Skyros

Map of Skyros

Skyros, the Southernmost island of Sporades, is the largest one with 206km² extension and 2.600 residents population. Despite it's natural beauty, Skyros has a relatively low profile. There plenty of beaches but few can rival the sand of Skiathos or Skopelos. Skyros has an airport in the North and a naval base in the South. All the accommodation and tourist facilities cluster around Skyros Town, the capital, in the center of the island.

Skyros Town(Hora) is a beautiful place, Cycladic-style white, flat-floated, red-tiled houses clinging to the island slope of a pinnacle rising precipitously from the coast. A single main street leads up to a central square. Beyond that lies a 150m stretch lined with almost everything. 

Shops, banks, restaurants and bars.

A position bang in the center of the Aegean guaranteed the island a busy history: it was occupied from prehistory, with a truly impressive Bronze Age settlement currently being excavated , was a vital Athenian outpost in the Classical era, and an equally important naval base for the Byzantines.

Alonissos

Map of Alonissos

Alonissos is the largest island of Sporades complex. The total area reaches 64km² and has a coastline of about 67km. The population of the island reaches 2.600 inhabitants. The capital os Alonissos is Patitiri,the major commercial and administrative center of the island. Alonissos is more rugged and wild than its neighbors but not less green. Pine forest, olive groves and fruit orchards cover the Southern half, while a dense maquis of arbutus, heather and kermes oak the North. The beaches rarely match those of Skopelos or Skiathos for sand and scenery, but the white pebbles on most of them enhance the impression of gin clear water. Remoteness and limited ferry connections mean that Alonissos attracts fewer visitors than its neighbors.

Skiathos

Map of Skiathos

Skiathos is a small island which belongs to Sporades complex. It's the closest island to the mainland with 48km² extension and 6.000 population. The real business of Skiathos is beaches. By far the best in Sporades. There are over fifty strands, most with fine, pale sand. The main road along to the South and Southeast coasts serves an almost unbroken line of villas, hotels, minimarkets and restaurants. In Skiathos it's difficult to find anything particularly Greek, but by hiking or using 4WD vehicle you can find anything relative solitude, refreshing vistas and charming medieval monuments in the island's North. Skiathos is a very popular destination for young ages due to nightlife.

Skiathos Town

Skiathos Town, the only real population centre on the island, is set on a couple of low hills around a point, with the ferry harbor and new town to the East, the picturesque old port, with the old town rising above it, in the West.

Skopelos

Skopelos is the second larger island of Sporades after Skyros with 95km² and 4.600 inhabitants approximately. Skopelos Town(Hora), the capital of the island, and Glossa are the two main towns and each one of them has a port that connects the island with Volos and the rest of Sporades. Much of the countryside, especially the Southwest coast, is really spectacular, with a series of pretty cove beaches backed by extensive pine forests as well as olive groves and orchards of plums, apricots, pears and almonds. Filled with  forests that covering approximately 80% of the area is considered the greenest island in the Aegean.

Map of Skopelos

Kefalonia

Map of Kefalonia

Kefalonia is the largest and the most mountainous island of the Ionian islands, a place that has real towns as well as resorts. Kefalonia has 781km² and 35.800 population(3rd after Corfu and Zakynthos). Capital of the island is Argostoli, a large and thriving town with a marvelous position within a bay. A big part of Kefalonia belongs to mountain Ainos with peaks the Megas Soros (1. 628m), Agia Dynati(1.131m), Evmorphia(1.043m) and Kokkini Raxi(1.078)

Argostoli was totally rebuilt after the 1953 earthquake, but has an enjoyable atmosphere that remains defiantly Greek, especially during the evening around Platia Valianou -the center of the town- and the pedestrianized Lithostroto, the main shopping street which runs parallel to the seafront.

 

Corfu (Kerkyra)

Corfu (Kerkyra) is the second largest island in the Ionian, with 592 km² and 100.000 population. It's located in the North part of Ionian. Dangling between the heel of Italy and the West coast of mainland Greece, green, mountainous Corfu was one of the first Greek islands to attract mass tourism in the 1960s. Indiscriminate exploitation turned parts into eyesore but a surprising amount of the island still consists of olive groves, mountains and woodland. The majority of of package holidays are based in the most developed resorts and unspoilt terrain is often only a few minutes' walk away. The staggering amount of accommodation on the island means that competition keeps prices down even in high season, at least in many resorts outside of Corfu Town.

It has oblong shape, widest in the North and narrow in the South. Coasts have 217 km total length. Terrain is mostly mountainous, particularly in the North.

Corfu means the city of peaks. Highest peaks are the Pantocrator (914m) and Stravoskiadi(849,)

Zakynthos

Map of Zakynthos

Zakynthos belongs to the Ionian islands. It also called Zante. The island is green and unspoilt and because of rich vegetation the Venetian had given to the island the name "Fioro di Levante". The capital of the island is the Zakynthos Town.The island has three distinct zones: the barren, mountainous northwest, the fertile central plain and the eastern and southern resort-filled coasts. The biggest resort is Laganas, on Laganas bay in the South. There are also smaller and quieter resorts North and South to the capital, and the Southerly Vassilikos peninsula has some of the best countryside and beaches, including exquisite Yerakas.

The island produces fine wines, such as the white Popolaro, olives, vineyards and citrus.

Due to unspoiled environment Zakynthos is the best home for endangered species like sea turtle, Caretta-Caretta and the seal Monachus-Monachus.

Zakynthos with 404km² and 40.000 poppulation is the 3rd bigger island of the Ionian islands and the 11th in Greece.

Lefkada

Map of Lefkada

Lefkada is the 4th biggest island of the Heptanese with 302 km² extension and 22.000 population. The fact that is connected to the mainland by a long causeway through lagoons and a 25m pontoon swivel bridge is the main feature of this island. It barely feels like an island especially on the busier Eastern side. The easy access makes this island the favorite destination for Greeks. The capital is a village with the same name, Lefkada, which is located on the Northern part of the island.

Lefkada Town

Lefkada Town sits at the island's Northernmost tip, right where the causeway joins it to the mainland. Like other capitals in the Southern Ionian, it was hit by the earthquakes of 1948 and 1953 and the town was devastated. It's a small town and still very attractive, especially around the main square, Platia Agiou Spyridonos, and the arcaded high street of Ioannou Mela. You can catch a glimpse of the old way of the life at the little Phonograph, Radio and Tradition Museum. On the Northwestern seafront the modern cultural centre houses the newly expanded Archeological Museum.