Last updated: September 2026
The Sporades are an easy week for a crewed motor yacht. The main islands are a short hop apart, so the days are built around swimming stops and long lunches rather than passages. This is a round trip from Skiathos through Skopelos to Alonissos and the National Marine Park of Alonissos, Northern Sporades, and back. A sailing catamaran does the same week at a slower pace, and the notes headed “on a motor yacht” show where a faster boat changes the plan.
The week runs from an afternoon boarding at Skiathos Town on Day 1 to hand-back there on the morning after Day 7, seven nights on board and about 90 nautical miles in all. No leg is longer than about 20nm and most are 15nm or less. Distances are approximate: where an island lies in the way they follow a route round it, and the captain’s route may be a little longer still. Passage times assume 16 knots for a motor yacht and 7 knots for a catamaran, the speeds our Sporades yacht charter guide uses. That guide gives typical summer wind here as force 3 to 4, and the captain still reorders the days to the forecast (see how the meltemi behaves in Greece and our Greece charter weather by month).
Skyros and the Pelion coast are not in the core week. The section “What we left out” near the end explains why. Distances were calculated, and rates and park rules read, in September 2026. Distances are rounded to the nearest 5nm, except Day 4 (about 7nm). A yacht cruising at 10 knots rather than 16 takes about 60% longer on every passage below.
The route at a glance
- Day 1: Skiathos Town to Koukounaries (about 5nm)
- Day 2: Koukounaries to Panormos Bay, Skopelos (about 15nm)
- Day 3: Panormos Bay to Skopelos Town (about 15nm)
- Day 4: Skopelos Town to Patitiri, Alonissos (about 7nm)
- Day 5: Patitiri to Peristera and Kyra Panagia (about 15nm)
- Day 6: Kyra Panagia back to Patitiri (about 15nm)
- Day 7: Patitiri back to Skiathos Town (about 20nm)
Day 1 – Skiathos Town to Koukounaries (about 5nm)
Afternoon: boarding in Skiathos Town
Skiathos Town is the island’s capital. Its harbour has a small marina that our Sporades guide calls small but well placed, and Skiathos has a small seasonal airport. Beside the harbour stands the Bourtzi, a small fortress said to date from 1207 and to have been built against pirates.
Evening: Koukounaries
A run of about 5nm brings you to Koukounaries, a beach backed by stone pines and a lagoon. It is the first swim of the week, and dinner is on board. Little Banana Beach on Skiathos is pictured above.
Day 1 on a motor yacht
At 16 knots the run takes about 20 minutes, so there is no reason to leave Skiathos Town early. Board after lunch and be at anchor for the sunset swim.
Day 1: don’t miss
- The Bourtzi fortress beside the harbour
- The Papadiamantis House-Museum in Skiathos Town
- Koukounaries beach, with its pine forest and lagoon
Day 2 – Koukounaries to Panormos Bay, Skopelos (about 15nm)
Morning: Lalaria, if the captain can fit it in
Lalaria is one of the best-known beaches on Skiathos, which has more than 60. Going round to it from Koukounaries and then across to Skopelos makes the day about 20nm instead of 15nm, so it adds about 5nm. Your captain decides on the day whether wind and swell allow it.
Afternoon: across to Skopelos
Skopelos is one of the greenest islands in the Aegean, with forests of Aleppo pine, oak and olive. Our Sporades guide describes the anchorages around Panormos Bay as excellent.
Evening: Panormos Bay
The yacht anchors in Panormos Bay for the night, and dinner is on board or ashore as the crew arranges.
Day 2 on a motor yacht
The crossing from Koukounaries is about 15nm, just under an hour at 16 knots and about two hours on a catamaran. A motor yacht has time to add Lalaria and still arrive with the afternoon free.
Day 2: don’t miss
- Lalaria beach on Skiathos, if the weather allows
- The pine-covered coast of Skopelos
- A swim from the platform in Panormos Bay
Day 3 – Panormos Bay to Skopelos Town (about 15nm)
Morning: Kastani beach
Kastani beach, on Skopelos’s south-west coast, was the main location for the 2008 film Mamma Mia!. The production built a beach bar and jetty there and removed both after filming, so what you see is the beach itself, not a set. The yacht sails round the south-west coast towards Skopelos Town, so it is a possible swim stop on the way, depending on wind and swell.
Afternoon: on to Skopelos Town
The run round the coast to Skopelos Town is about 15nm by sea. Skopelos Town is the island’s main port, and the yacht spends the night here. The island is known for cheese pie and dried plums.
Evening: dinner in town
Skopelos Town is a working harbour town, and the evening is a walk along the front and dinner ashore.
Day 3 on a motor yacht
At 16 knots the run takes just under an hour, against about two hours on a catamaran, so a motor yacht has time to stay at Kastani for lunch and still reach the harbour in the afternoon.
Day 3: don’t miss
- Kastani beach, the main Mamma Mia! location
- Skopelos Town’s old town and harbour
Day 4 – Skopelos Town to Patitiri (about 7nm)
Morning: the wedding chapel near Glossa
The wedding procession in Mamma Mia! was shot at the chapel of Agios Ioannis near Glossa. Glossa is the island’s second-largest settlement, in the north-west, about 11 km north-west of Skopelos Town, and the chapel of Agios Ioannis, on its rock at Kastri, is the church used for the wedding scene. Glossa is reachable from Skopelos Town by road, and your captain can advise on options.
Afternoon: across to Alonissos
The crossing to Patitiri, the island’s main port, is about 7nm by sea. Many residents moved to Patitiri after the 1965 earthquake, and the old village, Alonissos Chora, has since been restored for tourism.
Evening: the gateway to the park
Alonissos is the base of the National Marine Park of Alonissos, Northern Sporades, created in 1992 and covering roughly 2,260 square kilometres. It protects the Mediterranean monk seal. Tomorrow takes you out to its outer islands, so tonight is the time to ask the captain about the park rules.
Day 4 on a motor yacht
The crossing takes about 30 minutes at 16 knots, so the Glossa trip can fill the morning and the yacht still reaches Patitiri in the afternoon.
Day 4: don’t miss
- The Agios Ioannis chapel near Glossa
- Patitiri’s harbour front
- Alonissos Chora, the restored old village
Day 5 – Patitiri to Peristera and Kyra Panagia (about 15nm)
Morning: Peristera
Peristera is one of the six smaller islands inside the park. The park has two zones: Zone B covers the inhabited areas, where there are no special rules for visitors apart from a ban on free camping and on lighting fires, and Zone A is strictly protected and needs special permission from the park’s management body. The captain checks the zone rules before the yacht stops.
Afternoon: Kyra Panagia
Kyra Panagia is in the strictly protected zone, so this stop goes ahead only once the captain has confirmed the permission. The park’s rules allow vessels to overnight in the bays of Agios Petros and Planitis, with no landing except to moor. Overnighting at the monastery is a separate matter, by agreement with the monks. Speed is limited to 10 knots within half a nautical mile of the coast. Swimming and underwater observation are allowed in the designated areas between sunrise and sunset, and spear-fishing is prohibited. These rules come from the park’s official website and can change. The captain confirms the current position with the park before the yacht goes in.
Evening: a night at anchor
If the permission is in place, the yacht spends the night in Planitis or Agios Petros, well away from any town. If it is not, Days 5 and 6 stay around Alonissos from Patitiri: Peristera if the captain confirms it, the old village of Chora, and a day at anchor, and Day 7 is unchanged. Our Sporades guide describes the park as the place for dolphins, empty coves and the main refuge of the Mediterranean monk seal.
Day 5 on a motor yacht
The 15nm run takes about an hour at 16 knots, a little longer with the 10-knot limit near the coast, and a catamaran needs a little over two hours. A motor yacht can spend the morning at Peristera and still reach Kyra Panagia for a long afternoon swim.
Day 5: don’t miss
- A swim stop at Peristera, if the captain confirms it
- The bays of Planitis and Agios Petros on Kyra Panagia
- Swimming and underwater observation in the designated areas; our guide names the park as the place for the clearest snorkelling in the region
Day 6 – Kyra Panagia back to Patitiri (about 15nm)
Morning: back down the east side of Alonissos
After a morning swim at Kyra Panagia, the yacht heads back down the east side of Alonissos to Patitiri, about 15nm by sea. The captain can stop for a swim on the way if wind and swell allow, within the park rules.
Afternoon and evening: Patitiri
Patitiri is the island’s main port and the last night on Alonissos. Our Sporades guide names remote Agios Dimitrios beach as the standout on Alonissos, and it is worth asking the captain whether it can be fitted in around the Patitiri stay.
Day 6: don’t miss
- A last swim in the park, within its rules
- Alonissos Chora, the restored old village, if time allows
Day 7 – Patitiri back to Skiathos Town (about 20nm)
Morning: the passage west
The longest leg of the week is about 20nm, through the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos and along Skopelos’s north coast to Skiathos. At 16 knots a motor yacht takes about an hour and a quarter; a catamaran at 7 knots takes around three hours. The captain times the start to the wind and picks a bay on the way for lunch.
Evening: a last night in Skiathos Town
The yacht ties up in Skiathos Town for the last night, and you can eat in the old harbour near the Bourtzi. Hand-back follows the next morning.
Day 7: don’t miss
- The north coast of Skopelos from the water
- The old harbour in Skiathos Town on the last evening
What we left out: Skyros and the Pelion coast
Skyros is out of the core week because of the distance. From Kyra Panagia it is about 35nm in a straight line to the middle of the island, and more to a harbour, and from Skyros back to Skiathos Town it is at least 50nm. That is open water, and it turns a week of short hops into two long passages. Our Sporades guide describes Skyros as further out and more rugged, almost Cycladic, and worth the extra miles if your group prefers empty over easy.
A motor yacht can do it if Skyros is the priority: Kyra Panagia to Skyros is at least two hours at 16 knots, and the return to Skiathos is at least three hours. That replaces Days 6 and 7, so you give up the return through Alonissos and Skopelos. On a catamaran the same legs take at least five hours and more than seven, which is too long for a holiday week, so we would not build it in.
The Pelion coast on the mainland is also left out. Damouchari, the seaside hamlet in Pelion used for Mamma Mia!, is at least 20nm across from Skiathos Town, at least 75 minutes at 16 knots. It is a mainland crossing rather than an island stop, and it would take a day out of the week, so ask us if you want it swapped in. If Volos suits your flights better, it is also a start point: our guide says Volos has the bigger marina, more yachts and better provisioning, but our Sporades guide gives the Volos to Skiathos leg as roughly 45nm, about 3 hours by motor yacht or 6.5 hours by catamaran (a guide figure, not recalculated here).
Which yacht suits this route?
For this route a crewed motor yacht is our first suggestion for comfort and space: the tender and swim platform do the work at every stop, and the short legs mean more time at anchor. For a larger crew and more deck space, see our luxury yachts and 30m+ superyacht charters in Greece. A catamaran is the alternative: it covers the same week at about 7 knots, so the passages take more than twice as long, and at the medians below it costs less than half as much in summer, which makes it the value choice for a smaller party.
These are season list-rate medians from the mygreekcharter.com fleet as read on 30 September 2026 (2027 season list rates for April to September, and the latest published rate for October), not what guests paid, and they cover Greece-based yachts as a whole rather than the Sporades alone. Across about 230 crewed motor yachts the median base rate is €45,000 to €45,500 per week in April, May and October and €55,000 per week from June to September. Across about 105 to 122 sailing catamarans the median is €18,500 per week in October, €22,000 in June and September and €24,200 in July and August. They are weekly base rates before VAT, APA (the advance provisioning allowance, which covers fuel, berthing and similar running costs) and gratuity. For the month-by-month detail see our Greece charter prices and weather by month guide.
Start from the Sporades yacht charter page or see how it compares with the other Greek itineraries.
iMessage
WhatsApp
