Before there was Dinah Shore, there was Lesvos. Here’s an explainer on why, exactly, it’s so canonically gay – and what to do when you get there.
WORDS BY SOPHIE WILKINSON
Glinting blue-white waves from the Aegean lap against pumice-grey sands, Sak Noel’s ‘Loca People‘ bops over from a nearby beach bar… “all day…all night”, and the thuds, slaps, minor groans, claps and cheers of a nearby volleyball game burble in and out. There are little tortoises doing laps in a nearby lagoon. I stretch out, topless, maybe even pantsless, under the dwindling evening sun that casts shadows along this 3km beach. I’m full of Mythos beer, tzatziki crisps and joy. During this absurdly idyllic scene, the type I grew up seeing on TV adverts for far-flung package holidays that stipulated, in the small print ‘applies to couples of one man and one woman only’, I turn to the woman I love. I smile, kiss the tip of her nose, tasting the salt water from our skinny dip, and stroke her hair and give her a hug. She smiles back and our only worry is that this is all temporary.
Skala Eresou, which literally translates to “the pier of Eressos” is a small beachside resort on the Greek island of Lesvos, a two hour drive from the airport, which itself is a short flight (or overnight ferry) from the buzzing brilliance of Athens. Lesvos, in case the etymology of lesbian is lost on you, is the birthplace of the poet Sappho, an ancient poet who wrote extensively of her love for other women. Although debate as to her sexuality has persisted, mainly coming from concern-trolly men who insist they can’t bear her legacy degraded by homosexual connotations, the lesbians are buying it.
The towns of Eressos and Skala Eresou have long been a pilgrimage site for worshipful sapphics. The seaside town is made up of one wood-stilted strip of bars, restaurants and small hotels. The surrounding narrow streets of clothes and souvenirs shops, artisan gift shops, a vegan cafe, a butcher and some places to buy crisps, dips, fruit and veg. And everywhere you turn, there are lesbians.
For the past 24 years, lesbians have been coming to this 3km long beach and its various tavernas, sleeping cats, tat shops and bars for the annual women’s festival. Set up in 2000 by Ionna Savva, a local lesbian (in both senses) travel agent, it’s now a 14-day event in September featuring workshops around writing, dancing, healing as well as music, poetry, excursions and concerts at the nostalgic open air cinema. At its peak, 650 women – and it’s an inclusive festival, welcoming “participants who identify as women…and non binary individuals assigned female at birth” to all activities, with men allowed into a certain selection of events— attend this space for a fashion show. It’s all in aid of supporting local wildlife, and during it we see women who’ve been to the African dance workshop, the body positivity striptease workshop…one woman does an interpretative dance about her struggles with, and recovery from, breast cancer. These women contain multitudes. There are surgeons, nail technicians, entrepreneurs, former cage fighters, artists, millionaires, teachers, gardeners, you name it. It’s a wonderful reminder that lesbians come from all places and occupy all spaces and that you can relax knowing you’re not having to go first, or go it alone. Plus, it’s not even the only LGBTQIA+ festival to take place here, as the newer, younger and electronic music focused Queer Ranch festival takes place every May into June.
Lesvos: What are the best things to do there
If tranquility is your vibe, then this quiet island is dotted with beautiful beaches for you to pitch up on. Some might involve a drive, but the smooth, some very new, roads through a post-volcanic landscape of craggy rocks and bouncy heathers and scrub feel – especially in a nippy automatic car – really delightful to road-trip along. Other beaches of note include the town beach at Molyvos, the resort-style beaches at Petra and Anaxos, the quiet shores of Tavari, Antissa.
Skala Eftalou not only has a rocky and quiet beach but is home to one of the island’s accessible hot springs, some of which have been in use since antiquity. These baths, which some claim can help soothe all sorts of ailments, brim with natural minerals like sodium chloride, iron, magnesium. Most of the springs charge a small fee for entrance, and offer extras like massages and cafes on the side.
Polychnitou is home to the hottest natural waters in Europe, with temperatures going from 67°C to 92°C. And Thermi on the gulf of Yera overlooks beautiful ocean and mountains. If you fancy a bit more of a hands-on spa day, Eresou is home to a boutique spa and hammam.
Lesvos is the largest producer of Ouzo, and you can take excursions to one of the 17 distilleries to test out the aniseed-y spirit as well as see the process of wine-making grapes being made into a clear grappa.
For early mornings and visits in cooler months like April or October, there are plenty of hiking opportunities, with a vast network of historic trails criss-crossing the island through olive groves, chestnut and pine forests and alongside ravines. The petrified forest of Sigri, a UNESCO Global Geopark doesn’t, at first glance, seem petrifying or forested, but on closer inspection, it’s a vast valley stippled with the remainders of tropical trees that turned to fossilised stone when hit by lava a casual 20 million years ago. Make note, taking a hike through this in warmer months – even September – requires good snacks, footwear, sun hats, SPF and water on board, simply because it’s so exposed, but don’t let that put you off, you don’t often get to see history like this.
As for the women’s festival, there’s broadly four types of lesbian the events cater to. There are the healers – the Monsoon-clad women with crafted jewellery who come to listen to poetry, do yoga and visit grief cafes or try out a session with the resident tantric therapist. Then there are the sportier types, who swim out to and back from a huge rock – the size of a block of Soviet apartments – every Tuesday morning, or mountain bike over the hills to Sigri, or do snorkelling, windsurfing or five-a-side football. They’ll tend to be in polo shirts, shorts and trainers. Then there are the partiers, who lounge on the beach all day, where nudity is expected, if not required, and then fling themselves into the house-music soundtracked afters. These will be the youngest of the lot, with mullets, piercings, everything you’d expect from your local queer bar, just by the beach. At the end of each day, there’s one big event at the open air cinema, whether that’s the alternative fashion show – this year in aid of a local pet charity – a covers night from singer Kiziah or a gig from BBC Radio 6-approved band/podcasters ARXX (it’s also request night, as Ionna picks up a microphone and makes a clear demand they play three more songs). At the end of each gig, some of the older crowd, cosied up in down jackets and jeans, will stroll arm in arm back to their apartments, while others will listen intently to whatever the host is shouting about when it comes to afterparties. From there, everyone heads to whichever themed beachside bar it is and begins to let loose until the smallest of small hours.
Lesvos: Where are the best places to stay, eat and drink?
While lesbians are welcome across the island, Eresou and Skala Eresou are the real hotbeds of sapphic activity, so you’d better book fast as the festival does pack out this tiny town.
There are guesthouses and apartments available for booking, and boutique beachside hotels include rooms above the party-friendly Ohana bar, Sappho Hotel and Hotel Kyma. Close by, options include the Galini and the Ilaria.
Dotted along the dunes, there are camper vans with German number plates, tents strung between olive trees. While there are no official camping facilities, nearby Sappho Palace, a truly DIY community centre built from an old restaurant, provides toilets, cooking and washing facilities.
The most luxurious hotel there is the Aeolian Village Beach Hotel, just a 15 minute stroll from the centre of town, or via a 5 minute drive (parking is pretty much always easy). As well as two sizeable pools, there are infinite loungers, a dedicated beachside bar where you can get towels, loungers and necessary parasols (sun is abundant in this wide valley) and a breakfast buffet full of everything from a full English through to cakes, fresh orange juice, yoghurts, pastries and the rest. Leisure activities on offer are also plentiful; there’s a compact gym, row upon row of bikes for hire, tennis and padel courts with instructors on site and spa.
But most importantly, across the town, the staff here have seen so many lesbians come in and out that it’s not just tolerated to be queer here, it’s accepted and embraced, with plenty of the staff knowing regulars by name. Bemused straight visitors do exist, but are suitably outnumbered.
There’s plenty of decent traditional Greek food in Skala Eresou, with beach-side terraces costing a little more than the grill houses – and famously lesbian-friendly vegan haunt the Lettuce Cafe – tucked away from the beach. Enjoy mezze of Greek Salad, saganaki fried cheese at pretty much anywhere, but the gyros from the grill houses are also divine. For seafood, Soulatso lets you take your pick of fresh catches, which are then grilled to order.
Up the hill – just a 5 minute pelt in a car – you’ve got Eresou, which centres around a tranquil tree-festooned square, where you can eat at the ultra traditional Sam’s Restaurant, which does a slightly Middle Eastern take on Greek staples, so there’s falafel alongside the pastitso. It also has a whole squad of alluring and sleepy cats that’ll be keen to nuzzle up. Across the square is Kafene, which adds pizza onto a menu of more comforting dishes like baked stuffed courgettes and oven roasted succulent lamb.
Bars are centred around Skala Eresou and are small but perfectly formed, some of them with themes; Avatara is the biggest, practically the Fabric of Skala Eresou, which means it can fit a couple hundred people inside and out, just about. Then there’s the lesbian bar Flamingo which does a raging happy hour, tiki bars Ohana and Parasol, Hara which is home to acoustic gigs and serves decent food too. Beach clubs include La Isla Bonita, and the Turtle bar, named after the turtles who swim by. More than just shacks, these places serve food all day and a range of delicious drinks. Some will charge for lounger hire, others won’t.
Lesbos: Why is it so great for LGBTQIA+ visitors?
When you’re in a lesbian couple, so many holidays don’t offer the prospect of easy relaxation that so many straights take for granted. So we write off a lot of places; the ones where we’d have to conceal our sexuality. The ones where it’s not safe to be two women travelling together. The ones that are presumably liberal beach holiday spaces but, as two women, we’ll be subject to sexual harassment and glares from creepy men. So in the main, we opt for city breaks, where gay bars and liberal attitudes are guaranteed, but basically involve costly pelts around busy tourist drags followed by trips to almost identikit “trendy” areas that have all the same exposed lamps and ply wood coffee counters that we get back in east London. All of that’s fun, but it’s not a serene trotters-up on the beach style holiday.
For so long, Mediterranean beachside resort towns have been associated with a heterosexual licentiousness, of freedom and merriment, but only for the lads. However, the calm and revelry of Skala Eresou shows the straights don’t get to claim every shore of the world for their own. It’s a tiny town with just about everything you need, and, right now, not too many people overburdening its resources, even at the busiest of times. Of course there are plenty of relaxing places in Greece to visit, but Skala Eresou’s charm is that it’s a utopia, where lesbians really are the majority, where no-one bats an eyelid when they see you walking hand in hand, and you can just get on with the fun of it all without really having to worry about who you are.
Perhaps making the pilgrimage to Lesvos, and specifically, the broad beach of Skala Eresou, is about honouring not just Sappho, but spending time amidst the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lesbians who’ve found home and heart at her birthplace.
To find out more about Lesvos and to plan your trip, check out www.discovergreece.com
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