Two islands, two very different summers. Lefkada, on Greece’s Ionian side, is all sailboats, canal-town charm and water in impossible shades of turquoise. Ayia Napa, on Cyprus’s south-east tip, hides a surprisingly quiet, dramatic coastline behind its party reputation. Here is a short, sightseeing-first guide to both.
Lefkada town and its marina
Connected to the mainland by a floating bridge, Lefkada is the rare Greek island you can drive to. Its capital is a working sailing hub — mornings at the marina are glass-calm, with masts mirrored in the lagoon before the day’s charters head out. Behind the quay, the old town’s lanes are lined with pastel timber houses, hardware-store souvlaki joints and pebble-mosaic churches.
Sailing the Ionian
The east coast of Lefkada shelters some of the calmest cruising water in Greece. Rent a small boat or join a day-sail and you drift between Nydri, Meganisi and a scatter of islets, anchoring in bays where catamarans bob over sand you can see ten metres down. The west coast is the showstopper for beaches — Porto Katsiki and Egremni drop white cliffs into electric-blue sea.
Ayia Napa beyond the clubs
An easy scooter ride from Ayia Napa’s strip, the Cape Greco National Forest Park is another world: limestone cliffs, sea caves, and coves where a single boat at anchor has the turquoise to itself. Walk the coastal trail to the Kamara tou Koraka rock arch, peer into the sea caves, and cool off at Konnos Bay on the way back.
The sculpture park and old Napa
On a hillside above the sea, Ayia Napa’s open-air International Sculpture Park collects hundreds of works in local white stone — wander it late in the day when the light goes gold. In town, the Venetian-era Ayia Napa Monastery is a pocket of calm surrounded by bars, and Nissi Beach earns its postcard fame if you arrive before the crowds.
Quick tips
June and September give you warm sea without peak crowds in both places. On Lefkada, hire a car for the west-coast beaches and book charters ahead in July; in Ayia Napa, go to Cape Greco early or at sunset, and take water — there is no shade on the trails. And if your ferry or flight routes you through Corfu, the island’s south around Kavos hides quiet Ionian sunsets too.
