Guide to Lefkada island, Greece

Lefkada island in Greece – where the green mountainous landscape meets the blue Ionian Sea – was the perfect destination for my holiday! And really, travel bloggers need holidays too. A real holiday! With no deals to write or posts to plan but instead just being able to enjoy traveling to the fullest and relax! Usually traveling for me is thinking a lot about when to take photos, what to post and what should I write in my article. My trip to Lefkada was perfect since I didn’t have to think about any of those. This post will be pure joy and the photos are the ones that I ended up taking. Here’s the Lefkada guide for you about the things that I recommend doing while visiting Lefkada island!

Amazing turquoise waters of Lefkada!

Don’t miss out these beaches when visiting Lefkada island

Lefkada island is known for its amazing beaches which are some of the most beautiful ones in the entire Europe! Rugged rock formations, perfectly round white stones and the most turquoise and crystal-clear water that you can think of!

Porto Katsiki beach

Porto Katsiki is the most famous beach in Lefkada island. It has unique rock formations surrounding the beach and the beach which is full of pure white and round little stones. The turquoise glittering sea with the whiteness of the stones make the landscape hard to look at without sunglasses, it’s so bright!

The water in Porto Katsiki is crystal clear!

Port Katsiki is slightly difficult to reach. You can get there by car but the road is super narrow! So be careful if you’re driving there. The parking space costs 5 euros for a day and there are small shops and one proper restaurant quite near the beach. There’s also free parking but it’s probably easier to use the private parking. To get to the actual beach, you need to take approximately 80 steps (I didn’t count so that’s why it’s about that amount, haha) down the rocky stairs to the beach.  You can reach the beach also by boat which could be a good idea and saves your nerves when you don’t need to drive those narrow mountain roads.

What makes Porto Katsiki beach awesome is that it’s difficult to reach and that there aren’t any resorts nearby. Everyone needs to go through the trouble to get there but the stunning views make the trip really worth it!

A bonus tip for you: get water shoes beforehand, it’s A LOT easier to walk with them on the beach and to go swimming!

One of the most beautiful beaches in Europe: Porto Katsiki beach!

Egremni Beach

A must-see beach but on June 2019 it was only accessible by boat! I was traveling by car and missed out on this beach. If you get there, tell me how it was in the comments below!

Kathisma beach

Kathisma beach is a lot different compared to Porto Katsiki since it has hotels nearby and the beach is crowded with sunbeds. It is nevertheless a beautiful beach and quite easy to reach also by car. You can also do paragliding there so that you jump from the mountain top and land on the beach. That looked really cool but I wouldn’t dare to do it since I’m so afraid of heights.

Kathisma beach is longer and wider than Porto Katsiki and it felt a bit more crowded.  On the beach there are a couple of restaurants which were naturally a bit over-priced. The water here is also beautifully turquoise, and the stones are smaller than in Porto Katsiki which makes it easier for walking.

Kathisma beach is a long beach with great waters for swimming

Pefkoulia beach

Pefkoulia beach is easy to access by car and it’s a beautiful long beach with more sand-like ground than most of the other beaches. If you are traveling by car I also recommend visiting the viewpoint which is a bit further north from the beach itself. The views from the viewpoint are wonderful!

The viewpoint of Pefkoulia beach

Lefkada island must-dos

Winery and vineyard visit

In Lefkada island there are a couple of wineries and vineyards in different parts of the island. I recommend visiting Lefkaditiki Gi Winery due to their delicious wines, free wine tour and free wine tasting! On the tour you will learn about the local wine making process but unfortunately you won’t be able to visit the vineyard itself since it’s on the slope. I like both their red wine and their fruity white wine which is one of the best white wines I’ve ever had!

Lefkaditiki winery and vineyard views

Boat trip around the nearby islands

There are different kinds of boat tours so it all depends what you wish to see on your tour. Most of the boats leave from Nidri but there are tours from other ports too. I can recommend either taking a tour to see the world’s most beautiful beaches on the western side of Lefkada island or then you can take a tour to the islands on the Eastern side.

The archipelago of Lefkada is really pretty!

I made a tour on the Eastern side that included Papanikolis Cave which is the second largest water cave in the world,  Meganisi island and both Skorpios and Skorpidi islands. The tour also stopped for swimming on a beautiful beach on the nearby islands. The icing on the cake was when we saw a school of dolphins on our way that were jumping and playing in the water!

The second largest water cave in the world! Our two storey boat fitted inside the cave easily!

Dolphins greeted us with pretentious jumps!

Shopping and nightlife in Lefkada town

Lefkada town is the biggest town on the island and most of the shops and nightlife is in there. It is still rather small so I think one day will be enough to wander around the centre of this town. Remember that the siesta time is not exact and most of the shops are closed during siesta (around 2pm-6pm). The Greek also eat rather late starting from 8pm so the restaurants are getting fuller after this time.

There are quite a lot of restaurants, bars and nightclubs to choose from in Lefkada town.  But I also recommend just wandering around in the streets of the Old Town. You’ll get really local vibes there and it’s great to see those old cute houses and then some expensive cars parked in the yard.

Lefkada town is full of colors!

Rent a car and drive around Lefkada island

To my mind renting a car is the best way to see the Lefkada island. The views on top of the hills are breathtaking and with your own car you can stop wherever you want. It’s true that you can see some of the most famous beaches like Porto Katsiki and Egremni also by boat but there are many other smaller beaches that you can reach by car and you have more freedom to choose which ones you want to visit.

Sea and sunshine make me happy!

Renting a car gives you the freedom to schedule your day as you want and at least for me that suits perfectly! What I must say is that some of the roads might be quite narrow and be careful since since sometimes it’s hard to fit two cars on the road.

Bonus tips

Don’t go to the lighthouse! I read a lot of different articles of what to see in Lefkada island and almost all of them suggested to drive to the lighthouse. I believed the guides and drove there and I think it was a waste of time. First of all you can’t see the lighthouse properly because of all the bushes and secondly you don’t get near the lighthouse since “trespassing is forbidden” in the area. So you see a glimpse of a lighthouse and glittering blue sea. Just go somewhere else to see the sea and don’t waste your time like I did! Instead, just enjoy this picture below.

Lighthouse of Lefkada island

For sightseeing you can add to your list monastery of Faneromeni, Dimossari waterfalls in Nidri and castle of Agia Mavra. You can also take a ferry to Meganissi and go around the beautiful island. I recommend taking a bike or a scooter with you since it’s easier to go around the island on wheels.

Different areas of Lefkada – Where to stay?

Eastern Coast – Windy but the best beaches are there!

Nidri – Lovely views and lots of dining options but not the greatest beach

Vassiliki – Location is a bit tricky but a pretty town and great beach!

Lefkada town – Great nightlife and shopping, good for staying one night

Nikiana – Cute tiny town and cute small beaches

I stayed at Porto Galini which is a 4-star hotel located halfway between Nikiana and Nidri towns. The hotel itself is one of the best on the island and the private beach is amazing! The only downside is that it’s a long way, about 4 km to the nearest shops.

Beautiful Greek vibes at Porto Galini resort

Try these in Lefkada!

The wine in Lefkada was really delicious and it totally surprised me! Try especially the Lefkas Earth wines from Lefkaditiki Gi winery.

I really loved the local wine in Lefkada!

Try the ice cream of Lefkada! It is rich in flavour and so delicious! There are a lot of places around the island where you can buy the local ice cream so I just pick the one that speaks to you.

When visiting Greece, Greek salad and Mythos beer are a must!