Getting from Mykonos to Agios Efstratios

Agios Efstratios, known locally as Ai Stratis, is about as far off the beaten track as it is possible to get in the Greek islands. It sits alone in the central northern Aegean, equidistant from Lemnos and Lesvos, with a permanent population of a few hundred people and almost no tourism infrastructure to speak of. The island became known in the twentieth century as a place of political exile during the Greek civil war and the dictatorship years, a history that has left a quiet weight on the place. A 1968 earthquake destroyed most of the traditional village and the replacement settlement built by the military junta is functional at best. None of that diminishes the island. The beaches are exceptional, the water is clear and the feeling of being somewhere genuinely untouched is real.

Take the ferry

There is no direct ferry between Mykonos and Agios Efstratios. The island is served by ferries from Lavrio on the Attica coast and from Lemnos, with connections that are infrequent and require careful planning. Getting there from Mykonos means either travelling via Piraeus and then Lavrio or flying to Lemnos via Athens and finding the onward ferry connection from there. Check the timetable carefully, the schedule to Agios Efstratios is limited and your travel dates will need to work around it rather than the other way around.

What about flying?

Agios Efstratios does not have an airport so flying directly to the island is not an option. The nearest airport is Lemnos, from where ferry connections to Agios Efstratios run periodically. The journey from Mykonos goes Mykonos to Athens, Athens to Lemnos, and then the ferry across to Agios Efstratios. It is worth knowing that in Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights. Almost all island to island travel goes through Athens.

Your best option

Fly to Lemnos via Athens and find the ferry connection to Agios Efstratios from there. Plan this one carefully and build significant flexibility into your schedule. The reward for the effort is an island that almost nobody visits, beaches that are genuinely empty and a quiet that is increasingly hard to find anywhere in the Aegean. Go with nothing planned and let the island be what it is.