Lefkada, Greece

Lefkada is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece.

It is connected to the mainland by a floating bridge.

My boyfriend and me visited this island last summer. We stayed there for 10 days.

We went on the island with a rented car, that we rented on the Macedonia airport in Thessaloniki as soon as we arrived from Amsterdam by plane.

Lefkada measures 35 kilometres (22 miles) from north to south, and 15 kilometres (9 miles) from east to west.

The island has a typical Mediterranean climate, hot summers and cool winters, especially in the mountains.

Lefkada is considered as the Caribbean of Greece. This island amazes visitors with the exotic blue color of its sea.

Besides of enjoying the stunning beaches there are a lot of other interesting things to see and do here.

For example you can make a visit to the Nydri Waterfalls. The waterfalls are located near of the touristic village called Nydri .

At the middle of this village there is a road for a very beautiful canyon with a very high waterfall at the end of the path. It is about 350 m walking distance from the parking.

Access is easy and there is a very nice relaxing canteen at the beginning of the trail. If you wish to reach the big waterfall you have to climb a lot of narrow stairs. We did it, but during the summer time there is not really a lot of water falling.

It was easy for us to do the round of the island, because as I early mentioned we had a car. But I believe that there are a lot of organized group tours to different spots on the island and around.

We also booked few boat tours.

The first one was a daily cruise from Nydri to Kefalonia, Ithaka, Meganissi, Papanicolis Cave, Scorpio and Madouri.

From all these destinations I liked Kefalonia island the most.

It was really amazing experience to see all these islands and swim in those crystal clear turquoise waters.

The boat also stopped for swim by Aristotle Onassis’ private island, Scorpios. I will describe this entire tour in one of my next blog posts. This post is dedicated to Lefkada only.

The next tour we booked for the next day was kind of party boat, that was departing late in the evening from Nydri marina as well.

The boat had a DJ, and dance performers and the atmosphere was very funny and entertaining. The drinks and snacks were not included in the price of the tour. There were a lot of choices for food and drinks at the boat bar. The prices were reasonable.

During our boat ride unfortunately wind was going stronger as we were going further. At some point wind was extremely strong and the waves was getting bigger and bigger. We found shelter behind one boat wall upstairs. People who were sitting downstairs were totally wet from the waves that were hitting our boat.

So, our captain decided to go back. At some point everybody from the boat staff were looking in the sea, and searching for something in there with big flashlights. I was afraid that someone from the drunk passengers might had fell into the sea. But after we found out that because of the strong wind one big speaker has fallen into the sea. They couldn’t find it so we continued back towards the Nydri port.

But wind continued to hit us even stronger than before. The whole boat was shaking. At some point a few minutes before we reached the port we heard screaming from the lower deck. We found out that another speaker had fallen thanks to the strong wind, directly on one poor girl’s body.

The speaker was quite big, and the girl quite slim and small. I am sure she broke some bones that night. They should set and secure that speakers better with some big screws or ropes. This company was not very serious. I am wondering how they can put their passengers in such a danger? When we reached the port an ambulance was waiting for the poor girl. I hope it was nothing serious though. On the photo below you can actually see the size of the speaker that fell on the girl.

The next day we took a road trip to one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe.

The famous Porto Katsiki beach.

It took us a few hours to find the right way, because we missed the road where we had to turn left, but, we found the right way somehow, and we finally arrived.

It was busy in front of the parking. But after few minutes we found a parking place.

And when we were ready to go out of the car towards the beach we realized that we forgot the bag with our beach towels at the apartment.

Unfortunately they were no beach towels at the mini market by the beach to buy. When I asked how come, an old man from the shop told me: Why would we sell beach towels right next to the beach, there is no point. People always bring their towels along.

We laughed very much all together, especially when I told him: Not always, some might be super excited to come here, and they might forget them as we did.

At least an old man found one straw beach mat for two in his storage. We were so happy, it was not a towel but it was better than nothing.

We still have that mat to remind us of our vacations in Lefkada and how we forgot our towels. Thank God we got a straw mat, because the beach had a white, very fine and sticky sand.

The beach was stunning as well as the surrounding. But the waves were quite big that day. We enjoyed the beach almost until late afternoon, and we went back before the dark.

We believed since we lost our way two times by day time, we would never find our way back in the dark.

But at the end the way back was much easier.

The next day we visited Lefkada city. The biggest city on the island. We enjoyed strolling at pedestrian shopping area of the old town.

We had a quick lunch at one very nice and with quite interesting concept fast food restaurant.

All we ate there, it was super delicious. The name of the fast food restaurant was Dalton’s grill house.

Later on we walked by sea side. In the city there are plenty of places to eat and drink.

It was around three o’clock in the afternoon. We just had a coffee and ice cream by the sea after lunch and we admired some seagulls for a while who were flying around. It was a warm but quite windy day.

This part of the city is famous for its night clubs and bars. I bet in the evening there was quite different than when we were there. But we did not stay until the evening to see it.

We went back to rest in our apartment, and later on we enjoyed nice dinner on the beach in the Nikiana, the town we were staying. The name of the restaurant was Taverna Pantazis. Most of the tables were placed right on the beach. The food was delicious, they also had live Greek music. It was the most beautiful place we ate in Lefkada. Eating and listening the sound of waves, accompanied with Greek music, and the fragrance of sea salt, grilled food and olive trees in the air. It was simply magic.

We stayed in the small and pretty fishing village of Nikiana, located on the east coast of Lefkada.

Our town Nikiana was around 9 km from the capital city and 7 km away from the popular touristic town of Nydri.

Since we were there at the high season, it was not an easy job to find a nice place to stay.

I wanted a place with a sea view right next to the beach.

Before our trip we searched on the Booking.com website, all the options.

Finally we found this nice studio, that was a perfect match for us. It was exactly as we imagined. The place is called Tasoula Studios & Apartments. If you wish to book the same one, please press the link with the name of apartment (blue letters). It will take you directly on Booking.com website, from where we booked. So you can check some more photos, price and availability.

Studio had nice big balcony over the sea and it was just across the street from the beautiful beach.

This apartment was actually designed for a family of four.

It had one more separate room with double bunk bed for two kids. We used that room to store our stuff.

The building had private parking and very beautiful garden.

It also had a small kitchen with all supplies for cooking and serving meals. Small fridge and oven.

The bathroom was clean and quite big, with a walk in shower.

Except that beach across of street there were few more very nice beaches around the town. Some were organized and some others wild.

The picturesque town harbor was a popular overnight stop for private yachts. Because of its stunning beauty and great bars and restaurants.

Next to our apartment just a few steps away we had a nice traditional bakery shop. From there we were buying our fresh breakfast every morning, bread and some other snacks.

In this town you can find all kinds of shops such as pharmacy, supermarkets, fish market, butchery, green grocery, souvenir shops, retail stores,etc.

Sometimes we cooked our meals, sometimes when we were tired we were eating outside.

We also liked to eat the waffles with ice cream at the small bar, located next to harbor. This place was very attractive and charming, before many years this building was a mil.

The owners kept the old mil equipment and it is exposed inside of the bar very nicely. So it felt like you are visiting the museum and the bar at the same time.

The staff was great wherever we went. Greeks are famous for their hospitality.

Anyhow all those people involved in tourism and hospitality industry in Greece are actually working and making money only in the summer time. Things are quite different here in winter.

Most of the hotels, shops, bars and restaurants are closed. So this is the main reason why people are so nice to the costumers. It is their only way to make some income, during the touristic season. They are really doing their best to please their costumers hopping that they will return back again next year.

I can highly recommend this island to everyone. If you liked the town and the apartment we stayed, and you wish to visit yourself, please press the link with Booking.com word, to check the photos, price and availability.

As I previously mentioned, Lefkada is a very beautiful island, with very nice, beautiful and hospitable people. The food is great, prices are reasonable, but the most important reason why you should visit this island are its stunning beaches for sure.