Area: 175 sq. miles

Lemnos lies adrift in the middle of the north-east Aegean midway between Mount Athos and Asia Minor. To the north rises Samothraki and to the south-east Lesvos. The island is still predominantly dependent on the traditional way of life with the rolling hills of the interior supporting various forms of agriculture and the villages by the sea harvesting the depths of the Aegean. You will still find excellent tourist facilities in and around the main town of Myrina, an archetypal Greek harbour town with its tavernas, cafes and narrow streets filled with all manner of shops. The view from atop the castle that dominates the town reveals all in panoramic splendor. In fact, Myrina is so self-contained that many feel no need to explore Lemnos the island. The island resembles a huge butterfly, its many bays giving a coastline of some 260 kms. It is the eighth largest Greek island, which means plenty of scope for exploration. Beaches are superb, even within Myrina, being uncrowded, sandy and safe, and there are many to choose from. The interior is rural and gently contoured. Lemnos is a traditional Greek island, where priorities are agriculture and fishing rather than tourism. That said, excursions do run (notably boat trips and a round-island coach trip); bicycles, cars and small boats can be rented; and there is a good selection of watersports. 

Myrina, the capital, is the best place to stay. Bisected by a dominant Venetian Castro, it is most attractive.
The harbour is archetypal Greek Island with an array of cafιs and restaurants. There are plenty of small shops in the narrow lanes behind. Elegant crumbling neo-classical buildings and good sandy beaches lie to either side.

At Poliochni the remnants of four cities have been found, the most ancient of which predates Troi. More recently, Lemnos has witnessed the familiar Mediterranean roll call of conquerors – Romans, Venetians, Genoese, Turks etc.

All have left their mark on the island. Legend has it that Aphrodite, having been upset by the local women, gave them all such halitosis that their husbands imported new wives from Thrace! The Lemnos women promptly drugged their ex-husbands and new wives and threw their bodies over the cliffs. As one local guide book put it, ‘After this event a society of Amazons was created, till the Argonauts reached the island.... The island was successfully repopulated.

>> Northern Aegean Islands : Chios, Fournoi, Ikaria, Inousses, Lemnos, Lesvos, Psara, Samos.