A glorious Greek island without the 'swank'

Lesbos doesn't welcome 'hoards' of tourists, but is 'magnificent' and worth exploring

Molyvos, Lesbos island, Greece
The island is perfect for nature lovers
(Image credit: Gatsi / Getty Images)

Roughly as big as Hertfordshire or Surrey, the island of Lesbos – Greece's third largest – sits more than 12 hours by ferry from Athens, just off the coast of Turkey.

Consequently, it was at the centre of the 2015 migrant crisis, and still hosts migrant camps. It doesn't see hordes of tourists, however, said Antonia Quirke in Condé Nast Traveller, and has a refreshing lack of the upmarket shops and general "swank" that are found elsewhere in the Aegean.

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And then there are the beaches. For a "bohemian" vibe, head to Eressos, birthplace of the poet Sappho, whose verses "eroticised" women (hence "lesbian"). At the pebbled beach of Skala Sikamineas, the water is amazingly clear, and the beaches on the nearby Tokmakia Islands have sand as white as in the Maldives. Pottering around the island, you frequently come across signs to "mysterious" ancient sites – a Byzantine fortress here, a Roman aqueduct there.

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