One of the most beautiful Ionian islands is Lefkada. Located in the west side of Greece you can find the picturesque island definitely worth visiting.
We visited Lefkada one year ago, and although it was my second time visiting it was still a great experience, and i still enjoyed my time there since there were many places to visit.
First of all it’s a very child friendly island so if you are thinking to go to an island with your children this is a good option. we stayed at village Vasiliki at the south of the island. It’s a lovely village with a lot of facilities, a lot of places to eat or drink or stroll on the little narrow streets full of nice shops with souvenirs and wonderful handmade stuff
This is the hotel we stayed at:http://www.lefkadakaterina.gr
The views were breathtaking as we could see the endless blue sea from just our balcony, it was really relaxing and that was one of the best parts about this hotel. It has also got a swimming pool facing towards the village and sea which the children loved. Breakfast was good with local products such as honey, yogurt, cheese and many more.
To explore the whole island you will definitely need to drive as it’s quite big and if you would like to have a full experience of the island you need to rent a car.
The island is full of stunning beaches! we went to Porto Katsiski one of the most famous beaches of lefkada which was breathtaking!
To get down to the beach you will have to park your car, and then go down a long set of stairs leading down to the beach. Even though this was a bit tiring, the beach was so wonderful that we forgot about that immediately. The waters are so clean and crispy but on the other hand quite cold. Above you there is the cliff and the contrast is amazing. Be careful as the beach is always very busy, full of people so sometimes there is no place to put your umbrella or to rent one from the beach bars. The best thing is to go early in the morning (if you are an early bird) or late in the afternoon so you can have more piece and quiet! Also you can go to Porto Katsiki with one of the boats that do a tour around the island and so you don’t have to worry about parking the car or walking down to reach the beach.
Also one of my favourites was Agiofilli beach.
If you stay at the village that we stayed (Vasiliki)then you only take the boat from there and its only 15 minutes with the boat. Again the beach is very crowded and not big enough to accommodate all the people that would visit it but if you go early you will find a place. The water is so clean, and there are many fish swimming around your legs!(perfect for scuba diving) There are many cliffs surrounding the beach that you can explore or even jump from. There is so much nature around you and the bay is picturesque!
Other famous beaches in Lefkada are, Kathisma, Agios Nikitas, Egremni and many more.
A very good idea is to do the boat cruise around the island. It lasts all day and it’s a bit tiring but it pays off and you can visit and see a lot of beaches that you wouldn’t have the chance to approach by car.
At night we usually stayed in our village having dinner in a tavern around the bay. We like to eat fresh fish and seafood whilst on our holidays on an island and there is a plethora of fish restaurants in Vasiliki. If you don’t like fish and want to spend a bit less on your meals a good solution is to have a very famous Greek street food called gyros. Food in Greece is a must, so you have a lot of options to choose from and there is no way that you end up without sitting in a Tavern or restaurant.
You should also visit the capital city which is lefkada. The architecture of the building is traditional and a lot of people visit at night because its so lively with a lot of shops, bars, restaurants and wonderful narrow streets to walk at and admire.
All in all Lefkada is always in my heart, with the unbeatable sunsets, with the beautiful beaches.It gives you the feeling of something unfulfilling and you want to come back again and visit. But to tell you the truth this happens with all the Greek islands.
