamma Mia!
Greener and less worldly than Skiathos, Skopelos is covered with pine forests and plum orchards that run down to the sea, and its amphitheater-shaped Chora holds more than a hundred small white churches. It became known to the wider public as the setting of the film "Mamma Mia!", but its local fame is older and tied to the production of dried plums and traditional cheeses. Here too the island deserves a dedicated account of its own, but within the archipelago it represents the rural face less trodden by mass tourism.
Alonissos and the heart of the Marine Park
The easternmost and wildest of the three major islands, Alonissos is effectively the headquarters of the National Marine Park and is the destination of choice for those seeking diving, dolphin watching and hiking trails rather than organized beach life. The 1965 earthquake destroyed the old hilltop Chora, today restored as a residential-artistic village, and shifted the town center to Patitiri, the modern harbor. It is the most authentic of the Sporades islands, with a pace of life reminiscent of the Greece of a few decades ago.
The uninhabited islands
Northeast of Alonissos stretches a chain of islets almost entirely uninhabited that complete the archipelago and guard its wildest part. Kyra Panagia hosts an old monastery of Mount Athos and a few families of seasonal shepherds; Peristera hides in its waters an ancient commercial wreck loaded with amphorae, now visitable as an underwater museum; Piperi is a strict reserve for the monk seal and closed to landings; Yioura and Skantzoura complete the picture with rocky coastlines reachable only by boat. These are destinations for day trips by small boat, not for a stay.
The landscape: pine forests that touch the sea
What sets the Sporades apart from the rest of the Aegean is the vegetation: instead of the bare rocks of the Cyclades, here the Aleppo pine forest runs down to the waterline, giving natural shade to many beaches and a resinous scent that accompanies every coastal walk. The interior alternates olive groves, vineyards and orchards with denser woods on the heights, while the coasts break up into coves of white pebbles, sandy bays and small fishing harbors. It is a landscape more similar to certain Ionian islands than to the rest of the Aegean, and it is also why forest fires remain a real threat that local communities watch closely.
Traditions, flavors and popular culture
The cuisine of the Sporades is both sea and forest cuisine together: grilled fish and sun-dried octopus coexist with wild mushrooms, pine honey and goat cheeses aged in caves. Skopelos is famous for dried plums (damaschines) and for a wood-oven-baked cheese pie, the local tyropita, different from the mainland version. Religious festivals, the summer panegyria held in villages around the monasteries, remain the best occasion to taste homemade dishes, listen to live music and see traditional dances that beach tourism has not yet replaced.
Getting around the islands
The archipelago is best visited in sequence thanks to an efficient network of ferries and hydrofoils connecting Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos several times a day in high season, with journey times between twenty minutes and an hour. Skiathos is the only one with an airport offering direct flights from Europe, and therefore serves as the natural gateway; from there travel continues by sea to the other two. Those arriving from mainland Greece instead board at Volos or Agios Konstantinos, with direct connections also to Skopelos and Alonissos without passing through Skiathos.
- Touring the three major islands in a single stay by ferry
- A boat trip to the Marine Park to look for dolphins and the monk seal
- Walking through the pine forests that run down to the sea in Skiathos and Skopelos
- Visiting the restored Chora of Alonissos, today a village of artists
- Tasting Skopelos's dried plums and cheeses in the local markets
- A guided scuba dive to the ancient wrecks of Alonissos
FAQ
Qual è il periodo migliore per visitare le Sporadi?
Come si passa da un'isola all'altra?
Conviene fare base in una sola isola o girarle tutte?
Le Sporadi sono adatte alle famiglie con bambini?
Si possono avvistare le foche monache?
Getting there
- Aeroporto di Skiathos (JSI), unico scalo dell'arcipelago, con voli diretti stagionali dall'Europa
- Non esistono collegamenti stradali diretti: si raggiunge il continente greco in auto fino a Volos o Agios Konstantinos e da lì si prosegue in traghetto.
- In alta stagione prenotare in anticipo sia i voli per Skiathos sia i traghetti tra le isole, che vanno rapidamente esauriti a Ferragosto.
Perfect for
Decine di calette tra pineta e acqua trasparente, da quelle organizzate di Skiathos a quelle isolate di Alonissos.
Il Parco Marino Nazionale offre incontri con foca monaca, delfini e uccelli marini in un contesto ancora selvaggio.
Skopelos e Skiathos hanno ispirato film e scrittori, dalla trilogia di Mamma Mia! ai racconti di Papadiamantis.
Susine, formaggi di capra, miele di pino e pesce fresco raccontano un arcipelago a metà tra bosco e mare.
Alonissos in particolare propone relitti antichi da esplorare e una rete di sentieri panoramici tra macchia e pineta.
To see
What to see in Sporadi
Routes · Trovido Route
