Alonissos

Alonissos is an island that asks visitors to go slow. The ferry from Skopelos passes the bare islets of the national park and lands at Patitiri, the small port built on the site of the old village that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1965. From Patitiri the road climbs through pine forest to the new Chora, a handsome village built high above the sea, with the old settlement of the island in ruins at its edge. The beaches of the west coast — Rousoum Gialos and Chrysi Milia, small coves of pale sand and crystal water — are for swimming, and the coast paths above the sea are for walking. A boat trip runs out through the Marine Park of the Northern Sporades, past the uninhabited islets of Peristera and Kyra Panagia, where the endangered Mediterranean monk seal still finds its last refuge, and the water is of extraordinary clarity. Alonissos has few big sights and no grand monuments; its gifts are the quiet, the pines, the empty coves, and the feeling of being at the edge of the wild Aegean. It is the Sporades at their purest.

Alonissos has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and the islets around it have yielded important archaeological finds — most spectacularly, at Peristera, where a Classical shipwreck of the late 5th century BC, loaded with thousands of amphorae of the wine for which the island was famous, lies intact on the seabed; the first such wreck in Greece to be opened to divers. The island's ancient name was Ikos, and it flourished in antiquity as a producer of wine and a stopping place on the sea routes of the north Aegean. In the Middle Ages it was a possession of the great monastic houses of Mount Athos, which owned much of the land and shaped the island's life for centuries. The modern history of Alonissos is dominated by the earthquake of 1965, which destroyed the old village of Chora; the inhabitants moved to Patitiri, which grew into the island's port and main town, while the old settlement was left to its ruins. In 1992 the National Marine Park of the Northern Sporades was created around the island, the largest marine protected area in Europe, giving the monk seal and the island's waters a level of protection that has made Alonissos a model for conservation in the Mediterranean.

Alonissos is not an island of long beaches, but its coves are among the most beautiful and least crowded in the Aegean. Rousoum Gialos, just south of Patitiri, is the island's classic swimming spot: a sheltered cove of pale sand and pebbles with crystal water and a taverna. Chrysi Milia and Kokkinokastro are two more small coves on the west coast, reached by paths through the pines, the latter backed by dramatic red cliffs. Agios Dimitrios, on the east coast, is a longer sandy beach reached by a rough road. And the real beaches of Alonissos are the islets of the national park — the coves of Peristera, Kyra Panagia, and Piperi, reached only by boat, where the water is the clearest in Greece and you may have a perfect bay entirely to yourself. Bring water and a mask, and expect to share most coves with only the pine trees and the sea.

Alonissos food is the honest cooking of a small island, centred on the sea and the island's own produce. The island makes excellent honey, olive oil, and cheeses, and the tavernas of Patitiri and Steni Vala serve the daily catch — grilled fish, octopus, and the little red mullet of the Aegean — with the classic Greek table and a quiet, welcoming warmth. The island is also known for its almond sweets and its spoon sweets, and for the local 'pitarakia' — little cheese pies. For a proper Alonissos meal, find a taverna by the water, order the fish of the day and a plate of the island's greens, and finish with the local honey and a glass of wine as the boats come home. And because the island is at the heart of a marine park, the fishing is sustainable and the fish is the freshest you will find anywhere.

May, June, and September are the best months on Alonissos: warm, quiet, and green, with the sea perfect and the beaches empty. July and August are busier — Alonissos is popular with Greek and northern European families — but the island's protected character and its spread-out coves mean it never feels crowded. The island is at its most beautiful in spring, when the pines and the wildflowers are at their best, and autumn lingers warm into October. Whenever you come, plan to take a boat trip through the national park, and give the island at least a few days to reveal its quiet.

Alonissos has no airport. The island is reached by ferry from Volos, Agios Konstantinos and Skopelos, and in summer by direct boats from Thessaloniki and the other Sporades; a further summer option is a flight to the neighbouring island of Skiathos followed by a fast ferry onward.

A scooter or small car is useful, though the island is small. Take a boat trip through the National Marine Park — it is the essential Alonissos experience, and the only way to see the monk seals' islands. Visit the old Chora at sunset, walk the coast paths, and swim at Rousoum Gialos. Bring water, good shoes, and a mask and snorkel. And remember: Alonissos is a protected island of quiet — come for the pines, the empty coves, and the deep blue of the wild Aegean.