Limni

Limni is widely held to be the most picturesque village in northern Evia, and it earns the reputation. Built amphitheatrically on the slopes of a green hill on the island's north-west coast, its neoclassical and traditional houses with red-tiled roofs step down narrow, cobbled lanes to a curving waterfront on the calm North Euboean Gulf.

The setting has been inhabited since antiquity; Limni is thought to stand on the site of ancient Elymnion, and local legend even placed the first meeting of Zeus and Hera nearby. In more recent centuries the village grew prosperous from seafaring and shipbuilding, and that heritage shows in the dignified old captains' houses and the small maritime and folklore collections that recall the age of sail.

Day to day, Limni is about atmosphere rather than sights. You come to wander the flower-filled alleys, browse the little shops, and settle at a waterside taverna to watch the fishing boats and the light on the gulf. The swimming is found just outside the village at pebbly coves and beaches such as those towards Rovies and Chronia, and the surrounding countryside of olive groves and pine hides quiet monasteries, most famously the convent of Agios Nikolaos Galataki on a wooded slope above the sea.

Northern Evia was badly scarred by the great wildfires of 2021, and the recovering forests are part of the region's recent story, but Limni and its immediate coast came through and remain as welcoming as ever. The village sits within easy reach of the spa town of Edipsos and the wider north, making it a natural base for exploring this quieter, greener end of the island.

Reached by road from Chalkida or via the northern ferries, Limni rewards travellers looking for character over crowds: a real working village where the pleasures are simple, unhurried and centred on the sea.