Lefkada – a disappointing attempt for nudist fans
In recent years, I have visited several Greek islands, including Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Crete, Skiathos, and Kos. This time, I was drawn to Lefkada, a beautiful Ionian island.
I had heard from a Greek man here in Germany that the island, which is primarily visited by Greeks on vacation, should be beautiful. However, what started as a relaxing naturist vacation unfortunately turned out differently than expected. Despite the good reputation of Greek islands for their sunny days, my stay in Lefkada was marked by bad weather. During my travels to other islands, I occasionally encountered a rainy day, but Lefkada was different: it rained continuously. This caused roads, which were already somewhat adventurous, to flood quickly and also made the mountainsides unstable, rendering some roads impassable.
Despite these weather caprices, I made the best of my week. At the beginning, however, I had problems with the accommodation. The house I had originally booked did not meet my expectations at all. But fortunately, I found an alternative accommodation – a secluded house in the mountains that was perfect for my naturist idea. It was secluded on all sides, allowing me to spend my time there undisturbed.
On the first day, I decided to get an overview of the island and drove all around Lefkada. Beforehand, I had of course informed myself that nudist beaches, or beaches where nudity is tolerated, are mainly located on the west coast – the side facing the open sea. But my hopes of enjoying nudity there were quickly disappointed.
There are no dedicated nudist beaches on Lefkada. Instead, you have to drive down adventurous roads to reach secluded beaches. Some beaches are only accessible by boat, which of course was not an option given the bad weather and high waves.
Any attempt to reach one of these beaches initially took me to a paid parking lot. The parking fees ranged between 5 and 10 euros. However, the bigger problem was that the number of parking spaces was very limited. During my trip in October, it was relatively quiet, which made parking easier, but during peak season it could get really crowded.
Another problem was that the only access to the beach was via the steps of the beach restaurants, all of which were closed. From above, I could see that the waves at the beaches were so high that all the sand and gravel were completely submerged. There was no place to sunbathe, and the beaches were also full of seaweed, which made them rather unattractive.
As for the nudist (FKK) possibilities, I didn’t find any. During my entire trip, I didn’t see anyone lying naked to swim.
I myself didn’t even make it into the sea. I spent the few hours of sunshine we had on the terrace of my house; the pool was unusable due to the cold – I was in it only once. The culinary side of Lefkada also didn’t really convince me. Prices have increased significantly, and compared to Zakynthos and Kefalonia, I found the variety of food there much less diverse and less appealing in taste.
A highlight of my week in Lefkada was certainly the visit to a decommissioned NATO radar station from the 1960s
This station is described as a “Lost Place” in some travel reports and is located on one of the highest mountains of Lefkada. From here, you have a panoramic view. There are two huge radar antennas on the mountain and some abandoned buildings for the equipment and the soldiers. Everything dates back to the Cold War and was the most modern at the time. Unfortunately, the place was not so “lost” after all! I had imagined moving around the abandoned rooms with graffiti, the guard houses, and the large antennas naked and taking some pictures and videos there. Unfortunately, there were too many spectators. It didn’t go as I had imagined. Nevertheless, the place was worth a visit, and I still took a few pictures.
Fazit:
Für mich ist Lefkada kein empfehlenswertes Ziel für FKK-Enthusiasten. Vielleicht ist es im Sommer anders, wenn die Insel mehr Sonne und wärmeres Wetter bietet, aber in der Hochsaison soll es dort sehr voll sein. In solchen Zeiten wird es mit Sicherheit schwer, als FKKler ungestört zu bleiben, da viele Textilurlauber an den Stränden vorherrschen.
Ich persönlich habe es satt, immer wieder abgelegene Ecken aufzusuchen, um meinen Bikini auszuziehen – stundenlanges Klettern oder weite Wanderungen, nur um dann vielleicht noch festzustellen, dass man nicht der Einzige ist, der diesen Gedanken hatte. Wenn ich nochmal nach Griechenland fahre, dann lieber nach Kreta – dort weiß man, dass man an den richtigen Orten entspannt nackt baden kann.
Ich würde mich das nächste Mal wohl eher für eine ausgewiesene FKK-Anlage entscheiden, in der das Nacktsein klar akzeptiert wird und man sich nicht ständig mit ungewissen Umständen herumärgern muss.
