Ioannina & Vikos Gorge

Our hotel (Arktos Hotel) was located above Lake Pamvotida (which is also known as Lake of Ioannina) and provided great views of the lake and city, especially for sunset. The family that owns the hotel was so friendly, there isn’t a word for it. The breakfast was nice, too, and I’d recommend that hotel deeply. That also applies for the nearby restaurant Koukoubágia which is only a few minutes by foot. It’s great for a sunset drink and it’s very popular with locals, too. The food is good, too, so we’d go there both days we were at the hotel (they didn’t have dinner). I also brought my camera as the view from there is better than from the hotel, and you can get majestics sunset in Greece. I won’t remember that place and without Carolines colleague I wouldn’t have gone there, so thanks a lot for that recommendation. I also went nearby the restaurant to take pictures of sunrise. The sun rises actually behind the mountains on the other side, so you wouldn’t be able to watch that, but you can catch the first light on the mountains on the other side of the lake as well as some mist which was really beautiful.

Another reason for staying in Ioannina is the Vikos Gorge which is only an hour drive from the hotel. It is known as the world’s deepest gorge relative to its width, so I wouldn’t want to miss that. We drove to the Oxya Viewpoint and the view is amazing, also we almost had it for ourself. On our way back we made a few more stops at some of the sights nearby, like the Bridge of Kokkoros or Noutsos, the Bridge Captain Bear and the the Petsioni’s Stone Bridge. There are many more of these bridges, but three were enough for us. We also had some coffee in the village of Vitsa.

Zakynthos

Our next stop was Zakynthos and we had almost four days to explore the island. I wanted to visit the Navagio / Shipwreck Beach and we were lucky that a storm stopped all the boats going out in the morning, so when the weather was good again at noon the bay was empty and it was even better to take photos that day. It was still packed with people and you have to be a little careful at the cliffs, but it’s a must see on the island. I would recommend to go there at noon or when the sun is at its highest point, because it will illuminate the bay even more. At sunset the bay would be fully covered by the shade.

To be honest, I didn’t do much more research on this island before apart from noting some places that were mentioned in Lonely Planet, so when we got to Porto Limnionas in the west of the island I was surprised a little. I went there to take pictures at sunset, but I didn’t know that the sun would be totally out of sight of where I wanted to take pictures. The best view of the sunset you’ll actually get from the Tavern. When we got there, it was also quite crowded with people swimming, but just before sunset everyone was gone and I found a place I was happy with to take pictures.

But my number two of the places I wanted to visit on the island was in the south of the island, called Mizithres or the Big and Small Mizithra Island. There is actually three great spots to see them and with great views in general. The first is the Keri Lighthouse Restaurant. The second is a scenic viewpoint that is about 20min by foot from the restaurant. There is a rocky road that we didn’t want to drive, so we parked by the road and walked to the viewpoint. The third is the Ionian Sunset Cafe, which gives you a broader view along the coast to the northwest, but if you go to the end of the fences you’ll also get good views of the islands. Be aware that the cafe is actually just a place with some „seating“ to view the sunset. There is a trailer at the entrance where you have to buy something in order to get into the seating area. We went to the viewpoint first, then to the Sunset Cafe where we actually wanted to stay until sunset but then decided to go to the restaurant instead. I didn’t regret that decision at all, because the views from the restaurant are amazing, too, its way more comfortable and you’ll have good food and drinks while enjoying the sunset colours (you can’t see the sun setting).

Kefalonia

From Zakynthos we took a ferry to Kefalonia and stayed two nights. As I mentioned above, we only decided to go to Kefalonia out of logistical reasons. There is a ferry connection to both Zakynthos and Lefkada, so it’s way better to use that option than to go from Zakynthos back to the mainland and drive to Lefkada from there. Except you don’t have the time to explore the island and want to go to Lefalada in one day.

There are two main things that we put on our to do list: Myrtos Beach and Melissani Lake Cave.

On the day we arrived from Zakynthos we still had the afternoon and evening to spend after checking in at the hotel in Argostoli, so we decided to go to Myrtos Beach. After spending some time swimming and reading at the beach, we drove up to a viewpoint where we would watch the sunset. It’s hard to miss as the name of that viewpoint is „Photo Viewpoint to Myrtos Beach“ on Google Maps. There is a parking lot and it wasn’t full when we‘ve got there. From time to time some tourists would stop, take a snapshot and leave a few minutes later. I decided to walk to the bridge nearby and take photos from there instead of the viewpoint itself, as I liked the composition better, however the view is amazing from both viewpoint and bridge.

The next day we drove to Melissani Lake Cave. It’s obviously a lake in a cave and the water gets beautifully illuminated during the day, when the sun is the highest. That’s why we weren’t in a rush and decided to watch some turtles at the port of Argostoli. The cave is of course especially crowded during the day, but I‘ve read online that people go all day. There will still be sunshine in the cave most of the time, you just shouldn’t go too late when the sun is too low. Taking into consideration that we visited at the end of the season, it was still kinda crowded, so I really don’t want to be here in July and August. The operators told us there would be lines of one or two hours waiting times. We only waited 10 minutes. So much for logistics. After paying the entrance fee of 7 Euros we went down into the cave and got on one of the boats. When the boat is full, the boatman will take you on a ride for about 10 minutes or so. It’s a nice experience and even though it’s a little pricy it’s still worth it, though I wouldn’t wait in line for 1-2 hours to do that. From a photo perspective it’s a little challenging because you’re on a boat and it’s a high dynamic range scene with the sun illuminating the middle of the cave and the water and the dark edges in the cave. Afterwards we went to Makris Gialos Beach to read, swim and relax. It’s not nearly as nice as Myrtos Beach, but it’s close to Argostoli so it’s a good option if you want to stay close to the city or don’t want to spend to much time.

Lefkada

The third and last island on our list was Lefkada where we stayed at a beautiful suite (Sappho Boutique Suites) outside of Vasiliki. The view was amazing, however it does not really satisfy as a sunrise or sunset spot from a photography perspective. Instead I walked to the nearby beach at night to take photos from the Milky Way above Cape Lefkatas which was even better! We could also walk in a few minutes to shops and a variety of restaurants in Vasiliki, so all in all a great place to stay. Though it was the first time we really felt the summer to be ending as it was getting a little colder and we wished for a heated outdoor pool, but I guess that’s complaining on a really high level for the beginning of October.

We had almost four days on the island and we had kind of a plan but still some flexibility, so the first day we took for relaxing, swimming or enjoying the poolside and strolling through the town.

The second day we went to Lefkada on the eastern part of the island and returned on the western part. Of course, we made many stops on the way and the views were amazing, but that applies most for the western part. We didn’t stop a lot on the eastern part and if we did it was more for some snapshots along the way, like in Nikiana or Nydri. We made a lunch break at the marina of Lefkada and had coffee at the Pirates Cafe which actually is a boat! As we were in much need of a deserved stop for swimming we went to Kathisma Beach. After that we almost directly (of course I had to stop a few times for a quick photo) drove to Porto Katsiki to not miss the sunset. We made it in time and could even get an ice cream and relax at the beach a little until we decided to not stay for sunset but rather watch it at the Cafe Panorama which we found along the way to the beach. It was closed but you could still watch the sunset from there along along with some breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding cliffs.

The next day we finished what we’ve missed on the west coast of the island the day before. First we went to Egremni Beach, but we couldn’t really go there as the road was still under construction at the time. Instead we drove as far as we could and enjoyed the view of it from above. Our next stop was Milos Beach and we underestimated the hike to that beach. The advantage, of course, is that there’s not many people around, but the beach wasn’t that nice and the views not as good as that hike would make it worth it. But maybe that’s different in summer when every other beach is crowded. From there, we drove back all the way to Cape Lefkatas and we were again almost late for sunset. There is also a designated photo spot on Google Maps, only there are no parking facilities. Luckily we were at the end of the season and there was no traffic so we decided to just park on the side of the narrow rode. Also, we had to climb a little to actually get a view of the Lighthouse, but it’s really a great view. It also was a beautiful sunset at the Cape with atomic shaped clouds behind the Lighthouse, I couldn’t have asked for better conditions. I could also see some lightning in the clouds illuminated by the setting sun and I would have loved to take pictures of that too when we drove to the lighthouse to make a u turn, but it was time to go. I would have also loved to take photos of the Milky Way at the Lighthouse, too, but waiting there after sunset was not an option and the drive was too long to go back at night. Also, I am quite happy with the results from a beach at Vasiliki including the Cape in the star photos.

Our last day on the island was designated for driving to Meteora, so we didn’t do anything except for making a stop at the port of Nydri to have a nice lunch with great views before leaving the island for good.

Meteora

Our last stop before going back to Thessaloniki was one of my favourite places of the whole trip: Meteora! We stayed at Hotel Meteora Kastraki and had a great view on these other worldly rock formations and the monasteries built on them. There was no real sunset when we arrived, but the light was quite special and changing quickly and together with the fall colours I was able to take some great photos. It got quite cloudy at afterwards, so there was no opportunity to take some star photos.

The forecast for the next day wasn’t promising, either, but I got up for sunrise anyway and took some moody images of the rocks that I quite like. We went back up to the lookouts on the other side where we took photos the evening before and again the weather was changing quickly and provided good light for more great photos.

From Meteora, it was only a short drive back to Thessaloniki. We arrived late afternoon, had some dinner and packed our stuff to go back to Germany the next day.