Last updated on January 31st, 2025 at 08:46 am
The beaches in the Ionian islands are among the best in Greece. Laying on the west coast of Greece on some of the most beautiful Greek islands.
Seven large and hundreds of smaller islands form the Ionian islands or Eptanissa cluster, with Corfu, Paxos, Lefkada, Ithaka, Kefalonia, Zakynthos(Zante), and Kythera to be the larger.
These are the greenest islands in Greece. If you love green, emerald, and calm waters these are the islands for you to visit. Here you can find some of the longest beaches in Greece as Halikounas in Corfu, and the very famous and most photographed beach in Greece, Navagio in Zante.
1- Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach in Zakynthos
A remote beach with fine pebbles in Zante, Ionian islands
This is it.
You’ve surely seen that place before, in tourist brochures or cards. Because it is one of the most famous and most photographed beaches in Greece.
And of course one of the few candidates claiming the title of the most beautiful beach in Greece.
Just imagine though! This beach didn’t exist before 1983. That’s proof that this country is constantly shaped by nature!
But how was this magic place shaped?
In northwestern Zakynthos, there was once a secluded and deserted cape without a beach called Agios Georgios.
After continuous landslides that began in 1922, a rudimentary beach was created that still remained completely unknown.
In 1983, a ship carrying smuggled cigarettes was named PANAGIOTIS, due to engine failure and bad weather stranded on the shore. The crew of 3 Greeks and one Italian managed to escape with another boat and the ship left to rot on the beach, which continued to grow due to the ongoing landslides.
This was how today Zakynthos has the most photographed but also one of the most beautiful beaches in Greece, Navagio beach which means wreck. The old name of the site has been forgotten.
The beach even today can be reached only by sea and is visited by hundreds of small and large yachts every summer.
2- Myrtos Beach Kefalonia
Sandy remote beach in Kefalonia, Ionian islands
According to most, this is the top beach in Kefalonia. And not unfairly! It gathers many elements that make it unique.
Myrtos is located in a green landscape in Northwest Kefalonia at a distance of 30 km from Argostoli, the capital of the island.
The beach consists of fine pebbles and is surrounded by majestic cliffs while at the northern end, there is a small cave.
The waters vary from blue to turquoise and the view from the road above is breathtaking. So it is aimed at nature lovers.
Also, the beach is famous for its amazing sunset.
This astonishing beach has fairly won many times the title of the best beach in Greece.
3- Porto Katsiki Lefkada
Beautiful remote beach in Lefkada, Ionian islands
Another strong candidate for the best beach in Greece.
Katsiki in Greek means Goat. Hence the name of the beach comes from the goats that could reach the inaccessible beach long ago.
It is located in the southern part of the island among a hollow rock, southwest of the city of Lefkada.
The beach is famous for its natural beauty, impressive landscape, and emerald sea.
Today you can easily access it from the street and therefore during the summer season, it is packed with thousands of visitors from all over the world.
It is an organized beach with sunbeds, bars just above the cliff, and parking spaces.
4- Gerakas beach Zakynthos
Organized and protected beach in Zante, Ionian islands
Gerakas is one of the most beautiful beaches in Zante and is located at the southeastern tip of the island, not far from the town of Zakynthos.
It is a very large sandy beach and ends at a small cape made entirely of clay rocks.
Today the cape is closed to the public because the clay rocks are dangerous for landslides.
Gerakas is the breeding ground for the Caretta Caretta turtle, here the turtle eggs hatch, and the newborns make their way to the sea.
For this reason, it is a protected beach without large tourist facilities. You are prohibited from entering half an hour before sunset until half an hour after sunrise.
5- Agios Gordios(Gordis) beach Corfu
Sandy large organized beach in Corfu, Ionian islands
Agios Gordios or Gordis is located at the exact center of the west coast of Corfu, opposite Benitses, you only need to travel 14 miles from Corfu town to reach it.
Used to be where the villagers grew their crops, but now it is a bustling resort with a good choice of hotels, villas, and apartments. Souvenir shops are found on the single street that leads to the beach.
The Agios Gordios beach is a long wide sandy stretch, one of the best beaches in Corfu, well-organized offering water sports and plenty of entertainment in the bars and tavernas along its length.
At its southern end, the beach finishes where a sharp high rock stands upright on the sea, it is called Ortholithi which means standing rock (Greek=orthos vrachos) …See more
6- Halikounas beach Corfu
Sandy remote huge beach in Corfu, Ionian islands
Chalikounas Beach may not be the most beautiful, but it is the largest beach in Corfu.
The beach is enormous, and endless, with variations in the landscape, close to a forest, a lagoon behind the dunes, and above all, it is pristine – no hotels or uncontrolled tourist development.
This part of the island looks like the Sahara desert in Corfu.
It is located in southwest Corfu near the village of Agios Mattheos which is a part and at a distance of about 17 miles from Corfu town and 16 miles from the airport.
Chalikounas has brown fine golden sand and permanent waves, perfect for sailing and water sports.
This beach caters to adventure enthusiasts, if you love sailing, and surfing and the winds and waves don’t bother you then this place is for you … See more
7- Rovinia beach Corfu
Pebble remote beach in Corfu, Ionian islands
Rovinia Beach is located in the area of Liapades in western Corfu just south of the rocky shores of Paleokastritsa.
Small, remote, beautiful, and unspoiled. Therefore during the low season months, you can have it all for yourself.
It is perhaps the most beautiful of the hidden beaches in western Corfu, after all, it is considered by many tourists as the top beach in Corfu.
Rovinia is accessible from the sea as well as from the land through a small path with steps, about 600 meters long. Unlike the other isolated beaches of the area which are accessible only by the sea.
It is deserted, therefore not very crowded, with fine pebbles, little sand, and a turquoise crystal clear sea in a landscape of exceptional natural beauty. It could be a nudist beach too…See more
8- Voutoumi beach Antipaxos
Mixed remote beach in Antipaxos, Ionian islands
Another top-rated beach in Greece.
The beach of Voutoumi is made of silk-white gold sand and has the cleanest and brightest blue-green waters in the whole Ionian Sea.
Voutoumi is located in Antipaxos, a tiny island south of Corfu.
The waters are so clear that the bottom can be seen as if it was looked through the glass. It is visited during the summer by yachts from everywhere.
You can visit it by boat from Corfu and Paxos, and the nearby mainland villages of Parga and Sivota…See more
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