On June 23, we drove straight from Papingko in the mountains to Lefkada island leaving temps of 19 degrees C to arrive in Lefkada at midday with 30 degrees. I worked on vacation rental stuff most of the way.
Even though Lefkada is an island in the Ionian chain it is connected to the mainland by a floating drawbridge that swings open hourly for boat traffic. Lefkas Town has a big yachting harbour which is where Anko Yachting starts and ends their Ionian weekly trips. Thanos said the town is a hip place to be at night but I wasn’t very impressed with the town on our forays in and out during this trip.
We walked around the hot town of Lefkas looking for a luggage store since our stuff had outgrown our luggage. No luck so we ate lunch on the Harbour and started off on an island exploration. Drove the busy East coast of the island which had nothing that appealed to us. We took a turnoff to Poros Beach, a windy 8 km down onthe sea. On a hot weekend afternoon, the area was packed and not a parking space to be had. So backup the winding road. Now it is 3pm and Bill has been driving since 9:30 and he’s getting a little grumpy.
I had been texting with Diane and knew the Anko boats were going to spend the night in Syvota Village so we took that next turnoff and drove 2KM to the beach to check out the town. It’s a nice yachting harbor with a protected bay and typical holiday layout. It doesn’t appear to have much of a traditional village. There is a stoney beach at one end, lots of laundry, showers, shops and restaurants for the tourist trade. The boats all tie up on the public harbor with no water or power services.
At 4pm we spotted their sailboat – the big pink flamingo on the stern was the tip off. They laughed when they saw us on the dock waving them in! We had a lovely quiet evening drinking fancy cocktails and catching up on their week’s sailing adventures. Nicolas had healed quite nicely in the week since we’d left them. We found a nice simple room overlooking the harbour for 40 euros a night – it was clean with a private bath and a balcony looking over the bay.
Fancy cocktails at a little bar at the far end of the bay.
View from our little cheap room
June 24 – Exploring Lefkada
It is our last full day in Greece. We had breakfast with the Kiwis and then took off in the car to explore the island of Lefkada. We had heard that Porto Katsiki Beach was the best beach in Lefkada and maybe in the Ionian. I would confirm that! It was quite a mountainous drive to get there and when we arrived the parking lots were filling up and the beaches were half full at noon. The whole enterprise was very organized with ample parking, parking attendants to collect their 5E, a nearby restaurant handing out flyers for free delivery to the beach.
Even with hundreds of people pouring on to the beach, it did not feel overwhelming. The beach is sand and stone and curved into the shade of the white cliffs that give Lefkas its name. The water is clear and sparkling turquoise color. The beach is situated about 50 steps below the road and parking areas.
It is a little sad that this might be our last swim in Greece on this trip but what a perfect place for the finale!
After a morning at the beach, we headed back to the car and a continuation of our drive. We had no idea where we might sleep that night. I had an idea that we should find a village facing west where we could finally get a sunset view over the Greek seas.
We stopped for lunch at Greco Levante, a shaded upscale taverna with seating looking down to the sea over the olive groves on the edge of Athani village. Near egremini beach cutoff. They were playing lovely bouzouki music, the cicadas were in full song and it was cool in the shade. The food was good and I was happy.
Along this strip of road there were many roadside stands selling local honey, oil and jellies. We stopped and bought some orange honey in Drogano.
We ended up in Aigios Nikitas village for the evening. We never made it to Karya in the center though we were very close nor did we find a sunset facing village. This village is on the Northern end of the west coast of Lefkada, tucked behind a ridge that blocks the western setting sun of course! It’s a charming village that tumbles down the ridge. It has one pedestrian street that runs downhill to a small beach. We found a room with a view and gladly paid the 70e even if it would have only been for that delicious nap in the hot part of the day. It looks like it was a once beautiful fishing village that has been overwhelmed by summer tourism.
View from our room!
We took our final swim in the late afternoon in the bay in front of our room. Had an excellent dinner at Asperous – lamb shank, artichoke baked with peas carrots and potatoes. It was not crazy busy like many of the other restaurants that were clustered closer to the water. Their menu was a little less traditional Greek and they didn’t have 100 items on their menu that they claimed were all freshly made.
Ai Nikitai is a happening village even in late June with both Greek and foreign visitors on a Saturday night. I probably wouldn’t go back but it was exactly what we needed that night.