Day trips from Lefkada: the small islands

We name the trips and say what each is. We print no boat times, crossing durations or prices, because those change every season. Confirm the day’s sailings before you plan around them, and check the last boat back.

Meganisi and the small islands

The signature day out. Boats leave Nydri on the east coast and run out among a cluster of small islands, some inhabited and some not, into bays that no road reaches.

Meganisi is the substantial one, with a couple of villages, a working population and coves worth swimming in. The trips also pass the smaller privately owned islands, which is part of the appeal for most people, and stop in sheltered water for a swim.

It is a relaxed day rather than an ambitious one, and it is the best way to see this coast, which looks quite different from the water than it does from the road.

Kefalonia, south across the water

Kefalonia is the big Ionian island to the south and it is a real day out rather than a hop: a much larger island with caves, a famous beach and a mountain in the middle.

Honestly, it deserves nights rather than a day. If you are curious rather than committed, take the crossing and see the northern end around Fiskardo, which is the pretty pastel harbour village and the part closest to you.

Lefkada to Kefalonia covers the crossing, and it is the natural next island if you are extending the trip.

Ithaca, for the quiet

Ithaca sits between Lefkada and Kefalonia and is the quietest of the three: a narrow, mountainous island with a deep harbour at Vathy and very little development.

There is not much to do beyond the harbour, a couple of villages and the swimming, which is the appeal. It also carries its Homeric associations lightly, and anyone arriving expecting a monument to the Odyssey will be disappointed by design.

Parga and the Epirus coast

The mainland trip, and it is easy because you have a car and a bridge. Parga is up the coast to the north and it looks like an Ionian island town: pastel houses in tiers around a small bay, a Venetian castle on the headland above, and stepped lanes running down to a waterfront of tavernas.

It was Venetian and then briefly British and it was administered with the islands rather than with the mainland behind it, which is why it does not look like Epirus at all. The castle walk is short and the best thing in the town.

Further inland the Acheron river and its springs make a good half day, and the gorge is genuinely cool in August.

The interior of your own island

Worth counting, because most visitors never leave the coast road. Lefkada has a green mountainous middle with old villages on it, Karya with its embroidery tradition and Englouvi high up with its lentils, reached by roads that wind and climb.

A day up there is cooler, emptier and completely different from the west-coast beach circuit. The order for the island itself is in the Lefkada itinerary.

Where this leaves you

From Lefkada the days out run both ways. By boat from Nydri: Meganisi and the small islands, which is the best of them, plus Kefalonia and Ithaca to the south if you want a bigger island for the day. By road over the bridge: Parga and the Epirus coast, which is easy precisely because you drove here. And inland, the island’s own mountain villages, which almost nobody visits.

Quick answers

What is the best day trip from Lefkada?

The boat from Nydri out to Meganisi and the small islands off the east coast. It reaches bays no road serves, the swimming stops are sheltered, and the coast looks entirely different from the water.

Can you visit Kefalonia from Lefkada?

Yes, it is a crossing south and a real day out rather than a hop. Kefalonia is large enough to deserve nights rather than hours, so if you go for the day, concentrate on the northern end around Fiskardo.

Can you drive to the mainland from Lefkada?

Yes, and it is one of the island’s advantages. The causeway and floating bridge connect it to the western mainland, so Parga, the Acheron springs and the Epirus coast are all reachable by car with no ferry involved.

Is there anything inland on Lefkada?

Yes, and it is the part most visitors skip. The interior is green and mountainous with old villages such as Karya, known for embroidery, and Englouvi, known for lentils, both reached by winding roads and both much cooler than the coast.