The north of the island is covered by forest, and includes the island's highest point, Mount Olympos (903 metres), while the south, dominated by the mountain of Kochila, is bare and rocky. The island's capital is also called Skyros (or, locally, Chora). The main port, on the west coast, is Linaria. The island has a castle (the kastro) that dates from the Venetian occupation (13th to 15th centuries), a Byzantine monastery (Saint George of Skyros), the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke at Tris Boukes harbour, and the Bronze Age archaeological site of Palamari. There are many beaches on the coast. The island has its own Skyrian breed of ponies.
Skyros can be reached by ferry from Skiathos or Evia.