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The stone and tiled houses of Molyvos climbing the hill to the castle, seen from the sea

Where to stay in Lesvos

Photographed in 2015. Photo: Rosa-Maria Rinkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Places to stay in Lesvos

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About Lesvos

Lesvos is the third largest island in Greece, and the distances show it: Molyvos is about 63 km by road from Mytilene and Skala Eresou about 88 km. The airport sits about 7 km from Mytilene, so the base decides how long the first drive is.

Greece. Guide last checked .

Facts and rules

Last checked . Each fact links to its source.

Airport
Mytilene (MJT), run by Fraport Greece, about 7 km by road from Mytilene centre, open around the clock in summer 2026. A bus runs to the city, with tickets from the driver. Source
Distances
The third largest island in Greece. By road from Mytilene: Plomari about 43 km, Petra about 60 km, Molyvos about 63 km, Skala Eresou about 88 km. Source
Climate resilience fee
Per night, April to October: short-term rentals EUR 8, or EUR 15 for a detached house over 80 m2; rooms to let EUR 2; hotels EUR 2 to 15 by stars. November to March: EUR 0.50 to 4. One national table, unchanged for 2026. Code of indirect taxes (Law 5177/2025), article 44. Source
Municipal visitor fee
A fee on the rent, borne by the guest: 0.5% under national law. West Lesvos (Molyvos, Petra, Eresos) kept 0.5% by decision 256/2025; no Mytilene decision raising it was found as of September 2026. Private hosts with one or two properties do not charge it. Source
Short-term rental rules
Every short-term rental must be in the AADE registry and show its 11-digit AMA number on every platform and advert; licensed properties show a 16-digit ΕΣΛ or a 7-digit ΜΑΓ number instead. The host declares each stay to AADE. Source
Parking at Mytilene port
Blue lines, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 21:00: EUR 0.50 half an hour, EUR 1.00 an hour, EUR 1.50 two hours, EUR 5.00 for 24 hours, EUR 40.00 a month. Free after 21:00, on Sundays and holidays, and on white lines. Source
Parking on Mytilene quayside
Monday to Friday 08:00 to 21:00 and Saturday 08:00 to 15:00, with scratch cards from kiosks: EUR 0.50, 1.00 or 1.50 for up to two hours. The 24-hour and monthly port cards are not valid here. Source
Entry
Visitors from outside the EU without a visa, UK and US citizens included, may stay 90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area. The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. Source
Monthly stays
Under 60 days per contract is a short-term rental in Greece, with the per-night fee; 60 days or more without extra services is an ordinary lease. Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay. Source
Currency
Euro (EUR). Source
Emergency number
112 Source

Areas of Lesvos

The Mytilene waterfront with a large domed church, cafes and houses below a wooded hill, seen across the harbour
Photographed in 2015. Cropped from a panorama. Photo: Ggia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mytilene

The capital and port of Lesvos and of the North Aegean Region, about 7 km by road from the airport. It suits ferry and flight arrivals, a city base with services on foot and a month outside summer.

Airport
about 7 km
Passenger port
about 1.6 km
Molyvos
about 63 km

Car and parking

At the passenger port the Port Fund runs paid parking in the blue-lined spaces, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 21:00, from EUR 0.50 for half an hour to EUR 5.00 for 24 hours, paid at a machine that takes bank cards or with scratch cards; white lines are free. The quayside is paid Monday to Friday 08:00 to 21:00 and Saturday to 15:00 with scratch cards, and the port's 24-hour and monthly cards do not apply there.

Fishing boats in the small harbour of Molyvos under a cloudy sky, with tavernas on the quay and the castle on the hill
Photographed in 2015. Photo: Rosa-Maria Rinkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Molyvos (Mithymna)

The castle town of the north coast, officially Mithymna, with its agora on the uphill road to the fortress. It suits a stay on foot in an old town, about 63 km from Mytilene, with Petra about 6 km away.

Mytilene
about 63 km
Airport
about 70 km
Petra
about 6 km

Car and parking

In September 2023 West Lesvos signed a EUR 500,000 contract for the Mithymna car park project, tendered for construction that December; whether it is finished was not verified as of September 2026, so ask the host where to park.

Tiled rooftops of Petra with the bay and its beach curving towards a bare headland
Photographed in 2015. Photo: Rosa-Maria Rinkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Petra

A village on the bay below Molyvos in the north-west of the island, about 6 km from it. It suits a beach stay with a car on the north coast.

Molyvos
about 6 km
Mytilene
about 60 km
Airport
about 67 km

Car and parking

In August 2026 the defence ministry granted West Lesvos 14,000 m2 of the former Petra army camp, and the municipality plans to move the football pitch there and turn the pitch on the seafront road into a large car park. That is a plan, not a car park, as of September 2026, so ask the host.

The seafront of Plomari with fishing boats, palm trees, parked cars and houses on the hillside
Photographed in 2020. Photo: Tryfon Manolis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Plomari

The second largest town on Lesvos and the only sizable coastal settlement in the south, part of the municipality of Mytilene. It suits a town base on the south coast, about 45 km from the airport.

Mytilene
about 43 km
Airport
about 45 km

Car and parking

No official parking source for Plomari was found as of September 2026, so ask the host.

Skala Eresou and Eresos

The twin villages of the south-west: Skala Eresou on the beach and Eresos, the home town of Sappho, about 4 km inland. They suit a long beach stay at the far end of the island, about 88 km from Mytilene.

Mytilene
about 88 km
Airport
about 91 km
Molyvos
about 54 km
Eresos
about 4 km

Car and parking

West Lesvos tendered a six-year lease of land for a car park in Skala Eresou in December 2024, and the contract it signed in March 2025 includes redeveloping the Skala Eresou car park; neither outcome was verified as of September 2026, so ask the host.

Guides

Questions

How far is Molyvos from Mytilene airport?

About 70 km by road. Petra is about 67 km from the airport, Plomari about 45 km and Skala Eresou about 91 km.

Where can a rental car park in Mytilene?

At the passenger port, blue-lined spaces cost EUR 0.50 for half an hour up to EUR 5.00 for 24 hours, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 21:00, and are free after 21:00, on Sundays and holidays. White-lined spaces are free. The quayside uses scratch cards from EUR 0.50.

Is there a tourist tax in Lesvos?

Greece charges a climate crisis resilience fee per night for each room or property: EUR 8 for a short-term rental from April to October and EUR 2 from November to March, unchanged for 2026. A municipal visitor fee of 0.5% of the rent comes on top in both Lesvos municipalities, except with private hosts who let one or two properties.

How can a guest check a rental is registered?

Every short-term rental in Greece must show its AMA, the 11-digit property registry number issued by the tax authority AADE, on every platform and advert. Licensed properties show a 16-digit ΕΣΛ or a 7-digit ΜΑΓ number instead.