Leykada

Leykada is reached by road, and that is the first surprise — no ferry, no queue at a port, just a floating bridge that swings open to let a sailboat pass, and then an island. The second surprise comes on the west coast: a car park at the top of a cliff, what feels like a thousand steps down, and Porto Katsiki — a crescent of white pebbles pressed against a pale cliff so tall it seems to hold up the sky, and water so turquoise it looks retouched. The hour there is easily spent without swimming, just watching the light move across the cove. That evening, Lefkada Town offers a different kind of beauty: a small port with candy-coloured wooden houses on stilts, their fronts painted blue and ochre and faded green, rising straight out of the shallow lagoon. The lanes are worth wandering as the lamplight comes on, and grilled octopus is served at a table by the water — which goes some way towards explaining why the poet Sappho was said to have leapt from the cliffs of this island: not in despair, but because the pull of it is so strong. Over the next days the island gives up sailing from Nidri past the little island of Skorpios, swimming at Egremni before the crowds arrive, windsurfers carving the water at Vasiliki Bay, and a hike to the Dimosari waterfalls through a gorge of plane trees. Leykada gives everything the famous islands promise and none of the hassle of getting there — an island that, by the end of a week, has stopped being an island without a ferry and become home.

Leykada takes its name from the ancient Greek leukos, meaning white — a reference to the white cliffs of Cape Lefkatas on its southern tip, the colour that has defined the island since the first sailors sighted it. In antiquity the island was not always an island at all: it was a peninsula connected to the mainland, and it was the Corinthians, in the 7th century BC, who cut a channel through the narrow isthmus to create a passage for their ships. The artificial channel, dredged and rebuilt over the centuries, is why Leykada is today the only Greek island you can reach by car. Cape Lefkatas was sacred to Apollo, and it is the legendary site of Sappho's leap — the poetess is said to have thrown herself from the cliffs, a story that has echoed through literature ever since. Some scholars believe the island was Homer's Ithaca, the kingdom of Odysseus, and the geography of the southern coast lends some support to the theory. During the Byzantine and Venetian periods, Leykada shared the fortunes of the other Ionian islands, passing through Frankish, Venetian, French, Russian, and British hands before joining Greece in 1864. The Venetians built the walls and fortress of the old town and encouraged the cultivation of olives, whose groves still blanket the island's gentle eastern slopes. In the 20th century the island was repeatedly shaken by earthquakes — most seriously in 2003 and again in 2015, when Porto Katsiki and Egremni were damaged but gradually rebuilt their access routes. Today Leykada is one of the most visited islands in the Ionian, prized above all for its dramatic west-coast beaches and its steady summer wind, which has made Vasiliki Bay a world capital of windsurfing and dinghy sailing.

Leykada's west coast is where its legend is made, a run of cliff-backed coves and long white-pebble beaches facing the open Ionian Sea. Porto Katsiki and Egremni are the icons — both reached by long stairways down the cliffs, both with water so clear it barely looks real, and both best visited early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the tour boats have moved on. Kathisma, below Agios Nikitas, is the island's classic organised beach: fine white sand, sunbeds and umbrellas, a beach bar, and a cliff-top taverna. Next door, Mylos is smaller, quieter, and just as pretty. On the east coast the beaches are greener and more sheltered: Agios Ioannis, Nidri, and the family-friendly coves of Mikros Gialos, with their tamarisk shade and gentle swimming. On the south coast, Vasiliki Bay offers calm water in the morning that builds into a steady afternoon wind — ideal for beginners and thrilling for experienced windsurfers — while nearby Ai Yiannis and Ponti provide flat-water alternatives. And if you want the island's best-kept secret, take a boat from Vasiliki or Nidri to the tiny offshore islands of Meganisi, Kalamos, and Kastos, where empty pebble coves and clear water await.

Leykada sits at the meeting point of mainland Greece and the Ionian, and its table reflects both. The olive oil is exceptional — produced from the groves that blanket the island's slopes, it is fruity, peppery, and used without restraint. The signature dish of the island is ladopita, a soft, dense olive-oil pie made with flour, olive oil, cinnamon, and cloves, sliced and served with a sprinkle of sugar — sweet, aromatic, and utterly addictive. From the Ionian kitchen come sofrito and pastitsada, the veal and rooster dishes shared with Corfu and Kefalonia, slow-cooked in wine, tomato, and spice. The sea provides the rest: grilled octopus, grouper, red mullet, and the small fried fish called marides, eaten whole with lemon. The villages of the interior supply honey from Karya and almonds from the mountain orchards, and the meadows yield a prized wild asparagus in spring. Wash it all down with a local white wine from the vineyards around Sivota, or a glass of the anise-flavoured tsipouro that tavernas pour with every meal. For the definitive Leykada dinner, sit by the water in Lefkada Town, order a plate of ladopita to start, a shared dish of grilled octopus, and finish with a spoonful of the island's honey and some bitter orange — the taste of the Ionian in a single meal.

Late May and September are the sweet spots for Leykada. The sea is warm, the west-coast beaches are manageable, and the island is green and fragrant. June and early July are glorious too, with long days, reliable wind for sailors, and beaches that have not yet reached their August peak. August is the busiest month: the port fills up, the stairways down to Porto Katsiki and Egremni queue, and prices rise. If you come in summer, aim to be on the beach by 9 am and off it by 1 pm, when the sun is fiercest and the crowds arrive. Spring (April to May) is wonderful for walking the mountain villages and seeing the wildflowers, though the sea is still cool. Autumn lingers warmly into October, and winter is quiet and atmospheric — many tavernas close, but the empty beaches and the golden light on the cliffs make it the secret of those who know the island well.

Leykada has no ferry: it is joined to the mainland by a floating bridge at the northeastern corner of the island, so you can drive straight onto it. The nearest airport is Aktion, on the mainland near Preveza, about 25 minutes from the bridge, and the drive from Athens takes roughly four hours. A bus also runs daily from Athens to Lefkada Town.

Come with a car if you can: the beaches are spread out and public transport is limited. The stairways down to Porto Katsiki and Egremni are long and steep, with no shade — wear proper shoes, carry water, and go early or late. The west-coast roads are winding and narrow in places; drive carefully and park in the designated lots. Book a boat trip from Nidri to see Skorpios, Meganisi, and the east-coast coves, and a separate trip from Vasiliki if you want to reach Egremni by water. If you windsurf or sail, Vasiliki Bay is world-class — gear hire is plentiful. Try the ladopita at least once, buy honey from Karya, and don't miss the sunset from the cliff at Porto Katsiki. And when the taverna owner brings you a glass of tsipouro at the end of the meal, say yes — it is the Ionian way of saying welcome.