Skiathos, Greece — Mikros Aselinos Georgios Michalagas · CC BY-SA 4.0

By boat and by ferry

Day trips from Skiathos

Q: How much does a boat trip from Skiathos cost?

Around €25–35 per person for a group round-island trip, and around €10–12 return for the taxi boat to Tsougria. Older listings quoting €15 for the round-island trip are out of date.

Half of Skiathos has no road on it, and the next island along is a short hop. Every trip is below, with what it costs, how long it takes and the one thing to watch.

9Trips covered

Old PortBoat trips leave here

New PortFerries leave here

6–8 hRound the island

Boat trips around Skiathos

Seven ways onto the water. Most leave from the Old Port, west of the Bourtzi. Prices are per person for a group trip and change every season.

Every trip card carries the same facts: where it leaves from how long it takes what it costs the thing to watch the tinted block at the foot of a card is the thing worth knowing

The island from the air, Skiathos — The island from the air dronepicr · CC BY 2.0

Excursion · Old Port · The one to do

The round-island boat trip

A full day at sea that takes in the caves, the old capital and the white beach, and the only way to see the half of the island with no road.

Old Port, Skiathos Town
6–8 hours, a full day
€25–35 per person, group trip
Big boats cannot get inside the Skotini cave. Ask which boat you are on
A strong meltemi cancels it, so book early in your stay

Trips usually run clockwise: the sea caves first, then Kastro from the water, then an hour or two ashore at Lalaria, sometimes finishing at Tsougria. Older listings quoting €15 are out of date. If the skipper cancels, take it as competence rather than bad luck.

Boats and ferries →

Kastro beach, Skiathos — Kastro beach arnepetter · CC BY-SA 3.0

Natural feature · Boat only

The sea caves

Three caves on the north coast. Skotini is the dark one, Galazia the blue one, Halkini the copper one.

Old Port, on the round-island trip
Built into the 6–8 hour trip
Included, roughly €25–35
Only small caiques and RIBs fit through Skotini

Skotini opens into a chamber described as around 20 m deep, and the drama is the tight entry. Galazia is the largest and the one people photograph. On a choppy day boats pass by instead of going in, and some itineraries only visit two of the three.

Full guide →

Beach · Boat only

Lalaria

White sun-polished stones under pale cliffs, with a pierced rock at one end that legend says makes you young again.

Old Port, Skiathos Town
About 40 min each way. Boats often stop under an hour
€15–35 in a group. €30–50 per person for a private water taxi
No shade, no bar, no toilets. Bring water and water shoes
Taking the pebbles is prohibited

There is no road and no path down, so most people arrive as a stop on the round-island trip. Dedicated runs are commonly quoted around 09:00–10:00 and 14:00–15:00. In a strong northerly the swell off the cliffs makes landing impossible. Two earthquakes in late April 2026 brought small landslides down onto the beach.

Full guide →

Kastro, Skiathos — Kastro Herbert wie · CC BY-SA 4.0

Heritage site · Boat or road

Kastro from the water

The abandoned medieval capital on its cliff, with a grey-pebble cove below it to swim from.

Old Port, Skiathos Town
A stop on the round-island trip, usually with time ashore
Included in the €25–35 trip. No entrance fee is mentioned by any source
One seasonal cafe-bar on the beach and no sunbeds

Islanders lived up here for roughly five centuries to escape pirates and moved back down around 1829–1830. Small boats also run from the Old Port straight to Kastro beach, and you can climb up to the site from there. By road it is a drive north, a dirt final stretch, then a 30–35 min walk.

Full guide →

Island · Boat only

Tsougria

The small island just offshore to the south-east, with several sandy beaches and a summer-only canteen.

Old Port, roughly hourly from 10:00
15–20 min each way. Half a day, not an expedition
Around €10–12 return
Sources differ on both the fare and the departure point

Taxi boats return on the half-hour until early evening, later at peak. One source describes departures from the New Port near the taxi rank rather than the Old Port, so confirm at the quay. The reef off the neighbouring islet, Tsougriaki, is the one dive site on the island we can name with confidence.

Boats and ferries →

Banana beach, Skiathos — Banana beach dronepicr · CC BY 2.0

Water taxi · Koukounaries

Koukounaries to Banana

A six-minute hop over the headland, for the days when you cannot face the walk.

Koukounaries
About 6 min
Not verified
You do not need it. Banana is a 5–10 min walk from the Koukounaries bus terminus

The dirt path over the headland forks: Big Banana one way, Little Banana, the naturist beach, the other. Any guide calling Banana boat-only is wrong. The taxi is convenient rather than necessary.

Banana beach →

Agia Eleni beach, Skiathos — Agia Eleni beach dronepicr · CC BY 2.0

Self-drive · Town or Koukounaries

Hire a small boat

Small self-drive boats and RIBs, for the coves the bus cannot reach and nobody else is in.

Skiathos Town and Koukounaries
Varies. Most hires are by the day
Not verified. Set per operator per season
The same meltemi that stops the excursion boats stops you

7 beaches in our dataset have no road and no path: Kastro, Lalaria, Krifi Ammos, Agistros, Aligaries Bay, Diamandi and Tsougria. A boat is the only way in. We are not quoting hire prices, because every figure we found was either unsourced or stale.

On the water →

Ferries from the New Port

To the other islands

The Sporades are a chain, and Skiathos sits at the end of it nearest the mainland. These leave from the New Port, east of the Bourtzi.

Bourtzi, Skiathos — Bourtzi Shi Annan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ferry · New Port · The standard island day

Skopelos

The near neighbour, greener and bigger, and the island where most of Mamma Mia was actually filmed.

New Port, Skiathos Town
A short hop. We will not print a figure, and the reason is below
Varies by operator and vessel
Two ports, a long way apart. Check which one your boat lands at
Conventional ferries and high-speed craft are not close to each other on time

Vessels serve Glossa/Loutraki at the northern end and Skopelos Town, and which one you get changes the day entirely. The film's wedding chapel, Agios Ioannis Kastri near Glossa, is about 200 steps up a rock. Kastani beach and Glysteri are on Skopelos too. Only 2 scenes were shot on Skiathos. We publish no crossing time because the figures in circulation are irreconcilable and at least one widely repeated number is a Volos to Skopelos time mislabelled as an inter-island one.

Mamma Mia locations →

Skiathos 11 — Skiathos Town, and the islets offshore Mrcsifkin · CC BY-SA 3.0

Ferry · New Port · A long day

Alonnisos and the marine park

Further along the same chain, and the gateway to the largest marine protected area in Europe.

New Port, Skiathos Town
Varies. We have no verified figure
Varies by operator and vessel
It is past Skopelos, so an early boat out matters more here

The National Marine Park of Alonnisos and the Northern Sporades is a refuge for the Mediterranean monk seal. Both conventional ferries and high-speed craft serve the island from the New Port. We have not researched Alonnisos to the standard of the rest of this site, and would rather say so than pad the page.

Boats and ferries →

Every trip side by side

Fares and times change every season and between operators. Treat these as a starting point, not a booking.

Trip	Leaves from	How long	Cost
Round the island	Old Port	6–8 h	€25–35 pp
The sea caves	Old Port	On the round-island trip	Included
Lalaria	Old Port	~40 min each way	€15–35 pp group
Kastro	Old Port	On the round-island trip	Included
Tsougria	Old Port	15–20 min each way	€10–12 return
Koukounaries to Banana	Koukounaries	~6 min	Not verified
Hire a small boat	Town or Koukounaries	Varies	Not verified
Skopelos	New Port	Short hop, no figure published	Varies
Alonnisos	New Port	Varies	Varies

Small boats moored in a Skiathos bay — **Boats in the bay** Georgios Michalagas · CC BY-SA 4.0

The two harbours

The Bourtzi peninsula splits the town waterfront in two, and the two sides do different jobs. Getting them the wrong way round is the classic Skiathos mistake, and it costs people ferries.

Old Port

West of the Bourtzi

Excursion caiques and water taxis
Round the island, the caves, Lalaria, Kastro, Tsougria
Fishing boats, and the evening bar scene
Kiosks along the quay price and sell trips on the day

New Port

East of the Bourtzi

Ferries and hydrofoils to the mainland
Ferries to Skopelos and Alonnisos
The taxi rank, staffed around the clock to meet arrivals
Everything scheduled leaves from this side

The wind decides, not the timetable

Every trip on this page is weather-dependent, and the weather in question is the meltemi.

The meltemi is the dry northerly that blows across the Aegean from June to September, hardest in July and August.
Skiathos gets off lightly because the Sporades sit in the lee of the Pelion peninsula. The north coast does not, and the north coast is where the boat trips go.
Lalaria is the worst hit. Waves of several metres and a violent undertow, from the swell reflecting off the cliffs.
Large ferries keep running in conditions that stop the small stuff. Most operators consider cancelling from around 9 Beaufort, but smaller high-speed craft may stop from 7.
Book the round-island trip early in your stay, so a cancellation still leaves you days to try again.

Not a day trip, whatever you have read

Skyros

Same island group, no useful link. Skyros is reached from Kymi on Evia, not from here.

This catches people out when they plan a multi-island trip on a map rather than on a timetable.

Athens

There is no ferry from Athens or Piraeus. The Sporades are not part of the Cyclades network, and this is the single most common planning mistake visitors make.

Skiathos is reached from four mainland ports: Volos, Agios Konstantinos, Mantoudi on Evia and Thessaloniki.

The mainland, there and back

Volos is the main gateway and the only port with genuine year-round service. The crossing runs roughly 1h15–1h25 on a high-speed craft and around 2h20 on a conventional ferry.

Whether the timetable lets you return the same day is re-set every season, so check before you plan on it. Only the conventional ferries take vehicles.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best boat trip from Skiathos?

The round-island trip from the Old Port, which takes six to eight hours and costs around €25–35 per person. It is the only way to see the northern half of the island, which has no road on it.

Where do boat trips leave from in Skiathos?

The Old Port, west of the Bourtzi peninsula, where the excursion caiques and water taxis moor. The New Port on the eastern side is for ferries and hydrofoils to the mainland and the other islands.

Can you do Skopelos as a day trip from Skiathos?

Yes, on ferries and high-speed craft from the New Port. Check which port you land at, because vessels serve both Glossa/Loutraki and Skopelos Town and the two are a long way apart.

How do you get to Lalaria beach?

By boat only, because there is no road and no path down the cliffs. Most people arrive on a round-island trip from the Old Port, and in a strong meltemi the boats cannot land at all.

How much does a boat trip from Skiathos cost?

Around €25–35 per person for a group round-island trip, and around €10–12 return for the taxi boat to Tsougria. Older listings quoting €15 for the round-island trip are out of date.