Skopelos, GreeceVilla Aigina

This villa is all about the fantastic view. You look down on the Aegean Sea, Skiathos and other islands in the background. The scenery changes colour with every change of sunlight throughout the day. It's truly magical to just sit in front of the villa and look out onto this fabulous sight. It does look as fantastic as it does in the pictures on the website. There are no neighbours, so you won't hear anything else then the cicadas. The house itself is in very good shape, it was renovated recently. The rooms are spacious, closet space is ample, everything is very clean and pretty. The bathroom is well stocked with soaps, hygiene products, hair dryer, etc. The kitchen is very well equipped, it will be easy to prepare a meal there. There is a functioning washing machine, a dish washer and air condition in all rooms. The pool is great and not to warm, since temperatures are moderate on the island even in summer months. Pool will be cleaned every other day for your convenience by the house keeper. It is important to know that you need to drive down a dirt road (it's not in the very best condition) to get to the house. If you are not used to mountainous roads, you are in for a ride ,-). The village of Glossa is a 10-15 minute ride away. There you'll find a super market, a bakery, a chic restaurant and a handful of tavernas. Several beaches can be found all over the island, some are a 10 minute drive away, others a 40 minute drive. All the famous beaches are found more on the southern end of the island, but there are some very nice beaches also on the north end, e.g. Agios Ioannis beach which is next to the famous chapel used in the Mamma Mia movies which is not far from the house. Overall I would definitely recommend Villa Aigina mainly to people who enjoy solitude. Your are at the far end of the island where it is difficult to even receive one radio station. We loved it and would happily return as soon as possible.

The Villa itself is incredibly well equipped with furnishings and fittings being first class. The whole place had a lovely relaxed/homely feel to it with the views over the other islands being quite breathtaking. Due to Westerly direction you enjoy wonderful evening warmth and sunsets (circa 20.30 in July). The Pool was a perfect temperature and heavily used noting comment above! Part of the attraction of course is the fact that the Villa is very secluded. However, this does mean in reality (with Summer heat) you cannot really walk anywhere. We found that you just needed to plan day's out so that you did everything in one sitting. The whole Island in July did have a significant issue with Wasps - everywhere. On the positive side the Villa has a very good window/door netting systems so they cannot penetrate. On the other hand had no issue with Mosquitos in morning/evening. Skopelos town itself (especially the older town) is very quaint and has a nice friendly feel to it. Numerous tavernas are at the front but we found the better restaurants were off the front and particularly enjoyed Zoupa, Olivio and Anna's in that order. Closer to the Villa is Agnanti in Glossa, also good albeit felt very formal - a bit more like a London restaurant than a Greek Isle. Our days were spent at various beaches and as we stayed in Skopelos town the first week before Villa Aigaio in Glossa the second we were able to reach most. Our favourites were Kastani/Milia (the former with an excellent beach bar), Agios Ioannis Kastri (bit of a tourist trap - but when the beach empties it is quite superb) Perivoliou/Hondrogiorgi (to the North and thus really easy to reach from Villa but less busy and very much untouched), Armenopetra (lovely views back to Glossa) and Stafylos. Spent half a day wondering around the Monasteries to the east of Skopelos town - worth doing and following T1 trail route as far as you can - it was hot! Agnondas (lovely fresh squid but can't remember restaurant name) and Neo Klima (pleasant marina and Oasis restaurant - good vegetarian options - the Courgette fritters and Briam both great) made great lunchtime stops. Overall a super time and thanks once again to our hosts (Mahi provided us with some excellent advice about ferry transfers/car hire/restaurants) and to Eleni and her husband for greeting us and being available for questions.