Lipsi Greece Holiday and Travel Guide.
Greek Island of Lipsos Travel and Holiday Guides, Walks and Photos.
We visited Lipsi (also known as Lipsos) in the first week of July 2008 - we were in
fact on our way from Kos to Patmos when the Catamaran stopped there briefly -
basically we took one look and had no option but to stop over - it just looked
so beautiful and peaceful and so what a Greek Island can be.
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Travelling to Lipsi.
Flying. There is no commercial airport on the island - just a heli-pad which is
basically there for emergency use.
Ferries. Lipsi is on the high speed Flying Dolphin
service and even faster Dodekanisos Express Catamarans routes and they all arrive regularly. The
local Patmos Express also visits the island frequently plus there are day trips
arriving from
neighbouring islands which could be used if necessary - for instance as part of
an island hopping holiday.
 Apart from these Aegean area ferries there are also
regular visits by the much larger long distance ferries too.
If you want a hectic night life then generally speaking this is not the island
to pick for your Greek Holiday - however if you appreciate what some especially
smaller Greek islands have to offer - i.e. serenity, beautiful surroundings,
good food and a completely layed back atmosphere then Lipsos is an excellent
choice. Add to this some really nice beaches which in most cases can easily be
walked too from the town (there is also a mini-bus service to take you to
beaches located a little further away), plus the opportunity to have a little
bit of hiking around on the reasonably flat island - what more could you ask
for? |
General Information - costs etc. whilst on the Island.
Tavernas - there are several
tavernas bordering Lipsi's harbour (the main town bears the same name as the
island) - we used several of them and they all gave good
value for money - well cooked food, lots of it and some nice wine. The views of
the harbour as you sit and enjoy the atmosphere are free of charge. Costs were
pretty much in line with what you will find on other Greek Islands i.e. you are quite pushed to spend
more than around 20 to 30 Euros for two people on your food and wine.
Supermarkets. There is a really well stocked
supermarket about 250 metres from where the ferries dock. We only saw one ATM -
this is located across the open area from the supermarket just below the older
part of the town.
Getting Around. You can hire scooters/mopeds and
we think even a car if you wish whilst on the island - however there is also a
mini-bus service wandering around parts of the island so getting about is not a
problem. The way we like to get around is by hiking on paths and tracks etc. and
Lipsi is a friendly island for this activity.
Accommodation. Only a short distance from where
the ferries arrive there are several places offering studios and other types of
accommodation. In fact the owners are often present as each ferry comes in -
they have brochures showing their rooms etc. and will give you a good price
usually - particularly in the early part of the holiday season. As a guide we
stayed at a really nice place - it had a spacious bedroom, a really fully
equipped kitchen area and excellent bathroom and shower - plus a patio area
which was surrounded with pot plants, a lounger and so on overlooking the
harbour. This cost us 30 Euros per day - absolute bargain.
The older part of Lipsi is located at the opposite end of the ferry terminal
- it is dominated by a very large church however the village is quite small and
just wanders it's way up the hillside for a while.
What you really do notice
about Lipsi (the village) apart from the peace and quiet are the huge number of
churches everywhere - and also very snooty goats.
Lipsi Beaches. Sadly we only had a few days on
the island as actually stopping there was a last minute decision so we did not
get to see very many of them - instead we did some nice walks to see the
coastline etc. The nearest beach is
located just a short stroll away from the ferry terminal area - head round the
harbour and very soon take the first road on the left which crosses the island and
you will find this beach which is tree-lined and sandy. You can see from there
that there are several other beaches located further around the cove within easy
walking distance - as well as not so surprisingly two
churches.
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| The nearest beach to Lipsi harbour - just across the island |
More beaches as you go on round the cove |
Monodendri Beach - several nudists using this |
A stoney beach with no name near Monodendri Beach |
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| Ayios Nikolaos beach |
Tourkomnia beach |
Kouloura beach |
Kato Kimisi beach |
Lipsi Circular Walk via Monodendri. 8.5kms with
a few short climbs. Start from the village square by Lipsi's large church of
Agios Ioannis and with the church on your right and with the Post Office in
front of you cross the square and take the lane on the left, then shortly turn
right by the Bakery. Almost immediately turn left down some steps onto a road -
then turn left along the road to reach a junction and a nice church on your
left. Go right at the junction and follow this lane which climbs very steeply
out of the village and eventually reaches the small church of Ag. Ioannis at a
five-way road junction. Go straight across and shortly after passing the
reservoir (which is on the left and probably dry) take a dirt road on the right
- follow this as it meanders through countryside and passes a stone chapel -
continue on to reach a track junction. Continue straight ahead then after a
short distance you will see some signs up on the left by a fence indicating the
route to Monodendri - make your way up to one of the signs and then follow along
the fence to reach a gate.
Continue through this gate and walk on downhill to
reach the beach. On reaching the coast go left along the path and through more
gates and head for the lone tree on Monodendri beach. From here return back
along the coast this time following the path as it more or less hugs the coast,
crosses one large stoney beach and goes through several gates. When you reach
the walls of a large holiday house you have to go left almost to the sea and
scramble down through a gap onto the beach - then go onto some steps and
continue along the coast. You eventually reach the peninsula and the beach
chapel of Ayios Nikolaos - the beach here is shaded by trees and also there is a
bit of a wall to sit on and watch very little happening for a while.
Walk out of the peninsular on a track which goes along Tourkomnia Beach - ignore the
first track on the right which just goes back to the holiday home, but take the
next track about halfway round the beach. Follow this sandy track as it
undulates a little and swings round to the left and continues with quite soon
Kouloura Beach visible over on the left. The track reaches a concrete road -
turn right here and then when this concrete road reaches a tarmac road turn left and follow the road
as it drops quite steeply down and then climbs back up to and over a ridge to at last drop quite steeply back
into Lipsi Town.
Lipsi Walk to Kato Kimisi and Apano Kimisi and back.
10.5kms - fairly strenuous especially in hot weather. From the harbour where the
ferries dock head along the harbour front and then take the first road on the
left - this soon crosses over to reach Lipsi's Town Beach and perhaps not unsurprisingly two
more of Lipsi's many churches come into view nestled in the hillside.
Continue past the beach and stay on the main road heading inland (ignoring a track going off to the left
around the bay). Continue uphill to reach a road junction - just to the left is
the start of a rough path - take this rubble steep path staying always close to
the wall then after around 100 yards the path goes right where steps have been
cut. Still climbing on a this quite loose surfaced path you reach a gap in a
wall - from here onwards the path is much easier to walk on. There are fairly
frequent red dots marked on the route so you cannot go wrong. The path goes
through another gate and then passes into open countryside where there are quite
high shrubs and some trees. You eventually reach a tiny church annex and Stravos Chapel - this is an
excellent place to stop and cool down - there are some bench seats and a stone table.
Ensure that you keep the Chapel's gate closed because there are lots of goats
around the area.
Continue now on a dirt path to reach a huge church complex
called the Five Saints - the entrance gate to this is to the right where all the
tracks meet - it is perfectly ok to go and have a look round but again it is
essential that you keep the entrance gate closed because of those goats.
From the church entrance gates take the concrete road on the left - this goes
very steeply down to the sea - note there is no shade at all and obviously you
will have to eventually climb up it again.
On reaching the coast and the beach
the path on the left takes you the short distance to see the Hermitage of Kato
Kimisi - there is also a quite mucky spring just below the Hermitage. You can
clearly see the very impressive paved path which heads from the other side of
the pebble beach up along the coast - this is the way to the Upper Hermitage of
Apano Kimisi. Note that this is around a kilometre and you actually end up
climbing quite a way up the hillside - however there are a couple of places with
some trees and a little shade. Having looked at the Upper Hermitage walk on back
down to the beach and then you have the nice long hot grind of a walk back up to
the junction at the Five Saints.
This now is decision time:
If you take the main road away from the church you can walk on down to the
beaches at Platis Gialos and then if you want have a sunbathe etc and take the
regular mini-bus back to Lipsi Town. or
if like us you need to walk on up to a high point - i.e. the aerials take the
track back towards Stravos Chapel but turn right on the dirt track which heads
up to the visible aerials. From the back of the aerial site there is a stone
wall - turn left down hill with the wall on the right and always keeping as near
to it as possible you will eventual reach the outgoing path by a gate. From here
simply follow the route back to Lipsi - obviously you can divert to one of the
Town beaches once you are back on the flat.
Other Lipsi related Sites well worth looking at:
Lipsi Travel Guide from Greek Island Postcards
www.foxysislandwalks.com
Apart from these Aegean area ferries there are also
regular visits by the much larger long distance ferries too.
