Discover Leros

Agia Kioura, located on the north of the island, is quite often busy in the summer, but if you go early you can get a nice spot under the tree and there you contemplate the view of the small island, Stroggali, in front of you and the light blue sea from the white sand on the bottom of the sea. It is a really beautiful place to go swimming. There is a church just before going down to the beach which was painted by prisoners of war and is dedicated to Saint Kioura. You can hear about part of its history here

Alinda has a long stretch of beach with many hotels, bars and restaurants, it is quite often a beach full of beach goers during the summer months, the sea is always calm and many people swim here all year round. A good restaurant to visit for fresh local cuisine is Prima & Aneplora.

Agios Nikolaos is one of our favourite places to get away from it all, you can either be very careful with a car, motorbike, or scooter. Hike to Agios Nikolaos with plenty of water from Agios Isidoros, a church on a small islet connected to Leros by a path across the sea. Another way to reach Agios Nikolaos is the dusty track leading up over the mountain from the other side of the road from the computer repair store that is at the top part of Kamara on the main road to the airport, Blefouti and Agia Kioura. This bay is spectacular, secluded and rarely visited even by locals in the summer months. There are the church of Saint Nikolaos, a few goats and you. Take some shoes for the sea and keep an eye out for sea urchins. It is a beautiful place to go swimming and just spending a few hours disconnected from the world under the large tamarix tree marvelling the beautiful untouched scenery.

Merikia, there are two easily accessible beaches, on the first main beach in Merikia, Lime Bar is open during the summer months offering sunbeds and cocktails on the quay where it is positioned facing the long stretch of beach. The beach in front has pebbles, so some shoes for the sea might make it more comfortable to enter and exit the water. The second beach is Kokkina Porcelana, a beautiful place to spend the day under the shade of the large tamarix trees. Kokkina is generally a nudist haven in low season, but quite often non-nudists visit the beach in high season. This beach has pebbles, so you’ll need shoes to get in and out of the water.

When driving around this peninsula you will find the Moni Monastery (Convent) that has limited visiting times during the afternoons.

Vromolithos beach and Velenidia beach are accessible from the main road between Agia Marina and Lakki, follow the sign for Vromolithos, but take the road to the right taking you along a road east between houses and lined by pine trees, take the first left, a road which has a steep slope down and this takes you to a clearing above the sea from where you can park and either walk left to Vromolithos beach or right to Velenidia beach. Vromolithos beach is a long fine stone beach which resembles sand and has a number of rocks and shade from many tamarix trees. Velenidia beach is a black stony beach with a rock face behind with some shade from the rocks during the afternoon.

At the end of the road from Alinda continuing to Dio Liskaria, there are three beaches, one is just before Duo Liskaria and is called Panagies Alidon and has The Chapel of Panagies, a family of ducks live on this beach and will readily welcome you. The next beach is accessible by stairs and is just after the chapel, there is a bench you can sit on. After these two beaches you will find Dio Liskaria beach with a bar and a restaurant, from the Vareladiko Restaurant you can ask to be taken to Krifos beach on a small boat and arrange to be picked up later on, take plenty of water with you, and sun screen.

What else does Leros have to offer?

Lakki is a wonderful place to spend some time looking in the shops, visiting the cinema, eating at the different restaurants, tabernas like Lyxnari, serving traditional Greek dishes in a warm atmosphere and visiting Repapis delicatessen Greek sweets shop. There are a hospital and numerous doctors surgeries. Once called Porto Lago by the Italians, it’s inherited Italian razionalismo architectural design from the 1930s is still standing to this day albeit weather-beaten. In 1912, Italy took over control from the Ottoman Empire by occupying the islands off Turkey’s southwestern shores. Italy kept control of the islands until 1943 and eventually the Dodecanese islands were ceded to Greece on 7th March 1947. Lakki now hosts El Greco Restaurant which was once in Panteli, cuisine from this restaurant is not to be missed, and close by is Marietta’s Bistro offering a selection of meze accompanied with ouzo, tsipouro, beers or wines. Persiana offers a selection of beers and different hamburgers for a taste of the USA. Numerous souvlaki tabernas are dotted around Lakki, including SouvLakki, on the water front, it offers an economic option for dining out.

Agia Marina has many shops selling souvenirs, local pottery, antiquities and the Paradisiako delicatessen selling local delicacies. Agia Marina has many cafes, a new taberna called Metzes serving traditional Greek dishes at affordable prices and a souvlaki taberna. Much time can be spend on the quay enjoying a drink watching the world go by and it is especially pleasent at sunset. Not to be forgotten is Mylos by the Sea, one of the Aegean’s most famous fish restaurants, our villas are within walking distance; if guests are interested in visiting this restaurant, we suggest booking ahead to avoid dissapointment.

Platanos, up the hill between Agia Marina and Panteli, is very traditional with coffee shops, a souvlaki taberna, a jewellers, the town hall for the island, a number of of the shops and a doctor’s surgery.
Above it all is Panteli Castle, this Byzantine fortress, which survives to this day, has become the picture postcard of the island and offers a magnificent view of the mountainous landscape from above, the sea and the villages of the island of Leros.