Lefkada is the latest Greek island we discovered as a family. It’s part of the Ionian Islands and is particularly easy to reach since you can get there by car via a bridge. Handy! This means you can easily combine a holiday in mainland Greece with a little beach break. As always with the Greek islands, the colour of the sea is superb – a turquoise blue that instantly makes you smile! Lefkada also has the advantage of being large enough to stay for a few days. Besides the beaches, the island offers mountainous landscapes and therefore some very pretty viewpoints all over the place. You can discover them by car or, like us, on a hike.

Let’s set off to discover Lefkada with the children!

Porto Katsiki beach: our favourite beach on Lefkada!

Lefkada as a family: the beaches

To put it simply, there are the beaches on the west coast, the most beautiful – real postcard scenery but potentially a bit choppy – and there are the beaches on the east coast: nice, less paradise-like, but with very calm water.

The west coast beaches:

Kathisma Beach: a beach located in the north-west of Lefkada, near Agios Nikitas where we were staying (see our addresses further down). It’s a very beautiful beach, not to be missed at sunset.

Milos Beach ❤ : I particularly loved the fact that Milos Beach is only accessible on foot! You have to leave the car in Agios Nikitas and walk for 15–20 minutes. Once again, we were there at sunset! A real favourite of ours.

Gialos Beach: we didn’t stop there as it’s very similar to Egremni Beach.

Egremni Beach: one of the island’s most famous beaches and indeed it’s magnificent, even if it wasn’t our favourite. It’s a long beach. The sea was a bit rough because it’s open water.

Porto Katsiki ❤ : a little paradise! We were there on our own (which I imagine doesn’t happen in summer) as the place is so beautiful! We swam there (the water was 22 degrees). Parking was €5 in the off-season (€10 in summer). Porto Katsiki is, in our opinion, the most beautiful beach in Lefkada! Compared with Egremni and Gialos, we loved the presence of the cliffs and the more cove-like, wild feel.

Cape Lefkada: this is the island’s south-western tip. The scenery is particularly wild and lovely for an invigorating walk. You can see the Akrotiri lighthouse. Parking next to the lighthouse.

In the south of Lefkada:

Vasiliki: leaving the cape, we continued towards the villages in the south. When we arrived in Vasiliki, we didn’t like the village or the beach, but the road offered lovely views and the natural setting is very beautiful with mountains in the background. Apparently, Vasiliki is more of a destination for kite-surfing and windsurfing enthusiasts.

Sivota: just after Vasiliki, we stopped in Sivota Bay, a charming little natural harbour where we settled in for lunch. There were lots of sailing boats.

The east coast beaches of Lefkada:

Nydri: this is the main seaside resort on the east coast. We liked Nydri Beach – pleasant, with very calm water and lovely views of mainland Greece, which is really close! In Nydri there’s also a wide choice of restaurants.

Pasha Beach: on the way out of Nydri, we stopped at Pasha Beach for a swim. A small, narrow beach. The water was nice and clear. Not unmissable, but nice and perfect for a quick dip!

Nikiana and Lygia: continuing towards the north-east, we passed these two other small seaside resorts. We didn’t stop there:

Nikiana

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In short, when it comes to beaches, I’d say above all to enjoy the paradise beaches on the west coast of Lefkada, with a detour to the cape and potentially to the small bay of Sivoti if you have time. On the east coast, Nydri was pleasant and is better suited to very young children because the sea is calm.

Lefkada inland: viewpoints and hiking

The island of Lefkada is very mountainous! We didn’t expect that! It makes for a beautiful drive across the island, passing several viewpoints, and it also offers opportunities for walks and hikes. But watch out for travel sickness for children! In general, the roads crossing the centre of the island are winding, with lots of steep sections and some quite tight bends at times. We had to stop for Ticoeur, who got travel sick, like when he was little: we hadn’t missed that 🙂

Some very beautiful views are on the programme when driving between the Agia Paraskevi chapel and the station with the antennas. You can glimpse the other Ionian islands not far away.

The Skaros Peak hike ❤

We did a very beautiful 2-hour-40-minute hike from the village of Kolivata. I should warn you: it was quite poorly marked at times, but we still managed to find our way, though we certainly lost time. Overall, you need to head towards the peak. Once at Skaros Peak, there are superb views over the islands on one side (including Kefalonia and Ithaca) and over Nydri Bay on the other. For parking, we left the car in Kolivata where there’s a sign that says “parking area for visitors to Kolivata village”.

On the way, during the hike up to Skaros Peak:

Arrived at the summit!

Superb view over the Ionian islands:

And the view towards the north of Lefkada and mainland Greece. You can clearly see how the two are connected:

A very beautiful hike to discover the mountainous side of Lefkada! And just after picking up the car, we stopped in Alexandros, a pretty little neighbouring village, all stone, but really very, very quiet!

During our various drives, we also passed through the village of Eglouvi, known for its lentils. As we were there in October, the village was very quiet, but in summer you can taste the famous lentils in the village restaurants.

Visiting Lefkada Town and the Faneromeni Monastery

Lefkada’s capital is a pleasant, lively little town. In October, we were happy to finally see people – locals who live there year-round. There’s a good choice of restaurants in town (see our recommendations further down). On the way out of Lefkada Town is the Faneromeni Monastery, where visitors are welcome (free entry). Of course, you need to respect the peace and quiet of the place and the private areas. Even though we had already seen the Meteora monasteries, we found this monastery interesting. So we do recommend stopping there while you’re visiting the island’s capital. Also on the way out of town, you can see ruins of old mills.

On the way out of Lefkada Town

The Faneromeni Monastery

The Faneromeni Monastery

Lefkada: our good addresses

Our accommodation in Lefkada:

We rented a small holiday home up in the hills above d‘Agios Nikitas, in the north-west of Leucade: Agios Nikitas resort Villa. It’s a holiday residence with several similar accommodation options made up of small villas. We chose this place for the distant sea view! It was very comfortable, on two levels, with two single beds in the children’s room and a bedroom with a double bed upstairs. There was also a pool, but the water was too cold in October.

Our accommodation up in the hills above Agios Nikitas, Leucade

Our accommodation was a 5-minute drive from the heart of the village of Agios Nikitas. The advantage of choosing Agios Nikitas as a base? It’s well located for exploring Lefkada’s west coast, which is the most beautiful coast, with its paradise beaches. It wasn’t complicated either to get to the east, the centre and the far south of the island (the cape is a 1-hour drive away). The small Agios Nikitas beach is sheltered from the waves as it faces north (on the other hand, it gets shaded quickly). Above all, I loved being able to walk to the very beautiful Milos Beach: at sunset it’s magical! Finally, Agios Nikitas is close enough to Lefkada Town to go there for dinner (20 minutes by car). In the capital, the choice of restaurants is larger, even though there are still a few places in Agios Nikitas. As an alternative base, Nydri on the east coast also seemed like a good choice.

Agios Nikitas, Leucade

Restaurants tested and approved on the island of Lefkada:

• Tavern Ionion in Sivota: it was very good, with fresh fish and a terrace by the water. Nothing to complain about, apart from the service being a little slow, but that gave us time to admire the setting!
• Sivota Bakery in Sivota : for a good, balanced breakfast. Try their pancakes.

Fried calamari at Tavern Ionion – Sivota – breakfast at Sivota Bakery

• Kima in Lefkada Town: our favourite fish restaurant of the trip! Great value for money and lovely service. The grilled calamari are excellent!
• Navis in Lefkada Town: this is a chic yacht that doubles as a restaurant. So it was a bit pricey, but it was very good. I recommend the prawn tagliatelle.

Grilled calamari at Kima – Lefkada Town – prawn tagliatelle at Navis

Because we were in Lefkada out of season, many restaurants on the island were closed. For next time, I noted down these to try:

• Rachi: a must-visit restaurant to admire the sunset.
• The Barrel in Nydri: an excellent fish restaurant.
• Ionio Tavern near Egremni: a restaurant that screams summer, with an incredible sea view and lovely trees for shade! We drove past and it made us regret travelling out of season :-).
• Oasis Tavern near Egremni : a similar beach bar that must be really nice in summer.

Lefkada: practical information

• By car: you can reach Lefkada easily thanks to a (free) movable bridge. The closest airport to Lefkada is Preveza airport, 25 minutes away by car. See car hire at Preveza airport. Potentially, you may land elsewhere depending on your Greece itinerary.
• How long to stay in Lefkada? We stayed 3 days and 3 nights and found it ideal for discovering the west coast beaches and going as far as the cape (Day 1), doing a loop of the east coast beaches and hiking in the mountains (Day 2), seeing the capital, its monastery and returning to the beaches in the north-west (Day 3). Of course, you could easily imagine staying a week for a beach-focused holiday.
• Which stops before or after Lefkada? If, like us, you want to visit the Vikos Gorge region, allow 3 hours 30 minutes to reach the gorges. Read my article: Vikos Gorge as a family. And to get to Meteora, it’s a 4-hour drive.
• Which season to go to Lefkada? We were there at the end of October, so I can tell you it was deserted! And in the end, it was too quiet! In fact, most seaside bars and restaurants were closed. I found that a shame and a bit too quiet. On the other hand, it was perfect for walking and having the beaches all to ourselves! The sea was a bit cool (22 degrees) but that suited us. We occasionally saw a few small jellyfish. If you go at Easter, the sea may be colder. The best period is therefore probably early or late summer, but avoiding the crowds between late July and mid-August.

Who’s going to Lefkada soon? 

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