Handy tips

The purpose of this page is to provide you with helpful information in order to make your holiday experience more relaxing.
At the start of the season we will reserve a car for you at our local car rental firm who will be able to provide you with the best service locally. In the few weeks before your arrival we will be in touch to find out your flight details and to advise you of the most appropriate sailings. When you arrive at the Port of Glossa we will be there waiting with your rental car to show you the way to the cottage and we will call in at a supermarket and a bakery on the way.

At the cottage there is a selection of local maps as well as a local guide book which we update every year. 

Once you have settled in, we are only just up the hill and available to help ensure your visit is happy and comfortable. We’re more than willing to help with suggestions about places to go and things to do, the best places to eat and drink and where you can buy anything you weren't able to find in the supermarket or at the bakery. We can also make bookings and reservations for you, if this is what you would like.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to be left in total peace and quiet then we are happy to do this too, it is, after all, what Ysyhia is all about. Your time here is precious and we want you to enjoy it in whichever way you choose.

We recommend that you travel light. We find that by the end of their holiday, most people are laughing about the amount of luggage they brought with them and never used.

This section is for those of you flying directly to Skiathos airport by charter flight from UK.
If you have any choice in the matter we recommend taking the earliest flight available in order to give you the best possible chance of getting all the way here in a single day. You are likely to be booking your flights long before the sailing schedules (see link at bottom of page) are published and we would hate for you to be disappointed to find that your plane lands after the last sailing of the day has already left. There is normally a daily service at about 4pm so as long as your plane arrives before then you shouldn't have a problem reaching us. There are more sailings on some days of the week than others and generally Fridays tend to be better than some other days. When using the Sailing Schedules link you will need to type "Skiathos" into the slot marked "Departure" and "(Skopelos) Glossa" into the slot marked "Arrival"

However, if you have no choice in either the time or the day of your flight and you are unlucky enough to arrive after the last sailing has left, there is normally the option of the Skiathos water taxi (see link below). It is not the most economic way to reach us but it is definitely the most exciting!

Skiathos airport has a very short runway and not all planes are able to take off carrying enough fuel to return home without making a refuelling stop en route. If your plane is a Boeing 757-200 then you are likely to be able to fly home non-stop but if you are travelling in an Airbus A320, an Airbus A321 or a Boeing 737 you should expect to stop for refuelling, most likely at Kavala. Your homeward journey will therefore be longer than the 3½ hour outward journey.

This section is for those of you making your own way from elsewhere in Greece.
If you are arriving at Athens airport then one option is to take an internal flight from Athens International Airport to Skiathos. If you open the Internal flights link below and click on “Skiathos” a new window will pop up showing you all the direct internal flights between the two airports. On this chart days of the week are represented as numbers; 1=Mon, 2=Tue, etc. I have also included links to Sky Express and Olympic Air who were the only two carriers operating this route last time I checked. Do please let me know if you discover that my information is out of date.

Alternatively, there are routes which use only buses and ferries, and I am always very happy to help you plan these because they can be a little difficult to understand. If you don't have much time for slow journeys admiring the scenery then these routes are definitely not suited to your visit, but if your stay with us is part of a longer exploration of Greece then I can strongly recommend taking your time and seeing countryside you would otherwise miss.

There are buses from Athens to the ports of Mantoudi, Agios Konstantinos and Volos, all of which run ferry services to the Sporades islands.
And if you happen to be approaching us from Thessaloniki, (a city I adore!) then there is a regular bus service to Volos from where you can catch a sailing to Glossa. Sometimes there is even a direct sailing from Thessaloniki to these islands. I have included links below to as many bus and ferry schedules as I can in case you enjoy exploring the various options for yourselves, but as I have mentioned, I am very happy to help you pick your way through the various options.

New for 2018, easyJet will be flying directly to Volos airport from London on Wednesdays and Saturdays between June and September.