Several villages to explore on lesbos Island of Greece
With this link we would like to show you the most beautiful villages on Lesbos Island of Greece in the Aegean sea.
Just imagine to hire a car or scooter and just enjoy the sun , views and fresh wind while you might stop for a lunch in one of the hidden villages. You will be most welcomed and having the best lunch ever at the local caffee or taverna.
Agiassos
Facilities: Bank, ATM, Pharmacy
High in the mountains to the south of the island, you can find the beautiful village of Agiassos. With it's steep climbing streets and it's wonderful plateia, it is definitely worth a visit.
Agiassos is one of the important religious centres on the island and the beautiful church of the Panayia Agiasiotissa (The Virgin Mary of Agiassos) built in 1814, is just off the plateia at the centre of the village.
The village is also famous for it's ceramics and there are many ceramic workshops in the village. Be careful however, many of the shops in the centre sell cheap imported ceramics. One of the best places to buy is at the workshop of Dimitri Hatziyiannis, which is in an old kathenion just as you enter Agiassos.
Anaxos
Facilities: Pharmacy
Anaxos is a beach resort just along the coast from Petra. It is particularly popular with British and Dutch tourists with young families.
The beach is sandy and very good for swimming and there is a good array of restaurants along the beach road, which cater for all tastes.
There is a frequent bus service in the summer, which travels between Anaxos, Petra, Molyvos and Eftalou, enabling the visitor to easily visit these other places during their stay. See the Information page for details.
Gavathas
Gavathas is a small fishing village on the north west coast of the island. While it is not particularly attractive as a village, it does have a certain peaceful charm and is a nice place to spend a day away from the bustle of the more usual tourist haunts. There are a couple of tavernas with good views over the bay and a nice little church at the end of the peninsula on which the village is built.
The nearby Campo beach is reached by following an unmade road, which ends by travelling along what is obviously a water course at certain times of the year. The beach is sandy with a few stones and quite quiet, compared with the more usual tourist beaches.
Further along the coast you come to the beach at Ancient Antissa, which is again very quiet. There's an interesting looking fish taverna on this beach, which I hope to be able to review at a later date!
If you travel back to the main Kalloni to Eressos road and turn towards Vatousa and Kalloni, you soon come to the turn off for the Perivolis Monastery. This is certainly worth the short detour to visit. The monastery sits in a beautiful valley and was apparently established in 1350. The charming caretaker will show you the church, which has some beautiful frescoes dating back to the 16th century.
Mandamados
Facilities: Pharmacy, Bank, Post Office
Mandamados is a small town in the north east of the island. It is famous throughout Greece for the church of the Archangel Michael (Taxiarchis), which is a little outside of the town.
The towns main income is from dairy products and pottery. Our favourite potter is Stelios Stamatis, who has a shop near the post office and turns out some wonderful cheap pottery for the kitchen and table.
Molyvos
Facilities: Bank, ATM, Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacy, Tourist Information, Post Office
Molyvos (also sometimes called Mithimna) is a beautiful village on the north coast of Lesvos. It has a perfect harbour, where there are lots of wonderful restaurants to eat at in the evening. It is crowned by a Genoese castle, which is illuminated at night.
There is a small pebbly beach at Molyvos, where water sports are available. Our preference is for the unspoilt pebbly beach at nearby Eftalou, which also has areas where nude sunbathing is allowed and a thermal spring baths.
The agora (market) in the centre of the village is shaded by ancient wisteria vines and is a beautiful sight in the early spring. Here there are various shops, some just sell tourist trinkets, but there are some nice jewellers, a good bookshop and stationer and a good clothes shop at the top of the street, as well as the ubiquitous mini markets. There is also a traditional tailor and the main post office.
Down from the agora is the steep cobbled street that runs through the village, falling right to the harbour and left to the beach, passing through an archway under the former mosque. Along here there are more shops and a few restaurants, which are open in the summer. Many of these have terraces with superb views over the sea and the surrounding countryside.
The harbour is a working fishing harbour as well as a place to eat and drink in the evenings. It is nice to visit at any time of the day and sit in the shade and watch life going on. In the evenings you can sit at any one of many restaurants and eat good food and generally people watch.
The castle dates from the Byzantine period and was extensively reinforced by the Venetian Francesco Gattelusi in about 1373. It's best to visit early in the morning as it closes at 15:00 in the afternoon, so there is not an opportunity to visit in the cool of the early evening. From the battlements you get good views over the village and the surrounding mountains.
See the Information page for details of the local bus service that runs between Anaxos and Eftalou in the summer
Mytilene
Facilities: Bank, ATM, Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacy, Tourist Information
Mytilene is the capital of the island. This is also the name that most Greeks use when referring to Lesvos. It is a really bustling town and well worth visiting for a days shopping.
The town is dominated by the dome of the church of Ayios Therapon, which was started in 1860. In front of the church is the main shopping street, which I always think has something of the feel of an eastern bazaar about it. Here you can buy almost anything you require.
There are many splendid old mansions in Mytilene, which are certainly worth looking at. Some are regrettably rather dilapidated, but others have been splendidly restored.
The castle is Venetian in origin and is one of the largest in the Mediterranean. It was added to by the Genoese and then the Turks.
The waterfront of the old harbour is packed with cafes and tavernas and is the perfect place to relax after your shopping trip.
Petra
Facilities: Bank, ATM, Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacy
Petra is overlooked by the church of Panayia Glykofilousa (Virgin Mary of the Sweet Kiss) built in 1747, which is perched on top of a rock some 30 metres high. The village takes it's name from this rock.
The village is a very popular resort in the summer and has quite a nice beach, with a good selection of tavernas just across the main road. There are also quite a few cafes around the plateia near the beach.
There is a very old Turkish house in the centre of the village, which is reputedly the oldest on Lesvos.
See the Information page for details of the local bus service that runs between Anaxos and Eftalou in the summer
Plomari
Facilities: Bank, ATM, Doctor, Dentist, Pharmacy
Plomari was originally named 'Potamos' (which means river) Built in the middle of the 19th century when inhabitants decided to leave the inland village of Megalochori (which is still sometimes referred to as the old Plomari) and go down to what was then known as the 'wet valley'.
Plomari is not only the second largest town on the island, the first being the capital of Mytilini, but is also known as the ouzo capital of Lesvos. Agiasos Isidoros is a small hamlet just 1km from Plomari where you will find a beautiful beach, the Aegean Sun and the Pebble Beach Hotels.
Sigri
Facilities: Pharmacy.
N.B: The nearest ATM to Sigri is at Eressos, which is 15kms away.
Sigri is a small village on the rugged western side of the island. It has largely been given over to tourism and to my mind seems to have been made to look like everyone's idea of a 'typical' Greek village, complete with Cycladic windmill.
There is a little ruined castle by the sea, which was built by the Turks in 1757. Also of interest is the nearby petrified forest and there is also now a very smart museum dealing with this just outside Sigri.
Skala Sikamnia
The pretty little fishing harbour of Skala Sikamnia is a few kilometres along the unmade beach road from Eftalou. There are some lovely little tavernas around the harbour and it is a lovely place to go for a leisurely lunch.
On a small rock overlooking the harbour is the tiny church of Panayia Gorgona (The Virgin Mary Mermaid).
If you walk along the little beach behind the village square you come to a path which leads up through olive groves and then down to a lovely beach the other side of the headland.
A really nice way to get to Skala Sikamnia is to take a boat from Molyvos harbour, they run most days during the summer and also continue on to the very hot beach at Tsonia.
Thermi
Facilities: Pharmacy
Thermi is located on the east coast of the island of Lesvos. The area is totally unspoiled by tourism and retains the quiet traditions and grace of real Greece, not to mention numerous archeological sites and of course the natural thermal springs of Skala Thermi.
The area around Thermi on the eastern coast of Lesvos has been inhabited for 5,000 years and naturally has a rich and colourful history.
Thermi was the name chosen by the Romans when they built the original thermal baths which were fed from the natural hot springs and eventually, the location was transformed into a holiday resort.
Vatera
Just 50 km from the island's capital of Mytilini you will find the sea side village of Vatera, and the longest beach on the island. Although this in itself should dictate a prime site for tourist development, as yet Vatera has remained thankfully unspoiled and unaffected by the masses.
It does however offer the visitor all the modern amenities necessary to enjoy a stay here and there are some wonderful apartments and hotels from which to base your stay on the island, not to mention the beautiful scenery