Nature
Lesvos· Σίγρι – Ερεσός
Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Beyond Kalloni the island turns bare and volcanic. Standing trunks of fossilised sequoia and pine, a UNESCO Geopark, and the long dark-sand beach at Skala Eressou.
- Peace & quiet
- Hiking
- Beaches
Twenty million years ago volcanic ash buried a subtropical forest here and replaced the wood, cell by cell, with silica. What is left is standing trunks of sequoia, pine and palm, some of them over seven metres high, scattered across bare hills — a UNESCO Global Geopark, with a park near Sigri where you walk between them on marked paths and an excellent museum in the village that explains the whole eruption. It is the single most unusual thing on any of these islands and it is almost always empty.
Skala Eressou, below the village where Sappho is said to have been born, has a long dark-sand beach and has been a destination for women travellers for decades. Sigri itself is a small harbour under an Ottoman castle at the very end of the road.
The honest warning is distance: driving from the airport at Mytilene to Sigri takes two and a half hours. This end of Lesvos is a stay, not a day trip — plan two or three nights here or do not come at all.
🏛️ Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Attractions · Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
🏖️ Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Beaches · Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
🍽️ Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Restaurants & tavernas · Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
🛏️ Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Where to stay · Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Hotels on the map · Sigri, Eressos & the petrified forest
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, studios and villas — so you can judge the distance to the beach, the port or the village from here rather than guess from an address.
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Partner links · GetYourGuide
Tours and day trips from here
Boat trips, guided tours of the ancient sites and tickets bookable ahead — free cancellation on most.
- Ouzo in PlomariDistilleries that have been in the same town since the nineteenth century. Ouzo here is drunk with food — usually the salted sardine of Kalloni.See guided tours →
- The petrified forestTwenty-million-year-old trunks turned to silica, standing in bare hills — a UNESCO Global Geopark, and almost always empty.Check tickets →
- A car for a weekIt is two and a half hours from the airport to Sigri in the far west. Without a car you will see one corner of a very big island.Compare cars →
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Where to stay
The other parts of Lesvos
- Mytilene & the eastA real city of thirty thousand people with one of the largest castles in the Mediterranean, the airport and the port — and the sheltered Gera gulf behind it.6 attractions · 3 beaches · 3 restaurants & tavernas · 8 where to stay
- Molyvos, Petra & the northGrey stone houses in tiers under a Genoese castle, a fishing harbour below, and a hot spring running into the sea at Eftalou — where most of the island's hotels are.5 attractions · 5 beaches · 7 restaurants & tavernas · 8 where to stay
- Plomari & the southThe ouzo town, with distilleries that have been there since the nineteenth century, sheltered coves on either side of it and the island's longest beach at Vatera.4 beaches · 3 restaurants & tavernas · 3 where to stay
Before you go
Car hire from local firmsIsland rental companies rather than the international desks — usually cheaper, often with full insurance and no card deposit. On Crete, Kefalonia or Naxos a car is what gets you to the beaches the buses do not reach.Compare local cars →Scooter, ATV & bike hireThe classic island runabout for coves and hilltop villages. Wear the helmet, check what the insurance excludes, and be honest about gravel roads — they are where most rental accidents happen.Find a scooter →Car hire, budgetAn aggregator that tends to surface the lowest headline prices. Read the fuel, insurance and ferry clauses — many contracts do not allow the car on a boat.Compare prices →
We may earn a commission from these. It never changes your price.
