Amaliapolis

Amaliapolis, or Amaliapoli, is a beautiful seaside village about 60km south of Volos, on the western side of the Pagasetic Gulf in Greece. It sits in its own bay with a small island off-shore and has a gently sloping sandy beach (good for kids) and several tavernas and bars, some of which stay open all year. It is also popular as a holiday destination in August for Athenians. However outside August it is a great spot to get 'away from it all' and there are hardly any foreign tourists. Prices are also very reasonable as the Greek visitors won't put up with over-charging! Another bonus of the lack of foreign visitors is that the old. Greek concept of 'filoxenia' is alive and well and the locals are really friendly and welcoming.

Get in
Amaliapolis is situated approximately fifteen minutes drive from the E75, the main Athens to Thessalonica highway. Take the exit for Sourpi, pass through the village and follow the signs.

The nearest airport is Volos Nea Anxalaios, but there are very few flights. Far better served are the airports in Athens and Thessaloniki, each of which are approximately 2-3 hrs drive away.

Get around
The village is sufficiently small that you can easily walk everywhere by foot.

See
There are a couple of Greek Orthodox churches in the village.

Do
The best way to relax is to spend a day at the beach. The beach is clean, shallow and family friendly, with various beach cafes, umbrellas and sun loungers (free when you buy drinks), and changing cubicles. As with most beaches in Greece, be warned that there are sea urchins on the rocks. The best way to avoid them is to try and wade into deeper water on the route the Greeks take from the sand to the deeper water - forging your own path to the sandier, deeper water may well lead to you getting spines in your feet. The beach is on the eastern end of the waterfront. There is another good beach in Nies.

Hire a motorboat and visit the island out in the bay.

Buy
There are a couple of small, family run supermarkets on the northern end of the waterfront. However, they are small and not particularly well stocked, and more like British corner shops. For a big family shop in a large supermarket, you'll need to head to either Almyros or Volos. The supermarket opposite the post office has a good butcher inside and to the right as you enter, who sells good quality, locally sourced meat. Every evening, there is a pick up truck parked 100m away from the supermarkets selling locally grown fruit, whilst there is a fruit and veg shop a few blocks back from the waterfront.

There are two bakeries in the village, one on the square just off the waterfront, and one on Basilieious Giorgos B (the road to the left of the steps at the back of the square.)

There is a post office on the Waterfront, in front of which, most evenings in the summer there is a tiny market selling books and crafts.

Eat
The tavernas are particularly well-known for the fresh fish they serve and have many customers at week-ends with day-trippers from Volos.

Drink
There is a cluster of beach side bars with nice shaded seating.

Go next
There are other nice beaches within easy reach of Amaliapolis - for example, Nies and near Pigadi.

Makrinitsa and Portaria make nice day trips into the Pelion mountain range. Further afield, a two hour drive will take you to the ruins of Delphi, a one hour drive to the location of the battle of Thermopylae, and a three-hour drive to the monasteries of Meteora.