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Eden just few miles away from Athens

21 June 2009 / 13:06:44  GRReporter
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Agistri is the perfect place for you, if you are in Athens and you have decided to visit an Aegean island but you have only one-two days to spare and you don’t want to take a car. The color of the sea water there is turquoise blue, it has organized beaches with sun beds but also some hard to get to bays surrounded by rocks.


The permanent citizens of Agistri are only 900 people but during summer, the population reaches 5000 together with the tourists. The island is so small, that those of you who like walking, can hike through the beautiful pine-tree forests and the beaches and see it all. The island has only four villages – Megalohori, Skala, Limenarya and Metohi and two of them are ports for the incoming ferries. From Athens, there are ferries very often throughout the day, every day.


You can go around the island also with a bike or with a yacht. One of the first sign, which will greet you when you arrive at the Megalohori port, is “Rent a bike.” Agistri is a very calm island. Very rarely you can see a car. Usually, the locals drive cars and the tourists rent bikes or scooters. When it comes to spending a night there – you can find a sea view hotel or a wild camping in the little forest next to Skala.


Agistri has its constant fans. Even though it is not one of the most popular vacation spots, the people who choose Agristri know that they will be able to fully enjoy the great beaches, nice hotels, and tranquility. This is one of the few islands, which has a romantic atmosphere and is conductive to a care free stay even if it is for one day. Agistri has great nature, greenery and pine-trees, which reach the sand beaches. This is not an island filled with tourists – most visitors are families and younger people, who prefer simplicity.


The central village Skala is filled with small stores for tourist goods, hotels, rooms for rent and taverns. But even though Skala leaves the impression to be the cosmopolitan city of the island, Megalohori is the administrative capital, where the houses, hotels and taverns are spread throughout the fields and hills around the vivid small Megalohori port. The only asphalt road in Megalohori is the coastline, which reaches to Skala by firstly passing through some very nice taverns, where fresh fish and calamari is served.


If you want to travel between the different villages, you can take a cab, bus or even a small tourist train. Besides those, you can rent bikes or scooters. For the convenience of all visitors, the island has a supermarket, bank, pharmacy and a doctors’ office.


In Megalohori and in Skala, there are very nice hotel rooms, with a sea view and big balconies, which are perfect for an afternoon coffee or cocktail. Included in the room price, some hotels offer also a bike or even a motor boat, with which you can go around the island. The prices of rented rooms or hotels are between ?40 and ?65 until mid July and until mid August prices rise to ?85 for a double room. One of the best vacation seasons in Agistri is the beginning of fall in September.


Between Skala and Megalohori, in the foot of the mountain, is the small village Metohi. From there, you have a panoramic view of the sea and it is also worth it to go and visit the Virgin Mary church, because the view from there is perfect. The family tavern Parnassos is situated among the pine-trees, which refresh the air during summer.


To the south the Megalohori coastline reaches the Dragonera bay, where there is a beach and a coffee shop nearby.

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