Ionian · Greece
Connected to the mainland by a swing bridge. Porto Katsiki beach is around the corner.
01
Connected to the Greek mainland by a chain-bridge swing — the only Greek island you can drive to. The capital, also called Lefkada, was rebuilt after the 1948 earthquake in a wooden-frame style designed to flex through the next one. The mountain villages — Karya, Englouvi, Sivota — have the lentils, the embroidery, and the cool air the coast loses by July.
02
T'Achnari in Karya for the lentil soup the village is famous for. Sapfo at Agios Nikitas for the harbour-side fish dinner. Frini Sto Molo in Lefkada town for the fritto misto. The local salami is the souvenir to take home — pork, oregano, paprika, smoked over olive wood.
03
Sappho is said to have jumped from Cape Lefkata at the southern tip — the white cliff that gives the island its name. The Romans built the canal that turns Lefkada into an island. The Venetians fortified it. The British built the bridge in 1903. The 1953 earthquake rebuilt most of the coast; the inland villages were largely spared.
04
Egremni and Porto Katsiki are the photographed pair — white cliffs falling straight to turquoise. Egremni's 300-step access was destroyed by a 2015 landslide; reach it by sea. Kathisma is the long sand beach for the families. By boat: Meganisi (8nm) for the car-free villages and the lamb at Spartochori; Ithaca's Vathi (25nm), Homer's harbour.
05
Cross to the mainland and drive to Acheron — the river of the dead from the Odyssey is a 4km hike through a cool gorge, swimming in icy pools at the end. The honey from Englouvi village, the lentils from the same village, the embroidery from Karya — go to the source, not the airport shop.
Nearby
Beach · Cliffs
White limestone cliffs falling straight to white sand. Often photographed, rarely reached by road. Arrive by sea and anchor off — the beach looks different from the water than every photograph.
Anchor in 5–8m off the beach. Not great holding — let out plenty of chain. Afternoon swell can develop.
Island · Quiet
Car-free villages, a deep harbour at Vathi, and a population that hasn't changed much in 40 years. The one taverna in Spartochori has the best lamb in the Ionian.
Vathi harbour: stern-to. The goat path up to Spartochori takes 20 minutes. Worth every step.
Island · Homer
Homer's Ithaca. The capital Vathi sits at the end of a bay that opens like a theatre. Whether Odysseus actually returned here is disputed; that the harbour looks like it belongs in the Odyssey is not.
Anchor south of the town quay or go alongside. The Bay of Dexa — where Odysseus supposedly landed — is around the headland.
Wind & seasons
Ionian Maistros dominates — gentle and predictable. The south Ionian is more exposed to westerly swell. June and September are perfect; August fills the marinas in the south bay.
