Lesvos island holiday travel guide
Lesvos is yet another stunningly beautiful Greek island, set like a holiday jewel within the Aegean Sea some five kilometres from the coast of Turkey.
This is the third largest of all Greek islands and is within the Eastern Aegean chain across the coast of Asia Minor.
The island of Limnos lies just to the north and the island of Chios is to the south.
Despite its lush green landscape, Lesvos is not tainted by tourism like many of the other Greek islands and provides a more authentic holiday experience of Greek culture.
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Lesvos holiday travel tips
Lesvos island’s capital and major port is the town of Mytilini, which hosts an airport.
Mytilini is spread over seven hills overseen by a majestic Byzantine castle atop a pine-covered peak.
The smaller port of Sigri also handles tourist boat arrivals and departures.
If you bring your own boat to Lesvos for a holiday, you can tie it up at Panagiouda, Skala Polihnitou, Thermi, Sigri, Skala Sikaminias, Mytilini, Skala Eressou, Skala Kallonis, Plomari, Mithimna, Perama and at the gulf of Gera.
A ferry voyage from the Athens port of Piraeus to Lesvos takes about 12 hours and most journeys are overnight.
From Rafina the ferry trip takes about nine hours.
Ferry connection itineraries change in different seasons but Lesvos usually has daily ferry services to and from Aivali, Alexandroupoli, Andros, Chios, Kavala, Kos, Limnos, Psara, Rhodes, Samos and Syros.
Lesvos holiday travellers also have ferry connections with Turkey.
Lesvos has plane connections with Athens and numerous European cities through holiday charter flights.
The airport of Lesvos is about eight kilometres from Mytilini.
Passengers can travel direct to Lesvos from the US with either an immediate or overnight change of plane in Athens.
The airport in Lesvos has at least four jet plane connections each day with Athens.
Lesvos holiday travel guide
Lesvos is a very big Greek island and a stay of at least one week is necessary to begin to absorb the island’s many holiday tourist attractions.
The island covers 1,630 square kilometres, has a 370 kilometre coastline and a population around 110,000.
Lesvos holiday travel will take you to an island that is uniformly picturesque, with the south particularly fertile and mountains dominating the west. The island is fringed by sandy beaches.
The eastern and central parts of Lesvos are carpeted with olive groves and pine forests, as well as oak, chestnut, beech and plane trees.
Lesvos island has fertile soils and plenty of farms within its green valleys and plains. The landscape is carpeted with millions of olive trees and dense pine forests.
Lesvos olive oil is reputedly among the best in Greece.
The island geography varies from barren volcanic stone to pine-covered mountains and Lesvos is famed for its many different species of plants and animals.
The coastline forms two southern bays - Geras and Kallonis - and the highest mountains are called Lepetymnos, Olympos and Psilokoudouno.
Lesvos has a temperate climate and natural features include numerous inland rivers and creeks, a petrified forest and natural thermal springs renowned for their therapeutic powers.
The history of Lesvos involves occupation by the Byzantines, the Genoese and the Turks, each civilisation leaving a rich display of historic monuments and ruins of fortifications along the coastline.
Much of the original architecture can be found in the towns and villages of Lesvos, along with a feast of museums, galleries and archaeological excavations.
According to legend, this island was the home of the poet Sapphos, who expressed her love for other women in lyric verses written in the early 6th century BC. Lesvos is a popular holiday travel destination for lesbians, particularly the resort of Eressos.
Lesvos holiday travel guide and tips
Lesvos has not been tainted by mass tourism to the same degree as other Greek islands and it retains a more authentic cultural ambience.
Because there aren’t as many tourist holiday dollars to pump the local economy, food and travel accommodation prices on Lesvos are fairly good compared to many other Greek islands.
Lesvos provides a smorgasbord of spectacular scenery and the island folk are renowned for their friendliness.
Tourist sights around the island include castles, ancient cemeteries, neoclassical buildings, churches, basilicas, monasteries, caves, historic ruins, statues, a fossil forest at Sigri and the remnants of the sanctuary of Afroditi.
An ancient Hellenistic theatre on the north-east edge of Mytilini once accommodated an audience of 10,000 and has superb acoustics.
The remnants of a 200 AD Roman aqueduct can be found if you travel to the village of Moria.
Lesvos boasts an extraordinary range of flora and fauna and the season of spring is particularly inspiring because of the profusion of wildflowers and birds.
Lesvos is a major resting point for migratory European birds returning from Africa, and also has a large population of local birds.
The island has plenty of mineral springs where health spas have been developed, including the hottest natural springs in Europe at Polichnitos.
There is evidence many of these springs have been used for thousands of years to treat rheumatism, arthritis, kidney and gallstones, neurological, gynaecological and dermatologic ailments, bronchitis and sciatica.
Lesvos holiday in the Greek islands
Lesvos has numerous beaches of all shapes and sizes, some with holiday watersports such as jet-skis and windsurfing, others deserted even during the summer months.
Arguably the best beach on Lesvos is Skala Erresos, a portion of which allows nude bathing.
If you get sick of the beaches on Lesvos during your holiday, travel inland to find plenty of traditional mountain villages where authentic Greek life is barely touched by tourism or the modern world.
Most people have sheep and goats, many using their milk and traditional techniques to make different cheeses.
A large number of Lesvos residents are elderly people who have returned home to retire from lives in other countries such as America and Australia.
Tourist holiday infrastructure is often sparse in these mountain villages, many even lacking a restaurant.
A popular and cheap alternative for a drink and a meal are the many cafeneons that can be found in every village.
Even the most isolated inland villages are less than 20 minutes from the beach.
It should be noted that temperatures in the mountains are generally much cooler and more pleasant for holiday travel than on the coast or the plains.
The subtropical to dry climate of Lesvos provides wet winters and warm, dry summers.
Predominant winds are the strong, dry Etesian from the north, and the dry, warm Sirocco from the south-west.
The average maximum in January is 12 degrees Celsius and in July it is 31 degrees.