Lipsi Beaches Greek island holiday guide

Laid back Lipsi is just the place to laze away a Greek Island holiday. The only access is by boat and visitors are greeted by a vast swathe of concrete circling a very large lagoon.

Fortunately Lipsi has not lost all its charm despite some pretty drab architecture. The charm is mainly down to an unsparing use of white paint, some lively splashes of colour and a string of shady tavernas around the long quay.

Villagers keep the place spick and span and colourful boats are always moored up, their nets spread to dry on the cement quayside.

Lipsi is a favourite port of call for the yachting set so it's not always quiet but the crowds are occasional and easily avoided.

A mini market near the central square sells just about everything and up the steps from the children's playground is an excellent bakery.

A cash point on the harbour is suitably lose to the taxi rank where drivers will get to most island beaches and boats nearby offer day trips to local islands.

The blue domed church of Agios Ioannis dominates the hill and it's worth a climb up the steps for views over the harbour and to visit shops and cafes at almost every turn in the narrow alleyways.

Charming, peaceful and unhurried; it may not be pretty but for peace and quiet Lipsi Town is pretty hard to beat.

Lipsi harbour is fairly central to the island in a sheltered bay. To the west is a ridge where a road snakes over to the north coast past the island's old rubbish dump, now landscaped, and to the beach at Platys Yialos. A coast road west has also been improved to give access to more beaches.

Liendou is the Lipsi Town beach and it's found over the brow of a small hill at the western end of the harbour just before the ferry jetty.

Set in a narrow bay, the coarse sand and pebble shelves gently into the sea with some roadside tamarisk trees behind for shade.

It is usually quiet, but can get noisy with children when school closes in the afternoon. The sea bed is stony at first but sandy further out and the water shallow for some distance so it's safe for children.

There are no facilities here but tavernas in the harbour are only a short distance away. Greek radio pop music sometimes wafts over from a nearby hotel complex but it's not too intrusive.

Before the road from Liendou climbs inland up the hill it branches off left along a newly constructed road down to Kambos beach.

Remarkably similar to Liendou, with a few patches of sand on the narrow shingle shoreline, the Kambos sand is gritty and not as pleasant as at Liendou.

Some shade is provided by a row of tamarisks that edge the low stone wall but the trees are stunted and visitors must crouch for shade. Litter may also be a problem here.

The water is clear, good for snorkeling, but stony underfoot. Goats often graze in the fields behind to an endless clonking of goat bells.

Further along the coast from Kambos is a solitary whitewashed chapel (easily visible from Lipsi Town) and, beyond that, the stone and rock beach of Elena, or Helena.

The narrow coastal track peters out well before the beach and its a tricky scramble over the rocky hillside to reach, mostly a case of tracing goat tracks through the rocks and scrub.

The beach is little more than a shower of rocks spilling into the sea and shade is hard to come by so Elena is only for the adventurous.

It's a two hour walk to the tiny, but pretty, bay of shingle and rock at Kimisi, once the home of an octogenarian hermit and a sacred place for Lipsi islanders.

The beach is also home a pretty 16th century chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary - Kimissi tis Theotokos - which is open to visitors.

There are two routes to the beach. One is along an a narrow track off the island ridge road marked with red spots. The other leads past the chapel of St Stavros and the Church of the Five Martyrs then down into Kimisi bay along a narrow concrete staircase.

A red arrow on the route leads to upper Kimisi, another small bay of rock and pebbles. The route, although marked, is not an easy one and there are no facilities here.

The beach at Platys Yialos or Platis Gialos, has the best sand on the island although there's not a great deal of it. A narrow strip of sand edges the end of a deep bay, south facing and with no shade.

The bay is long, shallow and sandy underfoot making it ideal for families and children. A shady taverna on the hill hasn't capitalised on its exclusivity and offers good food at good prices.

It is reached up the hill by Liendou beach and along the ridge which offers panoramic views over the sea to Arki but less spectacular views of the scoured faces of inland quarries.

The beach is plainly seen at the end of the bay and visitors who don't fancy a walk back can ask the taverna owner to summon a taxi.

The bulldozed road from Platis Yialos leads to the pretty inlet at Moschatou after after a 30 minute walk. There is no beach as such, just an inlet of rock and stone with the tiny chapel of St Theologus adding colour.

The beach was good for clean swimming until a fish farm was set up in the bay and now visitors report the water muddy with fish waste.

Beaches east of Lipsi Town are a little more difficult to reach than those in the west as progress is mainly along unmarked paths and goat tracks. Beaches are mainly stone and shingle with little or no shade, but they do have dramatic settings and the stark, isolated beauty that many visitors crave.

A dramatic setting with sheer drops into the sea but not much else is found at this rocky cove backed by fir trees in the remote north-east of the island. It's a tricky route to Kamaris, or Kamares, beach too.

The main beach is 100 metres of pebble and large stones with fir trees at the southern end before ending at a headland with a rocky inlet. To the north are a couple of small coves.

The easiest, if longest, route is to take the road past the school out of Lipsi Town and turn right at the junction to the main island ridge road. On the ridge road is a track leading right next to a shed.

Beyond a quarry and an isolated chapel is a left fork along the path that keeps Aspronissi (White Island) directly ahead on the horizon.

The track turns into a goat trail before dropping down to the stony beach. The walk should take about 45 minutes.

The name Monodendri means single tree and that's what the visitor gets - one lonesome pine growing out of the flat sloping rocks on the end of a pebble spit.

There are in fact three beaches here. The most northerly has the single tree, the central one is just a small bay of large stones and the south beach has a small stretch of stone.

There is no shade but the water is crystal clear and ideal for snorkeling. There are several coves nearby and all are small but visitors wonder at the brilliant blue of the sea.

To get there follow the road north from the harbour up the hill past the moped hire shop. At the top of the steep hill go straight over the crossroads then right along a wide dirt track.

You pass a house with an olive grove then through a couple of gates before a sign pointing left to a goat trail down to the sea. A taxi will reach the start of the track. The full walk takes about 50 minutes.

The beach at Tourkomnima lies north of the headland, back to back with Kserokambos and is usually deserted.

The main beach is north facing and mainly stone with patches of sand. There is decent snorkeling on both sides of the bay and some trees for shade. A pretty chapel sits on the headland.

To get there head for Kohklakoura out of Lipsi Town but turn left at the fork and follow the path around the headland past Kserokambos. The walk takes around 45 minutes.

South east facing, with islands offshore, Kserokambos has more sand than its neighbour Tourkomnima but not much.

There are smaller coves further south along the shore and some splendid snorkeling to be had around the offshore rocks.

To get there follow directions to Kohklakoura then turn left at the fork in the track and over the headland. The walk takes about 40 minutes.

There is a fine wide beach of white pebbles at Kohklakoura but it suffers from the lack of shade. Beware it can get very hot here on the sizzling stones.

To get there take the road east from the harbour and turn right at the school, past the priest's house with the blue neon light to the crossroads.

Carry straight on down the hill, past the chapel until the asphalt gives out then take the right fork and follow the track downhill to the beach. It takes about 30 minutes.

Katsadia bay and the neighbouring cove at Panpandria make a very popular anchorage for yachts and a largish taverna has sprung up to serve the yachting set.

It is a beautiful wide bay with a very narrow shingle and sand beach and the islet of Limni offshore. The water is shallow and sandy offshore with the occasional large stone.

A broken sea wall provides seating beneath the shady trees along the back of the beach and the eastern end has a good taverna overlooking the sand with tables set among shady palms and car parking nearby.

To get there take the road to Kohklahoura but turn right at the crossroads and follow the road to the headland with views of Lipsi harbour below. Take the left fork to Katsadia and the rightfor Papandria. The walk takes 30 minutes but a taxi will drop and pick up later.