Lefkas holidays | tourist travel guide to Lefkas Greece

Daily buses
Boat hire
Car hire
Cash points
Cruises
Ferry port
Laundry

First Choice deals

Lefkas holidays

Lefkas Town

LEFKAS TOWN, the capital of the island, is found at the northeast tip of Lefkas and was hit by earthquakes in 1948, 1953 and 1971.

The result is a quaint, if odd, architectural style of brightly painted houses often topped with wood and corrugated iron to mitigate any more seismic shocks.

Its narrow, traffic free lanes and its small size give it a village atmosphere, though the richly decorated Venetian churches, packed with fine works of art, add a cosmopolitan touch.

Ostensibly a port, there is little to be seen of the sea - just a huge and sombre lagoon with, some say, an unhealthy air about it. There are four museums, the oddest being the Lefkas Phonograph Museum with its collection of old gramophones and records.

The main square is said to be the most attractive spot and splits the main traffic free shopping street. There are several cafes and tavernas around the square which can become a lively place at night with street sellers setting up stalls.

More bars and restaurants are found around the north harbour area with views of the mainland. Tavernas are plentiful and they boast the biggest portions in Greece.

As the harbour is in the lagoon, it has very calm waters and a newly built marina is worth a stroll around to look at the luxury yachts.

A series of fortresses along the causeway approach testify to the island's strategic importance in the past. The main fortress at SANTA MAVRA was built in the 13th century by Giovanni Orsini and has been extensively altered by Venetians, Turks and, most of all, by earthquakes.

An accidental explosion in 1888 reduced many buildings to rubble. Other sights include the 17th century Faneromeni Monastery above the town with its pine woods and great views.

For its size Lefkas Town boasts a wide variety of events that include annual festivals of literature and art, folk dance festival, cycle and speedboat racing as well as its own philharmonic orchestra.

The newly built marina holds more than 650 yachts and there is a bus station with buses to all the main resorts on the island. Lefkas town has no beaches but there is a 4km pebble strand across the lagoon at YIRA or GYRA, equipped with a few tavernas and bars.

The beach is pleasant enough but rather bare and exposed and seems to drift on forever in the flat, uninspiring landscape.

Daily buses

Lygia Lefkas

Life goes at a slower pace in LYGIA, around 5km south of Lefkas Town but a world away from its busy neighbour. This is a very quiet and relaxed resort.

There is a single main street with a few tavernas and bars along here and on the waterfront, though the main road get very busy with passing traffic.

Visitors complain of the lack of choice, both of tavernas and their menus which appear to centre around chips - many will head for Lefkas Town in the evenings.

There is a decent bus service but a taxi may be a better, if more expensive, option in the evening. Many tavernas stay closed until the high season of June to August.

The beaches aren't great either, small patches of shingle, but there are several of them and they are sheltered and uncrowded with fine views across to the mainland and Agios Giorgios castle in the distance.

There are many good walks to be had in the surrounding pine woods and olive groves including the Paradisos area with its aptly named Valley of Love (Kilada tou Erota).

Daily buses

Karya Lefkas

Inland from Lygia and about 15km southwest of Lefkas Town is the working mountain village of KARYA. There is a central square with taverna tables laid out beneath a huge plane tree.

As well as being pleasant outing, it is worth a visit for the Karysaniki embroidery which was once a vital part of the island dress. You might still see some of the women of the village wearing it, though that's unlikely these days, but you can buy some in the local shops.

There are displays of Lefkan embroidery, along with other household artifacts, at the Museum of Folklore on the edge of the village and there are more examples at the Museum of Folk Art in Lefkas Town.

Daily buses

Lazarata Lefkas

The hill village of LAZARATA has attracted the attentions of a few holiday firms. The traditional hill village is found just northeast of Kyra and is surrounded by craggy cliffs, towering cypress and lush mountain scenery.

The village has a traditional shady square with tavernas and cafes and the two notable churches of Agios Dionissios and Agios Spiridonas, the latter with an impressive tower and 18th century belfry.

This is a fine area for walking and every turn seems to offer a breathtaking view of whitewashed houses, neat vineyards, olive groves and lush woodland. An ideal spot for those looking for traditional rural Greek holiday.

Daily buses
Boat trips
Diving

Nikiana Lefkas

South of Lygia is the tiny fishing village of NIKIANA which spreads out along the coast road with hills behind about 9km south of Lefkas Town.

There is a string of sand and pebble beaches beyond a small harbour, none too notable but pleasant enough, with olive draped foothills behind and mountains rising beyond them.

Waterfront tavernas around the small harbour serve good food and, though you can't watch the sunset in the east-facing resort, you can at least see the mainland hills redden in the evening.

There is a mini market and a few shops. The resort is very popular with Italians who turn up in droves from June onwards and, like neighbouring Lygia, there are some good walks to be had in the surrounding countryside and the hills behind.

Regular buses go north and south though they tend to be crowded with tourists travelling between Nidri and Lefkas Town, and boats leave daily for the offshore islets such as Skorpios and Meganissi.

VISITORS RECOMMEND

Best eating

Barrel, Delfini, Dionysos, Mastrali, Symposium, Trata, Yacht Club

Best drinking

Athos, Bubbles, Sailors

Daily buses
Boat hire
Cash points
Car hire
Cruises
Ferry port
Horse riding
Laundry
Watersports

Nidri Lefkas

NIDRI on the island's east coast, about 17km south of Lefkas Town, is the island's biggest resort and has a lovely setting at the mouth of the long and impressive inlet of Vlycho bay.

Once the playground preserve of billionaire Aristotle Onassis, the area remained undeveloped until his death when the locals made up for lost time.

Now noisy tavernas line the sea front and a large section of the beach has been used to build a new quay. New hotels have been built on the flat, marshy ground behind the resort and mosquitos can be a real problem.

There are delightful corners to the found around the enter and there are plenty more tavernas and cafes in the harbour area, but many geared to the demands of cut price tourism with English breakfasts, karaoke and big TV screens on offer, with pushy waiters touting for trade. Music bars and a couple of nightclubs open in the summer.

The setting may be idyllic but beautiful views are spoiled by docking cruisers, traffic noise, flashing neon and fast food seediness of the surroundings.

The resort is also popular for school outings and often swamped by hordes of young teenagers whose buses park in a huge car park on the edge of town.

Beaches are found to the north of the town. They have great settings and marvelous views but are for the most part disappointing - long, narrow, crowded and mostly rough pebble, though lorry loads of sand have now been dumped here and there to improve the situation.

The sea is not the cleanest but it is shallow and calm, thanks to the resort's position in the sheltered bay. The views may be glorious but they are regularly shattered by noisy jet skis and even noisier screaming teenagers being towed on inflatables.

Nidri is a major yachting centre and boats always seem to fill the bay with the annual Ionian Regatta in late September one of the highlights of the Mediterranean year.

Ferries leave here daily for tours of the local islets and to the many secluded bays that lie along this part of the coast. There are also early-morning boats to Ithaca and Kefalonia.

Inland from Nidri the land is fairly flat and cycle rides through the olive groves are popular, with several good walking paths in the nearby hills.

A trip to the Vafkeri waterfall is worth a visit in April or May, but not later as the water turns to a trickle. The waterfalls, about 4km from Nidri, get more spectacular the higher you climb but the going can be difficult and the stepping stones slippy.

German archaeologist Wilhelm Dorpfeld was virtually alone in claiming Nydri, not Ithaca, as the site of Odysseus' palace. He lived and died in Nydri and a statue on the quay was erected in his honour.

Nidri Lefkas holiday reviews

Camping

Vlycho Lefkas

The seaside village of VLICHO or VLYCHO gives its name to the large bay that has Nidri to the north and the heavily wooded Geni peninsula curving around to the south.

The village a pleasant string of shops and tavernas and is handy for the pebble beach at DESSIMI which can be found down a dirt track from the village.

It is a large and popular campsite nearby so the beach can get a bit crowded but it is still a pleasant beach overlooked by pine trees and citrus groves.

Tavernas, bars and a minimarket help cater for the camping crowds and cruise boats often include the beach on their island tours.

Geni peninsula Lefkas

Enclosing Vlycho bay is the long arm of the Geni peninsula, a tranquil and 'exclusive' area of dense hilly woodland and olive groves. As it wraps around the bay it faces the busy resort of Nidri to the west and the popular offshore islet of Meganissi to the east.

This is a popular 'escape' area for those who find the resort of Nidri a little too noisy as it is only 5 min by boat and 10 min by car.

It has also become very popular with upmarket UK holiday companies offering several 'select' villas overlooking the pretty bay.

The village at Geni that gives its name to the peninsula is a friendly traditional fishing village with waterfront tavernas.

Poros Lefkas

The village of POROS is full of narrow alleys and beautiful traditional houses built on steep wooded slopes overlooking the attractive Rouda Bay with the islet of Arkoudi to the south

It is about 25km south of Lefkas Town and has a population of around 300. The nearby church of Analipsi has some remarkable icons, in particular one of the Virgin Mary dating from the 17th century.

In the nearby village of Pirgi are ruins of an ancient olive mill and the remains of a Venetian castle. But most visitors come here for a look around before heading for the popular beach at nearby Mikris Gialos.

Mikrys Gialos Lefkas

A few years ago the pretty sand and pebble beach at MIKRYS GIALOS or MICROS YIALOS, below the hillside village Poros, was a joy to visit.

Times change. The once deserted hideaway, tucked away at the end of Rouda Bay now houses a huge restaurant cum beach bar complex that opens up for the summer visitors.

Strings of duckboards cross-cross a beach that is chock-a-block with sun beds while music blares from the beach bars. It's still a beach to enjoy if you don't mind the crowds, though the beach is mostly pebble both in and out of the water.

There is good parking on the road and it takes a few minutes to walk down some wooden steps where tavernas and bars offer the basics.

There is a small campsite near the beach with a pool, parking and restaurant although there are other good tavernas nearby.

Boat hire
Watersports

Sivota Lefkas

At the head of the next deep inlet is the sheltered anchorage at SIVOTA or SYVOTA, a firm favourite with the boating set

The resort boasts a bevy of fish tavernas to satisfy the needs of the yachting set - most of them lining the long quayside on the west side of the bay.

Nestled in a picturesque wooded valley about 33km south of Lefkas Town, the resort, which has a small scruffy pebble beach at the end of the harbour that virtually no one uses, is much quieter by day than at night when the sailing set comes out to play.

Tavernas overlook the harbour to take advantage of the fine views along Sivota Bay, with olive groves and wooded hills behind but they are mostly characterless and designed to cater for the summer flotilla market.

Sivota Lefkas holiday reviews

Daily buses
Bike hire
Camping
Cash points
Cruises
Diving
Watersports

Vassiliki Lefkas

The island's highest peak at Mt Stavrotas (1145m) has been greedily eaten away by quarry firms and now looks badly scarred but below is VASSILIKI, about 38km from Lefkas Town and the island's main watersports resort.

Huge numbers of windsurfers take advantage of the bay during high summer which, thanks to local geography, is often calm in the mornings and windy in the afternoons.

The long beach is gently shelving but stony and rough, and ideal for surfers as the sea is just thigh deep for many metres out. The busiest months are July and August when the bay is packed with windsurfers. There are windsurfing clubs and rental outfits and plenty of boats and catamarans for hire.

The resort has a pleasant harbour area and a ring of quayside tavernas, and recently even a disco to appeal to the windsurfing youngsters.

There is a campsite nearby and hotels along the beachfront. There are daily cruises from the port to Ithaca and Kefalonia as well as day trips to Lefkas beaches and local islets.

Pleasant walks await along the coast and cycle rides are to be had in the surrounding countryside, which is relatively flat. The village is on the east side of the bay, the west side is known as PONTI.

A short walk south along the coastal path brings you to a small and attractive beach at AGIOFILI which has no facilities but is a regular port of call for day trip boats, so it can get intermittently busy.

Taxi boats

Agios Nikitas Lefkas

The road west out of Lefkas Town takes you through TSOUKALADES, a pleasant but unremarkable village with a small and equally unremarkable beach at KAMINIA and eventually reaches AGIOS NIKITAS, one the most attractive resorts on the north west coast of Lefkas and just 12km from Lefkas Town.

The main road through the village runs down to the beach and is flanked by tavernas and shops. It is traffic-free though, so you must leave your car at the top of the hill and there's not a lot of parking space if you arrive late in the day, especially in the tourist months of July and August and at weekends throughout the summer.

There is then quite a long walk to the beach down the main village street and past all the cars parked at the side of the road, presumably illegally.

Several small alleys lead off the main street and it's worth taking a detour to admire the attractive houses. Surrounding hills are covered in olive groves and pine and small apartments dot the landscape.

The main beach of sharp white sand and pebble is flanked by hotels and tavernas and seems far less attractive than the village itself. It is quite small and soon gets busy, though you can find quieter spots if you are prepared to clamber over rocks to the north.

Boats leave daily for surrounding beaches throughout the summer - notably to Milos beach which is considered one of the best on the island.

A little further north still is PEFKOULIA beach, a long wide strip of coarse sand backed by shady pine trees that has the advantage of being much less busy.

It can be reached by car but you must park on the main road. There is a beach bar, taverna and sun beds and it can also be called, confusingly, Agios Nikitas.

Blue Flag beach
Windsurfing

Milos Lefkas

Just over the hill south of Agios Nikitas is the coarse sand and pebble beach of MILOS, one of a trio along with Agios Nikitas and Kathisma to the south that form one of the finest stretches of sand on Lefkas.

Access is from a dirt track from Agios Nikitas, sometimes slippery and steep and with rocks to climb but the 20 min walk is worth it.

At the top of the path is a stone windmill, built in 1741 and now converted into a cafe and bar and more recently some wooden stairs that lead down to the beach to give easier access.

There are spectacular views from here over the bay. The easy alternative is a taxi boat from Agios Nikitas - if you can find a parking space in that busy village.

Milos beach is long and deep with coarse sand and pebble. It slopes quite steeply and can get quite choppy if there is an offshore breeze. The southern end, where there are some caves, is much favoured by nudist bathers.

Milos beach is also a big favourite with windsurfers and kitesurfers and there are few days in the high season when the sea is not humming with activity along the main stretch.

Daily buses
Watersports

Kathisma Lefkas

The sands at KATHISMA are some of the most popular on Lefkas, wide, and deep for more than a kilometre with pebbles and sand on the shore and sand underfoot out to sea.

Not blessed with much shade it nevertheless has interesting rock promontories and caves to explore and a couple of large rocks in the sea at the southern end where nudists tend to congregate.

Kathisma beach often makes it into the top ten in votes on the Med's most beautiful beaches and it's easy to see why with its long, deep, flat sands and attractive rock formations. The sand can be steeply shelving though, so children must be watched.

On the main section of the beach there are tavernas and bars behind the beach with swimming pools in the bars. West facing, many will linger in the bars and tavernas to enjoy the sunsets.

There are plenty of beach umbrellas and beds and the beach has a young and lively feel, with volleyball and tennis courts. In the summer and there is paragliding from the cliffs.

There is a regular bus service from Lefkas Town and plenty of parking behind the beach. Parking is in great demand at weekends when visitors arrive in droves. Fortunately, the beach is big enough for it rarely to feel too crowded.

Daily bus

Kalamitsi Lefkas

South of Kathisma are several beaches that can be reached by walking south along the shoreline. All of them are relatively remote and without facilities but make a fine route for walkers.

Of note are tiny coves at GIADOROS and THEOTOKOS, a mixture of sand and shingle shaded by pine trees, and the beach at STOUS PILOUS where several small coves are linked in a chain of beaches that are normally deserted.

The highlight along this stretch of coast is the village of KALAMITSI where attractive stone houses are surrounded by almond and olive groves.

Along with neighbouring DRIMONAS this was once a much larger settlement and many homes are now empty, though both villages have a taverna and kafenion.

There are 13 old stone windmills nearby and as many chapels in the surrounding hills. There is also a small and attractive beach about 3km from the village down a dirt track.

The sharp sand beach is noted for the large rocks along the shoreline and there is a cantina and a few sun beds in high summer.

Gialos Lefkas

The west coat of Lefkas is mostly rock and cliffs down the east coast until you reach GIALOS BEACH near the village of ATHANI.

You drop down out of the village along a steep and narrow road with several death defying hairpin bends. It ends at a car park and a couple of seasonal cantinas selling basic supplies.

The long beach of pebble and shingle stretching south. There are a few sun beds near the cantinas but little else. Another cantina can sometime be found tucked away on a dirt track to the north.

The beach is in shadow until noon and the pebbles, like many beaches along the west coast, dip very sharply into the sea.

Daily bus

Egremni Lefkas

Just below Gialos is the popular beach of EGREMNI. A 3km dirt track drops off the road south of ATHANI village through a series of hairpin bends to a small car park that appears to have been blasted out of the hillside.

If the car park is full, or if you don't want to pay, you can park by the side of the track about 250m back up the hill, but take care of the many rocks that line the side of the narrow road.

To get down to the beach you must negotiate more than 300 steps down a long wooden staircase that starts outside the clifftop taverna. The beach is long and deep, indeed it appears to stretch for miles.

There are sun beds at the bottom of the staircase and, astonishingly, a makeshift cantina in the summer - how do they get the stuff down here?

For even more secluded spots you can head north or south, though the southern end has the greater number of coves. Egremni itself is never crowded as people are probably put off by the steep climb.

This is a beach for those seeking solitude and a good alternative to the more popular Porto Katsiki, although it's not recommended for children - there are those steps, the sea gets deep very quickly and there can be very strong undercurrents along this part of the coast.

The water also tends to be cloudy, so it's not great for snorkeling.

Daily buses

Porto Katsiki Lefkas

The spectacular white beach at PORTO KATSIKI is an astonishingly beautiful sight and one of the most attractive beaches on Lefkas.

Access has improved with a recently asphalted road to the top of the cliff where a car park and snack bar cantinas await.

Prepare for a long drive to reach Porto Katsiki beach. It's 40km from Lefkas Town and in high summer you can expect major traffic jams on the narrow road that leads down to the resort, especially around noon when parked roadside cars increase the traffic problems.

A good alternative to the long drive is to take cruise boat from Nidri or Vassiliki.

You can leave your car in the large car park above and negotiate a tight staircase of wooden steps that have been built into the side of the white limestone cliff - around 80 of them.

Below is a narrow strip of white pebbles and sand, shaded by overhanging rocks in the morning, and the sea so clear that the shadows of anchored boats darken the sea bed.

A landslide in 1999 caused a section of the soft limestone cliff to collapse on the beach, but it is now considered quite safe. Since recent road improvements the beach has become 'discovered', very popular and very crowded in the high summer.

There are problems for families getting down the narrow staircase and there are no toilet facilities on the crowded beach when you get there, so crowded in fact that late arrivals will struggle to find a spot.

It is also a heat trap in the afternoon, with little or no shade. There are other small coves along this stretch of coast but they are unsignposted, difficult to reach on foot, and there are no facilities.

Cape Lefkas

If you keep heading south you eventually arrive at the bleak, barren CAPE LEFKAS where cliffs drop abruptly 70 odd metres into the sea.

It was from here that the poet Sappho leapt into the water to cure herself of unrequited love - the original Lover's Leap so to speak.

Locals call it Lady's Cape in her honour and lunatics and criminals were once thrown from the cliffs to cure them of their evil ways - often with live birds attached to slow their descent. Followers of local cults also made sea plunges from the spot. It's a weird world.

It is still quite a drive from Porto Katsiki on a road that gets progressively worse as you head south. The lighthouse is the prize at the end of the journey and from the headland you can see Kefalonia in the distance.

But you may wonder, as you set back, whether it was worth all the effort when there are just as many spectacular views to be had without making such a tiring trip.

Skorpios, Meganissi and offshore islets

There are several large offshore islets on Lefkas, many visible from Nydri and the target destination for dozens of boat trips. Among the islets, MADOURI was the home of Greek poet Aristotle Valaoritis whose family still owns the island. Visitors are not welcome.

SPARTI is just a large crab infested rock while SKORPIOS, still owned by the Onassis family, is heavily fortified and guarded to deter visitors, though recently excursion boats have been allowed to call when the family is away. It's remarkable how many people want to see this quite unremarkable island.

It's still a private islet that was much 'improved' in the 1960's when about 500 people worked for there for five years to build the Onassis estate. It has it's own electricity and water supplies and about 30 people still work there, many as security guards.

There are two beaches where boats can moor. Boats must leave after 45 min and visitors who land there report beaches swarming with large ants.

Above one of the beaches is the chapel where Aristotle Onassis married Jacky Kennedy and family members are buried there. Onassis' sole surviving descendent, his granddaughter Athena, has not visited Skorpios for many years.

By far the best, biggest and most interesting in MEGANISSI, about 6km from Nidri, which attracts large numbers of day visitors and those tourists looking for a sleepy island holiday. Fewer than 2,000 live on the island which has three villages at Katomeri, Vathi and Spartahori.

Many go to see the huge and impressive sea caves and particularly Papanikolas Cave, famous for housing a submarine in World War Two. Tour boats will cruise inside if there is any room.

Meganissi's main port of VATHI is in the northeast, has good waterfront tavernas, music bars and a few shops. The traditional village of KATOMERI is a kilometre inland from Vathi and has a few tavernas and a bakery.

The alternative port is below the white, clifftop village of SPARTAHORI, in Spilia Bay with a harbour and pebble beach. There are a few tavernas, a couple of mimimarkets, some shops and spectacular views over the rest of the islet.