Lygia is a traditional fishing village on the sheltered east coast of Lefkada, only about five kilometres south of Lefkada Town. Also spelled Ligia, it keeps the calm, unpretentious character of a working harbour, with a fishing fleet. Fish tavernas and boat rentals along the waterfront and a narrow, shady pebble beach with crystal-clear, calm … Read more
Nikiana is a calm, family-friendly fishing village on the sheltered east coast of Lefkada, the kind of easygoing place you settle into rather than rush through. Where the west coast of the island is all sheer cliffs and dramatic turquoise bays, Nikiana sits on the gentle Ionian shore. With a long pebble beach, clear calm … Read more
Vlycho is a quiet village on the east coast of Lefkada, strung along a steep green hillside above one of the most sheltered bays in the whole Ionian. Lying just south of the busy resort of Nydri, the village, also spelled Vlicho or Vliho, keeps a calm, workaday character despite its closeness to the crowds. … Read more
Skorpios island is the small, green private islet off the east coast of Lefkada that the world came to know as the retreat of the shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Lying about three kilometres from the resort of Nydri, it is a lush, wooded dot in the sheltered channel where Lefkada meets its scatter of satellite … Read more
Desimi beach is one of the most sheltered and family-friendly bays on the east coast of Lefkada. A curve of white pebbles and calm turquoise water on the Geni peninsula near Nydri. Tucked on the outer side of the Vlycho bay, it faces away from the open sea, so its water stays flat and clear … Read more
Faneromeni Monastery is the most important religious site on Lefkada, set on a pine-covered hill above the town near the village of Tsoukalades. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary Faneromeni, the patron saint of the island. The monastery draws pilgrims and visitors for its revered icon, its museum of Byzantine treasures and its wide views over … Read more
Agia Mavra Castle guards the entrance to Lefkada. A large medieval fortress on a low spit of land beside the causeway and floating bridge that link the island to the Greek mainland. Also known as Santa Maura, the castle sits at the narrow strait between the island and the coast. A position that controlled the … Read more
Lefkada hiking ranges from waterfall gorges and mountain ridges to short coastal paths that drop to hidden beaches, all on one road-connected Ionian island in western Greece. A green mountain spine runs down the centre of the island and rises to Mount Stavrota at about 1,180 metres, while a broken west coast falls in cliffs … Read more
A Lefkada itinerary rewards the traveller who treats the island as a driving route rather than a single resort. Lefkada joins the mainland by a causeway, so a hire car reaches the north town, the west-coast cliffs, the sheltered east coast and the mountain interior across roughly fifty kilometres. Three days catch the headline sights, … Read more
Poros is a traditional village on the south-east side of Lefkada, an Ionian island in Greece. It stands amphitheatrically on a green hillside above the sea, roughly 3.5 kilometres up from the coast, between Nydri and Vasiliki. Stone houses with yellow-tiled roofs, flower-filled courtyards and narrow paved alleys give it an old rural character. Below … Read more
Kalamitsi is one of the oldest villages on Lefkada, set high on the steep west coast about 20 km west of Lefkada Town among hills and olive groves. Whitewashed churches stand along the lanes and old windmills sit on the ridges, with wide views over the Ionian. The village stays a quiet, rural place with … Read more
Mikros Gialos is a sheltered pebble bay on the south-east coast of Lefkada, below the village of Poros and about 15 km south of Nydri. Its name means the small bay, and the shore is a curve of white pebbles washed by clear, calm water that shades from turquoise to emerald. The beach sits between … Read more