Aerial view of the Patitiri harbor, Alonissos

About the island of Alonissos.

Alonissos lies in the Northern Sporades, the middle of a chain of islands which begins with Skiathos.

Alonissos is the center of the National Marine Park of Alonissos-Northern Sporades. It is one one of the six ECO ISLANDS (Alonissos, Elba, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Pellworm & Hiiumaa) in Europe (Directive 92/43/EEC-Natura 2000), and the first National Marine Park established in Greece. The marine park was created for the protection of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus-Monachus), and other rare species of fauna and flora of the archipelago of the Northern Sporades.

Getting to Alonissos.

There are several ways of coming to Alonissos: you can take a "flying dolphin" hydrofoil speedboat, or a ferryboat from the ports of Agios Konstantinos, Volos and Thessaloniki (during the summer months).

Travel agencies can arrange transportation via tour bus to the port of Agios Konstantinos from/to Athens

There are no direct flights to Alonissos - only to neighbouring island Skiathos. You can travel by airplane to the nearby island of Skiathos which has an airstrip, and to Alonissos via helicopter. (The airstrip in Alonissos is in the planning stages, but for now only the helipad is operational.)

Main settlements.

There are four main villages located near the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy. (There are also other important tourist resorts in Alonissos, but they are not in close proximity to the Academy.)

• The largest settlement is Patitiri, which is also the main harbor of Alonissos. It extends inland as far as the Town Hall, which is at a crossroads which connects to different parts of the island.
• Very near to Patitiri are Rousoum Gialos and Votsi, two small seaside villages.
• Located at the highlands, is the old village of Alonissos. It has spectacular views of both the southern and northern coastlines, and there is a bus line that connects it to Patitiri.

All these locations feature hotels and restaurants, shops, clubs and traditional Greek taverns. Going to the International Academy takes about 5 minutes by car, or about 30 minutes of walking (longer if you are located in the old village of Alonissos). There are several car and bike rental agencies on the island, as well as a taxi service.

For further information, please visit the official Alonissos web site. There are also some interesting links in the Sporades links web page. You can also find information on hotels here and here .