Holidays to The West Coast Skalas

We feature (north to south) Skalas Prinos, Sotiros, Kallirachi and Maries. All have a working harbour, a number of local tavernas and shops (often a bakery too), a church and a square with an 'old-man' cafe. In other words the villages here have a more traditional Greek flavour, and the landscape gentler (lots of olive trees!) than the steeply forested east coast. And of course the west coast is also the place for beautiful sunsets over the open sea.

Beaches there are - plenty of them, usually of a coarse sand and shelving gently into the sea, which is sheltered here. Most are backed by a cafe or taverna.

Prinos is the port for ferries to the historic mainland town of Kavala - they run 3-5 times a day and take only 75 minutes, making day trips easy. Sotiros has a very nice beach in its centre, backed by a couple of laid back beach bars. Kallirachi has the biggest harbour and its the sardine festival at the end of July attracts the crowds. Maries is the most conventionally pretty of the four, being built on the hill above three bays - again each one with a good sandy beach.

There is a very good bus service linking them all with Thassos Town in the north and Limenaria in the south. None of the villages are particularly old - for those you need to go up into the hills behind where you will each one has a related 'original' village. There are excellent walking opportunities inland from all of them  (e.g. the 11 km Kallirachi Trail) and walking information can be easily found online.