Agios Nikitas, Lefkas

We spent a couple of weeks in arguably the prettiest village on Lefkas, Agios Nikitas, on the north west coast. It nestles in a tree-lined gorge, the houses tumbling down the steep hillsides towards the one main, pedestrianised road through the village. Because of the high mountains on either side the sun rises comparatively late, and sets correspondingly early, but the time of year may also have had something to do with this. Here you see the main street, after which point vehicles are only allowed down for access, with the Bee supermarket, one of a handful, on the left, as is the entrance to the Hotel Odyssey where we stayed in a self-catering apartment above the main hotel building.

We stayed in a generously sized open-plan apartment situated above the Hotel Odyssey overlooking the pool and breakfasting areas. Lovely views from the balcony of the opposite hillside and the sea to the left were unfortunately spoiled by really bad weather for about four or five days of our stay! Torrential rain caused us to stay in our room for some time, but we had plenty of food, drinks and books to read when we weren't admiring the lightening!

The rain, which we were told was untypical, caused the main street to become flooded with water, awash with stones and debris and even caused a footpath from the main road being a short-cut to the sea shore to collapse. This cut off the access from the sea level footpath along the harbour edge to the little beach area to the north. We discovered an alternative way down to the little beach by way of an unmade footpath further up the road towards Lefkadha.

The small beach soon gets busy, so you can walk south to the two nearest beaches, at Mylos or a bit further south, at Kathisma. Mylos can be reached by boat around this headland, or by a very pleasant walk (sometimes described as difficult to reach) up and across the hillside then down some steep steps on the other side at Mylos. The walk starts on the left hand side of the main road just after the Hotel Odyssey; if you have sticks take them! We found Mylos beach fairly quiet, and not as busy as Kathisma. That is reached by walking out of town and bearing right, in the opposite direction to Lefkadha, and is a bit of a route-march along the main road. The beach itself is lovely, with a long stretch of sand, but the area is a little disappointing, there are several eateries and music bars but the overall appearance is scruffy. We only went there once, preferring Agios Nikitas's little beach further to the north.

This view shows the relative positions of Agios Nikitas and Mylos beach to the left, with the hill you have to climb between them!

A view of Mylos beach from the footpath, once over the top of the hill. You can see there are only a handful of people who have made the journey!

There are lots of places to eat in the village, we liked Taverna Portoni (excellent food, a limited number of different fresh dishes each evening, very good value and entertaining banter between the proprietors!) and the elevated Milos for good food, plenty of variety and lovely ambiance & service. The Captains Corner right at the sea edge seen here was lively for late night drinks.

An alternative to Agios Nikitas main beach is to take the short walk to the north either along the main road to Lefkadha then down the cliff path or, if the footpath is restored, along the sea edge path.

Looking back to the village from the Lefkadha road. The bus stop to take the bus into Lefkadha is on the left, we went into town one day, but be aware that the list of bus times displayed may not be applicable for all of the year; we found once we arrived at the bus station in Lefkadha that there were no buses returning that day. Still, the pressure was off and we had unlimited time to spend there with no rush to get back to the bus. Later we took a taxi back, only about 15 euros.

This is the coastline seen from along the main road.

Walking along the main road this is what you should look for to get down to the little beach.

There are lots of lovely tiny orchids growing along this pathway, reaching up towards the sun.

Looking back towards the headland with the village just out of sight.

Me walking along the coastline.

It was a pebbly beach, but we often had it to ourselves, or maybe with just one other couple at the other end ... bliss!

The location of our apartment was ideal, superb views, quiet location, and very central.

Looking inland towards the top of the village and the main road.

Walking round the village you can find a pleasant trail taking you through some quiet areas, and along a pleasant route taking you from the main road back into the centre of the village or vice versa. This is the view into the churchyard from the main road.

The peaceful churchyard.

The footpath round the village.

Joining the main road in the village.

In Lefkadha, the marina.

A typical sea front cafe in Lefkadha.

Lefkadha is a very cosmopolitan centre, and worth a visit.

It was our anniversary while we were there!

The view from our balcony. The weather picked up towards the end of the holiday, and we started to wish our stay could be extended, but it was time to leave.

Ready to get the taxi back to the airport, Wilf outside the Hotel Odyssey.

The hotel has lovely garden areas, a haven for bees!

One last look back up towards the Bee supermarket before leaving, our last few minutes in Agios Nikitas, another lovely Greek holiday!