Lefkas is blessed by nature – the grand mountain spine of Mount Stavrotas, the dramatic west coast cliffs with their fine sandy beaches, the sheltered eastern waters surrounding nearby isles and the mountains of Acarnania on the Greek mainland closeby.

Lefkas is twenty-one miles long and nine miles wide and was joined to the Greek mainland by a long narrow isthmus until the Corinthians excavated a canal in 640 BC. Today an efficient swing-bridge operates across the canal.

The east coast is sheltered, pretty and shingly, with pine and olive trees down to the water’s edge.Sivota is an attractive fishing village and Nidri is more of a cosmopolitan resort. The west coast is dramatically rugged and open, with white cliffs towering above an azure sea and stunning sandy beaches.

The interior mountain range hides many small villages on forested hilltops with dramatic views across an undulating landscape of fertile valleys. Here the traditional ways of Lefkas life continue unscathed and donkeys are a common form of transport. Local women still wear their traditional brown dresses and fine lace shawls and scarves. Cottage industries of tapestry, lacemaking, ceramics, nougat and honey are evident within the mountain villages.

Regular boat trips leave Nidri to visit the nearby islands of Madouri, Meganissi and Skorpios, now owned by Onassis’ grand-daughter Athena.

Ferries to Kefalonia and Ithaca run daily throughout the summer.

• Dessimi Beach
• Evgiros
• Geni
• Haradiatika
• Lefkas Town
• Paliokatouna
• Sivota
• Tsoukoulades
• Vafkeri
• Vasiliki