Greece - Korina Miller [514]
Getting There & Away
For flights and ferries from Limnos, Island Hopping.
AIR
The airport is 22km east of Myrina; taxis cost about €16.
Olympic Air ( 22540 22214; www.olympicairlines.com; Nikolaou Garoufallidou) is opposite Hotel Paris in Myrina.
BOAT
Buy ferry and hydrofoil tickets at Pravlis Travel (opposite) or Myrina Tourist & Travel Agency (opposite). The latter also sells tickets (one way/return €8/15) for day trips to Agios Efstratios on the Aeolis ferry, which depart every Sunday at 8am and return at 5pm.
Getting Around
BUS
Limnos’ bus service has one diabolical purpose: to bring villagers to town for their morning shopping and to get them home by lunch. Going and returning by bus in the same day is only possible to four destinations, by no means the most interesting ones, either. For example, two morning buses serve Plaka, but only return the next day at 7am and 8.45am (€4.60, 1¼ hours). Similarly, two morning buses go to Skandali, only returning the next day at 7am (€4.60, 1¼ hours) and two morning buses serve Kontias, returning the next day at 7am and 9am (€2.40, 45 minutes). Two daily buses to Katalakos – a measly 25-minute trip – only return at 8.30am and 1.30pm (€1.80).
Also from Myrina, five daily buses serve Moudros, via the airport (€2.80, 30 minutes), with the last return bus leaving at 12.15pm.
Myrnia’s bus station ( 22540 22464; Plateia Eleftheriou Venizelou) displays schedules and has printed copies.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
Myrina Rent-a-Car (right), near the waterfront, charges from €30 per day. Motorcycle-hire outlets are on Kyda-Karatza.
TAXI
A taxi rank ( 22540 23033) is on Myrina’s central square, by the bus station.
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MYRINA ΜΥΡΙΝΑ
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Backed by volcanic rock and a craggy Genoese castle, Limnos’ capital is a striking place. Despite some tourism, it keeps a certain serenity, harking back to its roots as a fishing port. Here you’ll see old fishermen sip Greek coffee while unfolding their nets, and colourful caïques in the harbour. Beyond the castle lies a sandy beach, and another, less windy one beyond that.
In summer Myrina comes to life, with shops selling traditional foods, handicrafts and more in its bustling agora. Its whitewashed stone houses, old-fashioned barber shops and kafeneia, crumbling neoclassical mansions and wood-balconied homes all create a relaxed feel.
The town (and Limnos in general) is mostly frequented by Greek tourists, and this has given a strongly Hellenic flavour to its nightlife, with the most popular places being stylish beachfront bars. Despite the hubbub, however, the castle’s overgrown hill is inhabited by shy, fleet-footed deer who dart around at night; in winter, locals say, they even wander through the agora – presumably, to do their shopping.
Orientation
From the quay turn right onto Plateia Ilia Iliou. Continue past Hotel Lemnos and the town hall, turning left after the derelict Hotel Action, then immediately veer half-left onto the main thoroughfare Kyda-Karatza to reach Myrina’s central square. Continue and you’ll find Plateia Eleftheriou Venizelou and the bus station.
Information
ATM-equipped banks line the central square. The summertime tourist info kiosk on the quay sometimes works.
Excite-Net ( 22540 25525; internet per hr €1.50; 24hr) Waterfront internet cafe.
Myrina Rent-a-Car ( 22540 24476; Kyda-Karatza) Near the waterfront.
Myrina Tourist & Travel Agency ( 22540 22460; mirina@lim.forthnet.gr) Full-service agency on the waterfront.
Police station ( 22540 22201; Nikolaou Garoufallidou)
Port police ( 22540 22225)
Post office (Nikolaou Garoufallidou)
Pravlis Travel ( 22540 22471; pravlis@lim.forthnet.gr; Parasidi 15) For ferry tickets.
SAOS Ferries ( 22540 29571) Sells ferry tickets from a small compartment on the castle side of the waterfront.
Theodoros Petrides Travel Agency ( 22540