The Skiathos Guide

Skiathos ยท Sporades ยท Greece

Skiathos beaches, and where to eat at each one

Which beach today? Open the beach finder

Skiathos has more usable beach than any island its size has a right to. This is the part the beach guides leave out: which of them you can actually eat at, whether the food is any good, and where you will need cash because the card machine does not work.

27Beaches with venues
70Beach venues reviewed
4Where cash is needed

A warning that runs through this whole section: beach position is the strongest single predictor of an overpriced, underwhelming kitchen on Skiathos. The best-known beach venues are frequently not the best ones, and where a setting is carrying a weak kitchen we say so rather than letting the photograph do the talking.

Several beaches have no food operation at all. Lalaria โ€” the famous white-pebble beach reachable only by boat โ€” has no bar, no taverna, no kiosk, no toilets and no shade. Bring everything. Plakes and Kalamaki Cove are the same. Worth knowing before you commit a day to one.

Every beach with somewhere to eat

13 venues

Koukounaries

The island's most famous beach and its biggest sweep of fine golden sand, backed by the Strofilia pine forest and a protected lagoon. Busy, fully organised, and the most-searched beach on Skiathos.

7 venues

Agia Paraskevi

Also called Platanias. Long, organised, well served by the bus, with watersports at the far end.

7 venues

Megali Ammos

The closest real beach to Skiathos Town โ€” twenty minutes on foot or a short bus ride โ€” which makes it the default for anyone without a car. Unusually well served for food.

6 venues

Troulos

A wide family beach on the bus route with shallow sheltered water, and one of the better clusters of value restaurants just inland.

5 venues

Kolios

A sheltered bay with three distinct beach bars along it at three different price points โ€” unusual concentration for one beach, and a real choice within a few hundred metres.

5 venues

Achladies

A sheltered resort beach a few kilometres south-west of town, with several long-standing family tavernas and one recent boho-chic relaunch on the sand.

3 venues

Kanapitsa

On the peninsula east of Kolios, with good sea views back towards the port and a proper taverna rather than just a beach bar.

3 venues

Vromolimnos

Golden soft sand and calm clear water, consistently rated among the island's best for swimming. Also the most commercialised: expect three rows of loungers and prices to match.

2 venues ยท cash needed

Mandraki

Mandraki Beach Canteen, Super Paradise (Mandraki / Elias)

2 venues

Vasilias

Organised, with a water taxi into Skiathos Town โ€” one of the easiest beach days to do without a car.

1 venue

Sklithri

A small cove where the taverna puts tables directly on the sand. The shore is narrow, so loungers are limited.

1 venue ยท cash needed

Kehria

Tarsanas (Kehria)

1 venue

Aligaries Bay

Taverna Aligaries

1 venue

Agistros

Agistros Paradise

1 venue ยท cash needed

Krifi Ammos

'Hidden sand' โ€” a secluded west-coast cove reached by a dirt road and a steep descent. Cash only; there is no network coverage for card terminals.

1 venue

Little Kechria

Little Kechria Beach Shack

1 venue ยท cash needed

Kastro

Beneath the ruins of the island's abandoned medieval capital on the wild north coast. Cash only, seasonal, and a long way from anywhere.

1 venue

Mikros Aselinos

The smaller of the two Aselinos beaches, and its taverna is one of the genuinely good north-coast kitchens rather than a reheating operation.

1 venue

Megalos Aselinos

A long exposed stretch on the north coast for people who want space and do not mind wind. A standard stop on round-island boat trips, so midday is busy.

1 venue

Xanemos

At the end of the airport runway, where aircraft pass a few dozen metres overhead on approach. The reason people come is the planes, not the sand.

1 venue

Tzaneria

Sheltered water on the Kanapitsa peninsula, popular for watersports, with a boat shuttle from the Old Port at one end.

1 venue

Diamandi

Diamanti Beach Bar

1 venue

Nostos

Nostos Beach Taverna & Beach Bar

1 venue

Platanias

Atrium Hotel Taverna

1 venue

Maratha

A narrow pine-shaded strip about 500 metres before Koukounaries, with one operation on it run by the hotel above.

1 venue

Agia Eleni

West-facing, so it gets the sunset, and popular with windsurfers. Two separate operations serve it. Note the repeated reports of overcharging on running tabs โ€” pay as you go.

1 venue

Banana

Big Banana is heavily commercialised with full watersports; Little Banana is the island's naturist beach. Every food and drink operation on this headland belongs to the Elivi estate โ€” there is no independent taverna.