JENNIES HOUSE:
General Info
Living Room
Bedrooms
Pool & Gardens

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We came to Skopelos in the first instance because it had the house and environment we wanted but quickly came to realise how fortunate we were. There is enough rain, mainly November to February, to keep it from becoming brown and arid; in addition the soil is very fertile. Thus agriculture has remained important to the islanders and traditional ways of life have been maintained. The island is covered with a mixture of olive, almond and plum orchards, together with natural forests of pine and other trees.

It is relatively small, about 13 miles by 5 miles with a population of 5,500, and has one main town which encircles the harbour. Tiers of red-tiled houses climb the hillside through narrow cobbled streets. The harbour front has taverna's, restaurants, bars, craft shops, travel agencies and banks. Further back are a wide variety of shops and mingled with these are the town houses with splendid views of the bay.

Having neither an airport nor any major archaeological site the development of tourist facilities has remained modest. There are no large hotels and the current trend is for small hotels to be built near the beaches on the southwest coast. The few new buildings within the town are traditional in style and many old ones are being refurbished. The quality of both design and workmanship is extremely high. The only real concessions to tourism are a couple of discos on the edge of town.

The beaches mainly of fine shingle, are situated on the southwest coast and can be reached by regular buses, taxis and hired cars. All these are available from the town. The tarmac road generally passes above the beaches with gravel roads down, leaving them as oasis of calm, sunshine, clear waters plus the odd taverna. The nearest good beach is Stafilos; Agnondas is both port and beach plus excellent restaurants. Limonari is probably the best on the island; Panoramos is very large and offers great variety. There are magical isolated coves on both coasts.

Apart from the delights of beaches and watersports, the island's rugged terrain rising to over 2,000 feet, offers beautiful walks on old donkey tracks through carpets of wild flowers to ancient monasteries. There is an excellent walking guide and map.