Is Leros Worth Visiting?

Leros carries more layered history per square kilometer than almost any other Dodecanese island, from a Venetian fortress built on ancient cyclopean walls to an entire rationalist town that exists nowhere else outside Italy.

Leros sits between Patmos and Kalymnos, and its Castle of Panagia rises above the capital, Platanos, reachable by a steep stone path from the main square or a scenic drive past the Church of Prophet Elias. Inside the walls sit small churches, a museum, and the medieval church of Panagia tou Kastrou. Below, Lakki, the old port, stands as the only rationalist-style town outside Italy itself, built in the 1930s for a planned population of 30,000 that never fully arrived, leaving wide tree-lined boulevards and Art Deco buildings that feel unlike anywhere else in Greece.

The island's history took a heavier turn in 1943, when Leros became the site of a major World War Two battle between Allied and German forces. A war museum built into Italian-era tunnels near Lakki displays weapons, photographs, and military vehicles, and the Allied War Graves Cemetery near Agia Marina holds 183 soldiers, most of them Commonwealth troops who died in the fighting. The waters around Leros hold the second highest concentration of WWII shipwrecks in the world after Normandy, drawing wreck divers to sites including a German bomber and a torpedoed destroyer.

Alinda, the island's most developed beach, runs along a curve of coast lined with tavernas and the neoclassical Bellenis Tower, home to the Folklore and Historical Museum. The church of Agios Isidoros sits on a tiny islet connected to shore by a narrow walkway, one of the more distinctive chapels in the Dodecanese. Food carries a mix of Greek and Italian influence, with fava, grilled local fish, and Lerian ladotyri, a strong cheese cured in olive oil, all worth seeking out.

Leros has its own airport with flights from Athens, in addition to ferry connections from Piraeus and neighboring islands. It suits travelers drawn to layered history, wartime memory, and diving, with enough packed into its villages, castle, and coastline to fill several days on its own.