Welcome to the “Alonnisos Insider” Site

Posted on September 26, 2016 by alonnisos

Welcome to the Alonnisos Insider Site! As a frequent visitor to Greece (i.e., 18 trips between 1997 and 2024) I’ve learned many things about traveling there, and am particularly knowledgeable about Alonnisos island. My primary intention with this site is to provide readers with valuable insights into the island itself, including guidance with respect to:

  • The primary methods of getting to/from Alonnisos
  • Information about what to see and do when visiting there
  • Courtesy listings for rooms, studios and homes available for rent on the island

In addition, I share “insider information” through my opinions regarding restaurants and other service providers in Alonnisos. In this regard, please note that any recommendations I make here regarding specific businesses are simply my experiences and suggestions, and of course, they should not preclude you from visiting and experiencing other establishments or using other service providers during your stay on the island.

If you are using a PC or laptop, the best way to use the site is to refer to the Category Archives box to your right, as it provides a summary of all topics covered.

NOTE: For those visiting this site using a smartphone or other mobile device, please look to the right of the screen to see the nav-bar content, which includes links to specific categories of posts (e.g., “Alonnisos-Restaurants”, “Getting to Alonnisos from Volos,” and many, many more).

If you have any questions regarding anything on this site, or have specific questions about Alonnisos, contact me via email by clicking here.

If you have found value in this website and are a member of Facebook, please click on this link to be taken to the Alonnisos Insider page on Facebook, where you can choose to “Like” the site. This will help us to spread the word about the Alonnisos Insider. Thanks! Also please note that I regularly share new photos on that page.

Important Notice: The date and time stamp at the bottom of every post is not  reflective of the “newness” of the information shared. Note that as of August 2024 I have made several updates to posts that required update. I also make it a practice to update older posts when necessary whenever I make another trip to Alonnisos. Also, please note that to keep this site “pure,” none of the links on this site provide compensation to me or this website for any click-throughs.

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HiSTORY Shop Alonnisos in Patitiri

Posted on January 23, 2025 by alonnisos

Alonnisos has many excellent shops in Patitiri (and elsewhere on the island) that sell souvenirs and accessories. During the summer of 2024, while looking for souvenirs to take back to the States, we visited one of the Patitiri stores called the HiSTORY Shop. It’s located right across from the port police office, and just to the west of the children’s park.

We were very pleased with the wide assortment of products they had available, and the customer service was excellent! While I cannot recall the name of the gentleman who waited on us (pictured to the left), I do remember he was very friendly and appreciative of our business. Based on our very positive experience there, I highly recommend this store to anyone who visits Alonnisos.

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Alonnisos Loses a Beloved Resident

Posted on December 30, 2024 by alonnisos

It is with deep sadness that I report the recent passing of Δέσποινα of the “ΔΕΣΠΟΙΝΑ Gift Shop” in the Old Village. She, along with her husband Yiannis and other members of her family, have operated that beautiful shop for many years, and, without question, Δέσποινα was the heart and soul of the store.

My wife Andrea and I knew her for almost two decades, and even though her English was just as basic as my Greek, we were always able to communicate with her. She was just incredibly friendly and welcoming to us. I’ll always remember her big smile and the obvious warmth of her hugs when she greeted us each time we returned to the island.

She, along with her two brothers that we know, Nikos (of the Estiatorio Eleonas) and Babis (former fire department chief and successful business entrepreneur), and her parents (the late Apostolis Anagnostou and the amazing Eleni), are truly some of the finest people one could ever encounter on the island.

We will certainly miss Δέσποινα, and surely the Old Village will never be quite the same without her. We extend our deepest sympathies to her entire family.

ΑΙΩΝΙΑ Η ΜΝΗΜΗ (eternal be her memory)

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An Additional Recommended Taxi Driver in Athens

Posted on August 21, 2024 by alonnisos

In an earlier post, I highly recommended a taxi driver in Athens named Spiros Halkides, whose services we have used many times over the past 15 or more years. We have always been pleased with the quality of those services, and with those of other drivers he has occasionally sent to pick us up when we travel through Athens. With that said, because there are times when Spiros is very busy with conducting tours, it is wise to have a back-up taxi resource that can be trusted to provide quality service.

In this regard, we also highly recommend an associate of Spiros named Kostas Markouslis (pictured with us to the right). This year when we arrived at the Athens airport, he was waiting for us with a big smile and then drove us in his very comfortable Mercedes taxi to our hotel in the city center. The next day, he took us to Mantoudi to catch our ferry to Alonnisos. The service was excellent as usual! Just like Spiros, Kostas is a genuinely nice man and an excellent driver as well.

The business card to the right includes all of Kostas’ contact information. When you do contact him, please tell him Jeff and Andrea from the U.S. say hello.

To contact me via email with any questions regarding this post click here.

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Astrofegia Restaurant & Bar – Old Village

Posted on August 15, 2023 by alonnisos

The Astrofegia Restaurant & Bar is an excellent dining option in the Old Village of Alonnisos. It has been in business for decades, and continues to be run efficiently and successfully by the same family. Currently, it is being managed by Marianne Toundas, daughter of the founders Yiannis and Emma; she is supported by a great staff of people who clearly enjoy their work and quite obviously appreciate their customers.

For whatever reason, until this summer this restaurant has not been a part of our usual circle of places to eat, so I hadn’t written a post about it. After two dinners at Astrofegia this year, I must admit that it truly is an absolutely wonderful place to eat! The food and the service were both impeccable during each of our recent visits, so we’ll now be including it as one of our go-to places for dinners out going forward.

The menu includes excellent starters and salads, and a solid assortment of main dishes. We ordered the beet root salad twice and really enjoyed it, and found the artichoke entrée to be divine on our first visit. On the second visit we ordered a penne pasta dish with Parmesan cheese that was delicious. While it’s not our practice to order a bottle of wine, I noticed that the menu also includes a wide selection of high-quality wines across all customary categories for those who fancy fine wines.

Astrofegia is located on a footpath that rises to the east from just to the left of the grocery store in the Old Village. For any questions or to make a reservation, telephone the restaurant at either 2424-0-65182 or 6973 955 001.

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Al Diavolo – Pizza Restaurant in the Old Village

Posted on July 5, 2023 by alonnisos

After all our trips to Greece we surely do love Greek food. And, there are simply times when we have a taste for an alternative cuisine. Fortunately, there is a very nice pizza restaurant open in the Old Village, Al Diavolo, that makes very tasty pizzas.

This restaurant has a number of varieties of pizza on the menu (e.g., margherita, veggie, ham & bacon, and many more), plus salads and other foods as well. We also have found the service to be solid too. They also sell pizzas on a carry-out basis if you’re wanting to eat at home or in your rental room.

To get to Al Diavolo, from where the city bus stops walk up the main road into the Old Village and veer to your left when you get to the little church up there. Follow the path/road up and turn right at the first path you encounter. Al Diavolo is about 15 meters from there.

Bon Appetit!

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Το Στεκι (“The Joint”) – Souvaki and Gyros Shop in Patitiri

Posted on July 5, 2023 by alonnisos

One sure way to know if a restaurant is a great place to eat is when you see every table filled, and also many people waiting for carry-out orders. Το Στεκι is clearly that type of place. This small but very popular souvlaki and gyros shop has excellent food and solid service as well.

The restaurant is operated by Maria, a very experienced food service pro who we originally met in 2000 when she was working at a restaurant right on the Patirii waterfront. When you visit Το Στεκι, it’s really obvious that Maria is the boss (afendikoh!) who keeps things moving and makes sure that orders are filled quickly and precisely!

Το Στεκι is located about 50 meters from the Patitiri waterfront where the Flying Dolphin comes into port. It’s on the left side of the road across from a small bakery that Maria also runs. We highly recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for high quality, affordable fast food and solid service.

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Demi’s Restaurant in the Old Village

Posted on June 26, 2023 by alonnisos

During our last visit to Alonnisos in 2019 we ate at Demi’s Restaurant a couple of times late in the season. We found both the food and the service to be solid. For whatever reason, I never got around to writing a post about our experiences here on the blog. So, now that I’m finally back on the island again after a nearly four year absence, I felt inspired to finally write this post and share our views about this restaurant.

Since we arrived in Alonnisos in early June, we have eaten dinner at Demi’s three times and have really enjoyed each of those experiences. Each and every menu item we’ve purchased has been delicious, including a hearty lemon chicken entrée and a very tasty meatballs in tomato sauce dish. All the salads we’ve ordered included produce that was obviously fresh and the portions were generous as well. As for the prices, we’ve found that they are in line with what we’ve seen in other full-service restaurants in both the Old Village and in the port town of Patitiri.

I likewise want to point out that in all of our visits the service provided by the very professional waiter, Nikolas, and his assistant Thodoris, has been excellent. And, Demi himself is not just an experienced chef, but also a really friendly man who makes a point of regularly visiting patrons’ tables personally to check on their satisfaction with the meals.

Bottom Line – we really like Demi’s Restaurnt and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quality place to eat in the Old Village.

Demi’s is located on the right side of main walkway of the Old Village, just about 75 meters from where the Alonnisos city bus stops to drop off passengers.

 

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The Alonissos App from Zesti.gr

Posted on February 17, 2020 by alonnisos

For an additional information resource about Alonnisos beyond this blog, anyone who visits the island with a smartphone really should download and use the Alonissos App prior to your trip (see screen shot to your right). This advanced, user-friendly application was created by a team of people who truly know Alonnisos, and who had the requisite technical expertise to design this top-flight information resource.

The Alonissos App is a dynamic guide for those visiting the island, as well as anyone who is interested in doing so. To ensure it remains up to date, information is added continuously to assist users in effortlessly navigating to find the best the island has to offer. With this powerful app, users can easily identify where to stay, what places to visit, where to swim, where to dine, and much more (see sample screen shot to your left).

In addition, users can personalize the guide by adding favorites, ratings, and comments about the places they visit so others can benefit from the knowledge of their experiences. When a user locates a place they want to visit, they simply need to tap below the map to navigate there. The screen shot below shows a sample page about the Old Village of Alonnisos.

The Alonissos App is powered by the Zesti platform, and because the company works closely with the people of the Alonissos and the local Municipality, the content is constantly updated. Users also can click on the feedback button within the app to make suggestions for additions or improvements to it.

The Alonissos App is free for smartphone users, and is available for both the iOS and Android operating systems. Local island businesses interested in advertising through the app pay an annual fee. To download the app for use on an iPhone, visit the Apple AppStore using this link; Android OS users can get the app through the Google PlayStore by clicking here.

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Getting to Alonnisos from Athens via the port of Mantoudi in Evia

Posted on January 15, 2020 by alonnisos

People on their way to Alonnisos who arrive in Athens, and who do not want to fly to Skiathos (for an ensuing boat transfer to Alonnisos), or who are unable to book a flight to Skiathos, can travel to the port of Mantoudi on the island of Evia in order to get to the island using the following options:

Option 1: is to take a coach bus to the port of Mantoudi on the island of Evia, followed by a ferry to Alonnisos. To book reservations for the ferry click here.

To reach Mantoudi by bus from the Athens airport you will first need to take the X93 city bus to the Bus Terminus B bus station in Athens. To see a long-distance bus schedule for buses departing from Bus Terminus B click here. The total time it will take you to get to Mantoudi from the airport via Bus Terminus B will be perhaps as much as 3.5 hours, but could be more based on traffic conditions. The estimated time for the bus ride itself from Athens to Mantoudi is approximately 2.5 hours. To book reservations on this bus click here. Choose the departure point as Athens and the arrival point as Kymasi.

One other note, in addition to bus X93 from the airport, you also can reach Athens City Centre via the Metro Train line. Ask the information desk at the airport for directions to the on-site Metro station (it’s on the lower level). If you do take the Metro, you’ll want to take it to the Attiki Station in Athens, as it’s the closest station to Bus Terminus B for your next travel segment to Mantoudi. Note that travel via train instead of bus gets you to the city center in perhaps half the time. Please likewise note that based on advice from a friend in Athens, for safety sake it’s best to take a taxi from the Athens Attiki Metro Station to the main bus terminal.

Option 2: To Mantoudi via Taxi/Limo

If you aren’t as much concerned about cost as you are about comfort and speed, you also have the option of taking a taxi/limo from the Athens Airport directly to Mantoudi. While this would obviously be more expensive than bus travel, if two or more people are traveling together the price is much more reasonable and it’s clearly more convenient.
If you are interested in taking a taxi/limo, I highly recommend the services of a driver in Athens named Spiros Halkides. Not only is he a great guy, but he also speaks fluent English from his experience in living in New York for many years. Here is his contact information: Telephone: 30-2109944771 (H) & (30)-6944285686(MOBILE). To visit Spiros’ website click here. To contact Spiros via email, click here.

If Spiros happens to be unavailable for whatever reason, I also highly recommend the taxi services of an associate of his named Kostas Markouslis. Click here to learn about Kostas’ services and to access his contact information.

(As an alternative to the above information, there is a website called RometoRio that has a bookings page dedicated to the Athens – Mantoudi segment. Click here to visit it.)

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Insurance Services in Alonnisos

Posted on March 24, 2019 by alonnisos

A trusted friend of ours, George Tsoukanas, offers top-quality insurance services for Alonnisos residents, as well as homeowners on the island who are from the EU and other countries too. He can provide access to coverage for homes, businesses, autos, and motorbikes from an assortment of well-respected insurance suppliers.

To contact George via email about the various types of insurance coverage he has available, please click here.

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