Family Holidays: Lemnos family holiday and breaks

Take the Family holiday rating 4 stars out of 5

Why

One of the Northern-most of the Aegean Islands, Limnos is also one of the most untouched. This is mainly due to the fact it has for many years, been a sizeable army base and also because it’s had a very erratic ferry service. The villagers made a good living from servicing the army and did not need to embrace tourism with quite the same gusto that other islanders have. The presence of the army has recently been considerably reduced and Limnos is becoming an easier and more attractive destination. It is a relatively large and dry island mostly given to agriculture with two dramatic bays almost bisecting it in the middle. The West of the island is more barren, although with some lovely empty beaches and the East is more bucolic, low-lying with beautiful vegetation, creeks and sandy beaches. There is often a problem with (stingless!) jellyfish, but on the whole it is a very good family destination with plenty of middle-market accommodation.

Top left: Myrina
Top middle: The Temple of Kaviria
Top right: Lemnos sunset

Bottom left: Plaka Village
Bottom right: Keros Beach

When

The island of Lemnos has a similar climate to the other islands of the North-eastern Aegean, although Lemnos’s climate is dryer. Strong winds are occasionally blowing on the island but rainfalls are very rare. The hottest periods are late July and August, averaging 27°C, although from late April to mid October temperatures are already touching the low twenties.

With the islands strategic position, it has long been a military base, so has been relatively untouched by tourism. Although the number of visitors for holidays in Lemnos is increasing, it is only very recently, so you will avoid the mad rush associated with some of the other Greek islands.

Do

On the Eastern side, the best beach is probably Keros and there are several interesting grottos in the area. On the Western side, visit Avlonas, which is pristine, or the town beaches of Romeïkós Yialós and Toúrkikos Yialós and Rihá Nerá. Kondias is the most appealing of the towns in this area. Go now before developers do here what they have done to so many other parts of Greece. Myrina, the capital is a small, quiet place and fairly appealing with a few Ottoman remains, the Archaeological Museum here is very good.