Day trips from Skopelos: the marine park

We name the trips and describe what each is. We print no departure times, crossing durations or prices, because those change every season and a printed timetable is the fastest thing on a travel page to go wrong. Confirm the day’s schedule with the operators, and check the last boat back before you settle in anywhere.

Alonissos and the marine park

The best reason to leave Skopelos. Alonissos lies east, and the water around it is a national marine park, the largest marine protected area in Europe, which is why this corner of the Aegean has a reputation the rest of the Sporades does not.

A day out that way is a long one on the water, with swimming stops and a stretch of coast that has been left alone. Alonissos itself is quieter than either of its neighbours, with an old hilltop village above the port and a walking network behind it.

Do not book it expecting a guaranteed sighting of anything. It is a protected habitat rather than an attraction, and the honest pitch is a slow day at sea in unusually clean water.

Skiathos, for the opposite of Skopelos

A short crossing west, and a genuinely different island: sand rather than pebble, a town that stays up rather than one that goes to bed, dozens of beaches along one sheltered southern stretch, and the region’s airport.

Two reasons to go. The first is contrast, and it is a real one. The second is the boat trip round Skiathos’s own road-free north coast to Lalaria and its abandoned Kastro, which is the best day out in the Sporades and easier to reach from Skopelos than most people realise.

Skiathos to Skopelos covers the crossing, and the Skiathos guide covers what to do once you land.

The boat round your own island

Skopelos is bigger and more folded than it looks, and a lot of its coast is easier to reach by sea than by road. Boats run from the town along the coast to bays that the road serves badly or not at all, and taking one turns an ordinary beach afternoon into a better one.

This is also the fallback when the wind has made the longer crossings uncomfortable, which happens often enough in the Sporades to be worth planning for.

Glossa and Loutraki, by land

Not a boat trip, but the other half of the island and worth a day. Glossa at the northern end is the second town, higher and quieter than the capital, above the little port of Loutraki. The drive up runs through the pine forest that gives the island its character, so the journey earns its place.

If you are heading on to Skiathos, note that some boats use Loutraki rather than Skopelos Town, which can save you the length of the island on departure day.

What we would actually do with four days

One day on Alonissos and the marine park, one on Skiathos taking its north-coast boat trip, and the rest on Skopelos itself: the stepped town, the pebble beaches and the chapel at Agios Ioannis Kastri early in the morning.

With a week, do not day-trip to Skiathos at all. Stay on it for a few nights instead, which is what the Sporades island hopping itinerary is built around. The order of your days on Skopelos itself is in the Skopelos itinerary.

Where this leaves you

From Skopelos the days out are Alonissos and its marine park for a slow day at sea, Skiathos for the contrast and for the best boat trip in the group, and your own coast by boat when the wind rules out the longer crossings. All of them are seasonal, all of them leave from the harbour, and the one thing to check before you build a day around it is the last boat home.

Quick answers

What is the best day trip from Skopelos?

Alonissos and the national marine park around it, if you want a long slow day on the water in a protected stretch of sea. If you would rather have contrast, Skiathos is a short crossing west and a completely different island.

Can you do a day trip to Skiathos from Skopelos?

Yes, the crossing is short and frequent in season. It is worth doing for the boat trip around Skiathos’s road-free north coast to Lalaria and the Kastro, which is the best day out in the Sporades.

Is the marine park worth visiting?

It is the largest marine protected area in Europe and the water is noticeably clean, so the day is a good one on its own terms. No particular wildlife sighting can be promised, because it is a habitat rather than an attraction, and that is the wrong reason to book the day.

Do day trips from Skopelos run out of season?

They thin out substantially. The trips to Alonissos and the coastal boats are seasonal, and outside high summer the options shrink to the main Skiathos crossing. Check before you plan a trip around a specific day out.