The beautiful island of Lesvos is not your typical Greek destination when it comes to picking your next trip in the sunshine. But if you’re looking for a complete recharge and relaxing trip, this is the place to go. Forget Mykonos, Santorini and Kos - you need to visit Lesvos for gorgeous scenery, sandy beaches, quirky restaurants and charming villages (yes, just like the ones you see in Mamma Mia.) It’s also home to the ancient Greek poet Sappho, from whose association with homosexuality the word lesbian derives its modern meaning.
Where we stayed
Alexis House is nestled in the historic village of Eressos. We drove for just under two hours from Mytinlini airport to get to this traditional little Greek village, which felt completely untouched by tourism. The drive to Eressos, on the south west of Lesvos, is incredible. You pass goats, sheep, one of the world’s largest petrified forests, a magnificent valley (where we spotted flamingos) and a dramatic mountain range.
Alexis House, once an ancient mansion, offers a fantastic combination of old style elegance and modern architecture. Lovingly restored, every single detail has been cleverly considered to offer a super homely and relaxing stay. The house is accompanied by friendly and attentive staff who made the trip even more special and ensured that all our desires were met on arrival and throughout the trip.
There are four bedroom suites within the house, and all include ensuite bathrooms complete with fluffy towels, bathrobes, slippers and luxury toiletries. The house also contains a large dining area with a kitchen and reception area, so if you’re renting the place out for a large group or family - you will be covered with all the much needed space and facilities needed.
Within the grounds, the hammam and spa building sits next to the house and swimming pool where you can treat yourself to a vast array of incredible treatments. The spa includes a welcoming living room with a fireplace, showers, a treatment room and an indoor pool. On arrival, we booked ourselves onto The Signature Eressian Hammam Experience for two. The treatment included the signature hammam experience, where your whole body is deeply exfoliated and immersed in a full body bath of foam and bubbles created from olive oil soap. The hammam experience is then followed by a 30 minute relaxation massage in the dry room, tastefully filled with candles and diffusers to whisk you away from reality. If you’re feeling extra special, you have the option to book the spa exclusively for your stay, making your trip into the ultimate wellness retreat.
If you want to unwind even more during your stay, Alexis House offers yoga and fitness classes to all its guests. Positioned on the decking alongside the outdoor pool, every morning we attended a private yoga class overlooking the views of the mountains and the sea before tucking into our homemade breakfast, which is made by the hotel's chef. If you don’t fancy leaving the villa, you can always hire a private chef for approximately 100 euros per day to cook the rest of your meals, but you will need to buy your ingredients.
What we did
Hire a speed boat
A true highlight of the trip was renting a speedboat from Skala beach. The watersports area sits just by the strip of the seafront restaurants, along the bay. As well as renting a speedboat, you can also hire paddle boats, kayaks and a giant inflated banana. After opting for a speedboat, we were taken out by a driver, where we sailed along the coast and stopped off for some much needed snorkelling and cliff jumping in the magical crystal waters. During the tour, we were shown the fossilized tree trunks, which are scattered across the island and along the coastline. Definitely keep an eye out for these trees, as they date back between 17 and 20 million years ago! A top tip, after travelling out on the boat, rent a sunbed and order one of the fresh juices to have in the sunshine, whilst catching some rays.
Visit Skala Eressos
Skala Eressos, a spiritual beach town, combines a beautiful sandy beach, amazing waterfront restaurants and a cool, spiritual community. We visited outside the tourist season, so it felt like we had the village and the beach to ourselves. I would highly recommend spending the afternoon walking along the strip of bars, restaurants and shops along the beachfront and getting a flavour of the culture and community. If you get a chance during your stay, I would definitely schedule a hike up the mountains along the coastline. Within minutes, you’ll be immersed in breathtaking views of the mountain skyline and lots of fig trees! However, if you’re not the biggest fan of cats, I would avoid this, as you will be greeted with many friendly feline friends during the route who will pay you a lot of affection and come on the hike with you.
Where we ate
If, like me, you're a massive foodie, you will be in absolute tranquillity wandering the streets of Skala Eressos and tasting all the local cuisine and sipping cocktails along the seafront. And by all means, you need to make sure you order a greek salad at every restaurant - you will not taste anything close when you’re back in the UK. Here are some of the many restaurants we visited whilst on our trip:
Soultatso Restaurant
Located at the far side of the beach town of Skala Eressos, sits Soultatso, an authentic and peaceful spot with locally sourced food. During the meal we tried several local dishes, whilst overlooking the moonlit sea and Sappho's rock. Some dishes included calamari, grilled octopus and dolmades - which are small parcels made up of vine leaves stuffed with herby, lemony rice. If you get a chance, make sure to try a shot of Ouzo, Greece's national spirit. It is a clear coloured liqueur made from grapes with a very strong anise taste. Personally, I wasn’t a fan, but it’s a massive hit on the island.
Parasol
You won’t miss this brightly coloured and decorative beach side restaurant, which positions itself towards the far left hand side of the town. This Mexican inspired restaurant has a great selection of cocktails and small plates, perfect for a lunch or a golden hour visit watching the sunset across the horizon. We, of course, ordered a margarita and then got a selection of plates, including guacamole and shrimp salad. With a wooden staircase going down to the sand from the restaurant, you will be sipping cocktails and floating your way to the sea.
Taverna Paloukos
Around 20 mins drive away is another seaside village, Tavari. We visited the restaurant in the evening, so I didn’t actually see much of the area, but it was super laid back and chilled. This again was a very authentic and local restaurant which was run by a Greek family. We spent the evening with a mix of dishes including a lot of tzatziki and seafood.
If you get a chance, I would also recommend trying the famous Greek cocktail, Ionian Spritz - which truth be told, is pretty on par with an aperol spritz…dare I say it! Rather than using Aperol you replace it with masthiha, a Greek liqueur, and it’s super refreshing and easy to drink.
To book a stay at Alexis House, visit Oliver's Travels website.
To make your holiday even more special, why not ask Oliver's Travels concierge services to arrange anything from activities, boat trips, yoga and food spots for your trip.
Jaime holds the position of UK Art Editor at Cosmopolitan, overseeing all things digital design across the brand. Her role encompasses the art direction of our digital covers, the animation of our forthcoming video franchises, designing Cosmo's social media presence and the curation of the visual identity across Cosmopolitan UK. Before joining Cosmopolitan, Jaime has gained experience working with renowned brands including ELLE, Stylist Magazine, and Woman's Health. Notably, her contributions to the world of design were recently recognised with the prestigious BSME's 2023 Designer of the Year award. Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
