Elena Apartments Reviews

Just returned from our first visit to Alonissos. We arrived on the island after waiting for 6 hours in Skiathos for the ferry. The wait was well worth it.This is the seventh island we have visited and our 13th visit to Greece.The island is not for people wanting wild nightlife, but for those wishing to relax and unwind.

There were enough tavernas and bars to choose from,and they were all reasonably cheap and the food very good. the people were extremely friendly and even put up ith our attempts at speaking Greek.
We stayed at the Elena studios a short downhill walk to the harbour area. Be warned it is a steep climb back. The ownere Niko And Nina were very friendly and Niko taught us a few new phrases in Greek. The studio was cleaned every day and the towels changed every day. There was a nice pool area. We stayed in the older accomodation but the view from our top floor room was supurb.
We have already decided that we will be returning to Alonissos again.

The old town is well worth a visit, i would recommend taking either the bus or taxi up and then walk back down the old donkey track. The views are unbelievable.I would also recommend a day out with Captain Pakkis on the boat Gorgonna what a character he is.

Visit Alonissos for a well earned rest.

Having just returned from two weeks on Alonissos, we can honestly say that these were the best 2 weeks we've had on a Greek Island for several years. We go to a different one each year and now tend to favour the smaller islands for a more peaceful and traditional holiday.

Alonissos delivered on both accounts and we'll definitely be going back !

It's a very small island with just the one resort, Patitiri. There are a couple of small beaches (with tavernas, but no sunbeds etc) at Rasoum and Votsi, both of which are walkable in about 10-20 minutes from Patitiri.

There are some excellent beaches along the coast, but unless you hire a 4x4 are best accessed using the little taxi boats that run out of Patitiri harbour each day (approx 6 euros per person).

The coastline is very rugged - but spectacular with lots of islands round the west side making for brilliant boat trips. We saw dolphins each time we went out. The sea is also seems to be very mineral rich and very buoyant - you could float around very easily with minimum effort, excellent !!

We went on a couple of brilliant boat trips with Albedo Travel (on the Odyssey) - we booked these through Kosmar, but you can do in the Albedo office in town also. They were extremely good value for money, the crew very friendly and the boat was the most comfortable we've ever been on - a fantastic way to spend the day just cruising round, swimming from the boat, spotting dolphins and a great lunch with wine included. We went out with them 3 times as it was such a relaxing day.

Not many tavernas in Patitiri, probably about 10 or so - but all seemed to be good quality - ";Akro giali"; at the far end of the harbour front was good for seafood, but ";Anais"; on the front was good for quality and value (we paid approx £8 for starter, main course, glass of ouzo and wine). If you want a really romantic outlook, then head for ";Argo"; on the right hand side of the harbour (up the steps) - it has the most fantastic view and is lovely and quiet - (cocktails here were amongst the cheapest in town also.

A few bars are also on the harbour front, but they are not loud at all, and music is pretty low key. Spirits are still fairly expensive, but that seems to be the case with most greek islands these days. Ouzo, beer and wine still reasonable though.
Would also recommend having a quick look in the town museum (3 euros each), the exhibition is not bad, with lots of local trade implements displayed together with wartime memorabilia.

We hired a car for a day and drove to the end of the island, but to be honest there are no other villages once out of Patitiri (apart from the old town which sits above it, and mostly occupied now by 'ex pats'!) - but the road was decent and did give some nice views in places.

If you're into walking, then there are lots of walks (mapped out), but be careful - we tried a few only to find that after a while the path petered out and you ended up hacking your way through the undergrowth !!

The Elena Apartments are in a good quiet'ish location and only about a 2 minute walk down to the harbour front (reached along a really pretty verandah overlooking the boats).

Apartments are clean and well maintained and the pool area excellent (no kids bit though) - but do ask for a high room, the ones on the ground floor don't have brilliant views !

The only bad thing is the transfer times - we had to wait 3 hrs in Skiathos before being transferred to Alonissos on arrival - but the return was even worse. We were picked up at 5.45am for the 6.45 hydrofoil arriving in Skiathos at 8am, but not taken to the airport til noon (not good when you've got suitcases etc and reluctant to leave them in the suggested taverna!) When the plane did take off we flew on to Volos on the mainland to pickup/dropoff more people and refuel which made the whole flight about 5hours on the return. This was with Thos Cook Airlines, so don't know if other airlines follow a similar path - but we weren't aware of this and expected a 3hr flight home as per the inward trip!

Having said that though, we will return to Alonissos - but will probably look at going independently and/or make our own transfer arrangements !

Kosmar rep was very helpful and didn't 'push' people to do excursions etc (not that there many anyway due to the size of the island!) and was always available if you needed her.

Overall, if you like peace, quiet, gorgeous scenery, traditional greek life, beaches and messing around in boats then this you'll love Alonissos !