Greece - Korina Miller [544]
Pension Pleiades ( 24240 65235; www.pleiadeshotel.gr; s/d/tr from €25/35/50; ) Take the stairway behind the newsstand to find this bright and welcoming budget option with views over Patitiri Bay.
Ilias Rent Rooms ( 24240 65451; fax 24240 65972; Pelasgon 27; d €45, 2-/3-bed studios €50/55; ) Owners Ilias and Magdalini give their spotless and bright blue-and-white domatia a warm and welcoming touch. Rooms and studios share a communal kitchen.
Liadromia Hotel ( 24240 65521; www.liadromia.gr; d/tr/ste incl breakfast from €50/70/95; ) This welcoming and impeccably maintained hotel overlooking the harbour was Patitiri’s first. All the rooms have character to spare, from hand-embroidered curtains and antique lamps to stone floors and period wood furnishings. The gracious owner, Maria, takes obvious delight in making it all work.
Paradise Hotel ( 24240 65213; www.paradise-hotel.gr; s/d/incl breakfast €65/80/100; ) Wood ceilings and stone-tiled floors give a rustic feel to the balconied rooms, which overlook both bay and harbour. Beyond the pool bar, a small stairway leads down to the bay for swimming.
Eating
Ouzerie Archipelagos ( 24240 65031; mains €4-8) If you want to get the feel of this very Greek establishment, pick a table toward the back, where locals gather to order round after round of excellent mezedhes, grilled fish and ouzo (or local favourite tsipouro, another distilled spirit) as the night rolls on.
Anais Restaurant & Pizzeria ( 24240 65243; mains €5-12; breakfast, lunch & dinner) Patitiri’s first restaurant, opposite the hydrofoil dock, is still going strong, with snappy service and a big menu including souvlakia, pasta, hefty Greek salads and house favourite kleftiko (slow-oven-baked lamb, €10).
Also recommended:
Café Flisvos ( 24240 65307; mains €5-8) Best mousakas.
To Kamaki Ouzerie ( 24240 65245; mains €5-15) Father-and-son eatery.
Return to beginning of chapter
OLD ALONNISOS ΠΑΛΙΑ ΑΛΟΝΝΙΣΟΣ
Old Alonnisos (also known as Palia Alonnisos, Hora, Palio Horio or Old Town), with its winding stepped alleys, is a tranquil, picturesque place with panoramic views. From the main road just outside the village an old donkey path leads down to pebbled Megalos Mourtias Beach and other paths lead south to Vithisma and Marpounta Beaches.
Sleeping
Pension Hiliadromia ( /fax 24240 65814; Plateia Hristou; d/2-bed studio €35/55; ) Several of the pine-and-stone-floor rooms at the Hiliadromia come with balcony views, and the studios have well-equipped kitchens.
Konstantina Studios ( 24240 66165, 6932271540; www.konstantinastudios.gr; s/d incl breakfast €60/80; ) Among the nicest accommodation on Alonnisos, these handsome and quiet self-catering studios with traditional styling come with balcony views of the southwest coast. The owner, Konstantina, happily fetches her guests from the dock and offers loads of tips for navigating the island.
Eating & Drinking
Hayati ( 24240 66244; Old Alonnisos; snacks €2-4; 9am-2am) Hayati is a sweets shop (glykopoleiou) by day and a piano bar by night, with knock-out views of the island any time of day. Morning fare includes made-to-order Alonnisos tyropita. Later, you’ll find homemade pastas and juicy souvlaki, handmade desserts, custards and cakes, along with the gracious hospitality of owner-cooks Meni and Angela. It’s a five-minute walk from the village square.
Hayati Mezedhopoleio ( 24240 65885; Old Alonnisos; mezedhes €2.50-7) The same Hayati whose sweets shop is so good recently opened an excellent little mezedhes-style taverna, 50m up from the square. Menu highlights include fried prawns, skordalia (garlic and potato dip), kritamos (rock samphire salad) and grilled octopus.
Taverna Megalos Mourtias ( 24240 65737; mains €4-8; breakfast, lunch & dinner) A stone’s throw from the surf, this laid-back taverna and beach bar 2km down the hill from the Hora prepares fine salads, gavros, fish soup, and several vegie dishes.
Astrofengia