Hotel Yalis (doubles from €75 B&B) above Patitiri has a great swimming pool and bar, as well as an excellent breakfast buffet, while the brightly furnished Atrium Alonissos (doubles from €80 B&B) nearby delivers views over the Rousoum Gialos beach and is competitive on comfort and facilities. Leftos Gialos has sun loungers and two beach bars at Kokkinokastro, turquoise waters reflect a dramatic red promontory Megalos Mourtias has grand views towards Skopelos and from Chrissi Milia, the most accessible beach, a footpath leads over the headland to Milia for a more secluded sunbathe.

The roads to the beaches are surprisingly good. There are only two settlements: the tranquil capital, Chora, and the small, busy port of Patitiri, where most of the hotels cluster.

Non-divers can explore the shipwreck virtually via the museum website.Įye-catching marine parks and shipwrecks aside, Alonissos is really about forested treks, relaxing swims and dozy unfussiness. The ship carried 4,000 amphorae, or wine urns, that can still be seen by recreational scuba divers who come with a guide – unusually, as other similar wrecks in Greece are off-limits for fear of theft. The latest novelty is the first-ever Greek underwater museum, a perfectly preserved shipwreck dating from 425BC, which lies on the seabed beside the island of Peristera. Its monastery of the Virgin Mary is open to the public and inhabited by two monks, one of whom, Father Chariton, was previously a chef in Camden Town, London.

There are daily boat trips to the park’s 28 islands and outcrops, during which passengers can swim from the beach of Kyra Panagia island, which, intriguingly, belongs to Mount Athos. Its waters shelter the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal, plus dolphins, whales and rare seabirds. The pine-clad island of Alonissos in the north Aegean – overshadowed by its better-known neighbours Skopelos and Skiathos – was catapulted into international consciousness in 1992 through the establishment of the Alonissos national marine park, the first in Greece and still the largest protected marine area in Europe. A view from the wooded coast of Alonissos of the Adelfi islands.

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