Skopelos

This island offers both culture and lovely beaches. The shallow and safe waters are ideal for children. There are lots of great beaches: at Stafylos Cove, Limnonari (to which you cross by boat from Agnondas), at Panormos (a wind protected bay), at Milia and Elios, and at Loutraki, the Glossa port. For those who enjoy a shingly beach there are Agios Konstantinos, Sares, Kastri and Glisteri.
Many of these beaches have pine trees reaching down to the sea. But Skopelos also boasts a fair number of ancient ruins. Apparently, the island was a Cretan colony. Its first king and settler was Stafylos. His grave was discovered by the cove bearing his name in 1927. It contained weapons, a gold crown and funerary offerings, among other finds, all of which are housed in the Volos Museum.

There are also the ruins of a venetian fortress, the Kastro, an ideal vantage spot for a sweeping view. Though only a small island, Skopelos contains about 360 churches, chapels, monasteries and convents. The principal town alone has 123. The 12 white-washed convents, which dot the gentle hillsides, date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Many of them contain works of art: hand carved "reredos" (altar-screens), frescoes and icons.
So do some of the monasteries and churches. Christ Church for example has its reredo of beautiful miniatures of saints and a gold- decorated chandelier from mount Athos. The church of Zoodohos Pigi is reputed to contain a miraculous icon painted by St. Luke the Evangelist.