Kalamitsi Beach

Kalamitsi, which older maps and locals also call Kavalikefta, is the beach that gives you the famous Lefkada look without the famous Lefkada crowd. It is a broad sweep of bright white gravel scattered with big sculptural rocks, fronted by water that turns the most improbable turquoise where it meets the pale shore. It sits below the hill village of the same name on the west coast, and because it lacks the headline status of Porto Katsiki just down the coast, it stays markedly quieter even in high summer, which for a couple is most of the appeal.

The honest notes are two. First, the white gravel that looks so dreamy is firm underfoot, so reef shoes and a thick mat make the difference between comfort and a wince every time you walk to the water. Second, like all of this coast Kalamitsi faces the open west, so while a calm day delivers that glassy turquoise, a windy afternoon brings a real swell and the sea turns lively. There is a seasonal beach bar and some sunbeds, lighter than the full service at Kathisma but enough to keep you comfortable, so you are not entirely self reliant here as you are at Egremni.

For couples, the move is simple. Come on a calm day, ideally in the late afternoon, take a spot among the rocks at the quieter end, and let the cove do its work as the low sun lights up the white gravel and the water glows. It is one of the prettiest quiet beaches on the coast and a far more peaceful alternative to the overrun Porto Katsiki, while still offering a drink and a sunbed that the wild beaches do not. On a blowy day, swap it for the more sheltered Milos up the coast and save Kalamitsi for the calm.