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THE MAINLAND OF GREECE & THE SARONIC ISLANDS
THE MAINLAND OF GREECE MAP [ ↑ ]
The mountainous mainland of Greece is comprised of a multitude of peninsulas and gulfs, and Evia, a large island connected to the mainland via a short bridge, is almost always grouped with the mainland. Henceforth, the mainland should be understood to include Evia. The total land area of Greece, including all its many islands, covers about 132,000 square kilometers, and roughly 84% of that area is the mainland. For perspective, the mainland of Greece is about the size of the U.S. state of Virginia. Athens is situated toward the southern end of the mainland. If you started in Athens and took a road trip across Greece to some distant corners of the country, it would take you less than 3 hours to get to the west coast of the Pelopponese, 6 to 7 hours to get to Albania, or 8 to 9 hours to get to Turkey.
The mainland of Greece is traditionally divided into six geographic divisions (which do not share the same boundaries with modern administrative divisions). Those geographic divisions are Sterea Ellada, Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace. Sterea Ellada (a.k.a. Central Greece) spans the country from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea, but, for the purposes of this guide, we have replaced Sterea Ellada with Attica and Evia, which are subdivisions of Sterea Ellada toward its east (Aegean) side. There are no listing for the west (Ionian) side of Sterea Ellada, nor are there any listings for Thrace, the part of Greece that borders Turkey.
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| | Attica MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Covering an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, Attica is the most densely populated region of Greece, encompassing Athens and its suburbs. Much of Attica is a wedge-shaped peninsula that tapers going south. Attica does not have any nude beaches that are really well-known to tourists, but there are a handful of places that are known to locals.
The seafront of Athens is on the western side of the Attica peninsula, along a body of water called the Saronic Gulf. Going southeast from Athens, Vouliagmeni is an affluent outer suburb where there is a trio of small south-facing inlets called the Limanakia Coves 37.8010N, 23.7921E   that are just below the coastal road. Although there is no beach, these coves are popular with swimmers and sunbathers who spread out on rock ledges. Nudity is well established at the middle cove, and nudity is also possible at the less attended eastern cove. The nudist coves are mostly haunts for gay men, with women rarely in attendance. Continuing southeast beyond Vouliagmeni, Attica becomes more exurban than suburban. In the town of Anavyssos, there are two beaches with a nudist presence. Mavro Lithari Beach 37.7221N, 23.9087E is an unsigned beach tucked just below the coastal road, and you could easy drive right past it and never know it was there. Just a few kilometers away, Agios Nikolaos Beach 37.7199N, 23.9288E is a much more popular and better known beach, with nude bathers clustered at a remote corner well away from the main beach. Farther southeast near the village of Legrena, K.A.P.E. Beach 37.6598N, 23.9778E has a tiny nudist section that is often jam-packed with naked bodies on hot summer days, and it has much more of a gender balance compared to the two previously mentioned locations. Of the three locations that are southeast of Athens, only the Limanakia Coves are reasonably easy to reach by public transit, with the metro and bus trip from the city center taking about an hour.
East of Athens in the port town of Rafina, a small number of nudists—mostly gay men—are usually present at the Askitario Rocks 38.0084N, 24.0236E , a very jagged stretch of coastline below a very minor archaeological site. Farther north near the village of Grammatiko, Ramnous Beach 38.2219N, 24.0301E is a hidden and lightly attended beach below a significant archaeological site that is a minor tourist attraction. The beach is toward the north end of the east coast of Attica, looking out over the South Evian Gulf, the body of water that separated the Greek mainland from the large island of Evia. Nude bathing is well established at Ramnous, a very quiet beach that never gets crowded, with usually just a dozen or so visitors even during the middle of summer.
Going toward the Peloponnese, the town of Kineta is situated at the top of the Saronic Gulf toward the far west of Attica, closer to Corinth than to Athens. Beyond the main town beach, Kineta Beach East 37.9763N, 23.2503E is a hidden part of the beach tucked against cliffs below the coastal road. It is primarily a gay beach, and most visitors go naked.
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| | Epirus MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Epirus is the northwesternmost region of mainland Greece, and, measured very roughly, it has about 130 kilometers of coastline along the Ionian Sea. On its north side, Epirus borders Albania, while the southern end of the coastline of Epirus is defined by the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, a large body of water that is enclosed except for a narrow opening to the sea that is just 600 meters wide. The Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel is a road tunnel under the mouth of the gulf that links coastal Epirus to points farther south. Epirus lacks any really well-established nude beaches, but there are a handful of sites that draw a scattering of nudists. Toward the southern end of Epirus in the village of Kanali, the south end of Kanali Beach 39.0519N, 20.7019E has a semi-remote zone about halfway between two access points that draws a few nude bathers (mostly men), but there can be lots of passers-through on summer weekends. A more secluded option a bit farther north is Artolithia Beach 39.1125N, 20.6107E near the tiny village of Riza. Artolithia is a lightly attended beach that can only be entered at one end, and nudists generally have plenty of privacy toward the opposite end. Syvota is a village much farther north in Epirus, and there are minor nude bathing possibilities at each end of the village: Micro Drafi 39.3924N, 20.2693E on the south end and D.E.H. North Beach 39.4172N, 20.2295E on the north end. Both are very small beaches with irregular nude use, with nudist potential greatly diminishing during peak summer season.
While Epirus itself offers limited nudist options, it is very close to two Ionian Islands that have far better options for nudists: Corfu and Lefkada. Corfu is accessible by ferry from Igoumenitsa, the northernmost major town of Epirus, close to the Albanian border. Ferries from Igoumenitsa go to two locations on Corfu, trips take 60 to 90 minutes, and it isn't terribly expensive to take a car. Lefkada is one of just two Greek islands (the other being Evia) that is bridged to the mainland. To get there from Epirus, cross the previously referenced Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel, continue south and west about 20 kilometers, then cross the causeway to Lefkada.
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| | Evia MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Evia (a.k.a. Euboea), off the eastern coast of Greece, is the second largest Greek island after Crete, but unlike distant Crete, Evia is very close to the mainland. In fact, it is difficult to discern that Evia is an island unless you can zoom way in on a map. Evia is so close that it is one of just two Greek islands (the other being Lefkada) that is bridged to the mainland, and it is usually regarded as an extension of the mainland. From Athens, it is about 70 kilometers by car to the short bridge to Evia. Although Evia is quite beautiful, it is mostly unknown to tourists, and although it is a span of more than 160 kilometers from one extreme of the island to the other, there is just one really popular nude beach on the island. That beach is Hiliadou Beach 38.6720N, 23.9167E , about midway along the eastern (Aegean) coast of Evia, at a driving distance of about 60 kilometers from the bridge to the mainland via some very twisty mountain roads. Hiladou is a beautiful and popular beach, with nude bathing well established at its sheltered northwest end. Farther north on the island, Agia Anna Beach 38.8450N, 23.4606E is a long beach that is popular with locals, with a small nudist presence at the remote far south end. However, it is quite minor in comparison to Hiliadou Beach. There are a number of other beaches in Evia that have a small or sporadic nudist presence, but for now those locations have been omitted since they are so poorly documented.
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| | Macedonia MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Macedonia is a large region of northern Greece, but the Republic of Macedonia is an independent country north of Greece that used to be part of Yugoslavia, and Macedonia as a historical region encompasses the Greek region and the independent country along with a corner of Bulgaria and slivers of Albania, Kosovo and Serbia. In this guide we're concerned only with the first of those iterations. The northern tier of Greece spans an east-west distance of about 600 kilometers, and Macedonia takes up most of that span, except for Epirus in the far west (bordering the Ionian Sea) and Thrace in the far east (bordering Turkey). Thessaloniki, the cosmopolitan heart of Macedonia, is the second largest city in Greece, situated at the top of an arm of the Aegean called the Thermaic Gulf.
Mount Olympus lies along the border of Macedonia and Thessaly, a bit inland from the Aegean Sea. The coastline of Macedonia from the regional border going north toward the Thermaic Gulf mostly faces east, and the resort towns along this stretch of the Aegean comprise the Olympian Riviera. Some of the longest stretches of sandy beach in Greece are found along this part of the coastline. Nei Pori is a resort village that is the southernmost coastal locality of Macedonia, at the border with Thessaly. Just south of the village, nude bathers gather along Nei Pori Wetlands Beach 39.9737N, 22.6663E , an undeveloped stretch of the sandy beach that is backed by a lagoon. Farther north, near the major town of Katerini, Olympic Beach 40.2302N, 22.5865E is next to the resort village of the same name, which is alternately known as Olympiaki Akti. A few nude bathers gather at the south end of the beach, several hundred meters beyond where the textile crowd begins to thin out. A bit farther north, several developed clusters of the Olympian Riviera fan out from the town of Korinos, which is just a bit inland from the coast. At the north end of these clusters, Korinos North Beach 40.3282N, 22.6352E is a long and undeveloped stretch of coastline that is usually deserted except for nudists. It is possible to park and access this remote part of the coastline at multiple points. While nudity at Nei Pori and Olympiaki Akti occurs within a small and contained area, such is not the case at Korinos North, where nude bathing occurs along a stretch of more than 2 kilometers, and nudity is possible along an even longer expanse.
Thessaloniki and the Thermaic Gulf lie at the western edge of a distinctively shaped peninsular land mass called Halkidiki, alternately known as Chalkidiki or Chalcidice. Halkidiki is a peninsula with three sub-peninsulas that extend southward into the Aegean, and the shape of Halkidiki resembles a hand with three fingers pointing downward. The hand part of the peninsula is known as Northern Halkidiki, while the three fingers are named, from west to east, Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos. Going south from Thessaloniki toward Kassandra, Epanomi is a town near the city's large airport, and near Epanomi there is a small wedge-shaped peninsula known as Fanari. There are two beaches on the Fanari peninsula that draw nude bathers. The more popular of the two is a stretch of beach on the periphery of a popular textile beach called Potamos Beach 40.3787N, 22.9056E , and it is the closest established nude beach to Thessaloniki. On the other side of the Fanari peninsula, the beach around E.O.T. Camping 40.3943N, 22.9026E (which is no longer in operation) draws a smaller and more dispersed crowd of nudists. Southeast of Epanomi, Nea Kallikratia is another large town along the western side of Northern Halkidiki, and a few nude bathers gather along a remote, cliff-backed part of Akti Petmeza-Vrachakia Beach 40.3027N, 23.0839E about halfway between two access points. It is a very minor and obscure nudist location that is mostly a gay haunt.
Of the three fingers of Halkidiki, Kassandra is the most developed and touristed, with many large resort villages and crowded beaches. There are a handful of locations in Kassandra that are purported to get sporadic nude use, but information about those sites is so spotty and inconsistent that we have elected to omit them from this guide, with the exception of one. Near the village of Nea Fokea toward the northern end of the east side of the peninsula, nude bathing is well established along a very jagged stretch of coastline we have dubbed the Vothonas Rocks 40.1286N, 23.4130E for lack of a known name. At the other extreme of Halkidiki, geographically and figuratively, Athos is literally monastic, and it is shrouded in mystery even to most Greeks. Except for the very top of Athos where it connects to Northern Halkidiki, Athos, also known as Mount Athos, is an autonomous religious state under the auspices of the Eastern Orthodox Church, with 20 monasteries scattered through its very mountainous terrain. The road from Northern Halkidiki ends at Ouranoupoli at the top of Athos, and the monastic state is accessible only by ferry and only to those who have made prior arrangements since the number of visitors allowed per day is very limited. For the casual foreign tourist, Athos is effectively off limits since preference is given to Greek citizens, and a foreign visitor has to go through an application process that includes, among other things, a letter of reference from his country's embassy in Athens. And, yes, that is just his, not his or her. Athos, home to about 2,000 monks, is off limits to women. Sithonia, the middle finger of Halkidi, occupies something of a Goldilocks zone: more rugged than Kassandra but not as rugged as Athos; not overly developed but also not a cloistered religious state. Oh, and women can go there!
Scenic, mountainous and covered in pine forests, Sithonia is popular with Germans and Eastern Europeans, and it has more nude beach options than any other part of Macedonia. A 109-kilometer-long road hews toward the coastline as it makes a loop around the perimeter of Sithonia, and all the nude beaches are accessible via short detours from the loop road. Going clockwise around Sithonia, Orange Beach 40.1269N, 23.9713E near the village of Sarti is an extremely beautiful beach that was once the most renowned nude beach of Halkidiki, but it has woefully seen a huge influx of textiles over the past few decades. These days, there is very little nudity during July and August but more during other months. Much more reliable choices for nudity are a bit farther south at Platania Beach 40.0749N, 23.9882E , Kriaritsi Beach 40.0232N, 24.0192E and Kalamitsi Beach 39.9914N, 23.9966E , all of which are less than a half hour by car from Orange Beach. Platania Beach is the quietest of the three, yet it is very close to the tourist development of Sarti. At Kriaritsi, nudists gather along the middle and least accessible of three adjacent beaches, south of the main beach but north of a small beach that has become textile since a beach bar opened there in 2018. Similarly, at Kalamistsi nudists occupy the smallest and most hidden of a cluster of three beaches. Orange, Platania, Kriaritsi and Kalamitsi are along the eastern side of Sithonia. Continuing around the southernmost part of Sithonia to the western side of the peninsula, there is a cluster of beaches north of the village of Toroni, and the most hidden of those is Aretes Beach South 39.9996N, 23.8694E , a small beach that is very popular with nudists in the know. Continuing north, Porto Carras near the town of Neos Marmaras is the only large resort complex in Sithonia, but in a nature reserve just south of the resort there are lots of tiny beaches that get very limited visitation. Among those are a cluster we've deemed the Porto Carras South Beaches 40.0492N, 23.8018E that offer the best nudist potential. Of the five Sithonia locations, four of them—Orange, Kriaritsi, Kalamitsi and Aretes South—are quite popular with primitive campers, so at all these locations you are likely to see lots of small tents along the beach or, in the case of Orange Beach, in the woods behind the beach. All the Sithonia locations are at a driving distance of 125 to 160 kilometers from Thessaloniki.
Going east beyond Halkidiki toward Thrace, Loutra Eleftheron Beach 40.7208N, 24.0776E is located along a lightly traveled segment of coastal road that has been superseded by the A2 motorway. This rather obscure beach tends to be deserted except for a handful of nudists. The beach is about 45 kilometers east of Kavala, the closest major town.
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| | Peloponnese MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
The Peloponnese, or the Peloponnesian peninsula, is the large land mass at the southwestern extreme of mainland Greece, west of Athens. Covering a land area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, the Peloponnese has an irregular shape somewhat reminiscent of an amoeba, and it is nearly encircled by water. It has two connections to the rest of Greece, one natural and one man made. At the town of Corinth, the Peloponnese connects to the mainland via a short isthmus. (The Corinth Canal, built across the narrowest part of the isthmus, has technically made the Peloponnese an island since it was completed in 1893.) Since 2004, the Peloponnese has also been connected to the mainland via the Rio-Antirrio bridge, a nearly 3-kilometer-long cable-stayed bridge that spans the Gulf of Corinth on the outskirts of the city of Patras, very close to the northernmost point of the Peloponnese.
The Argolic Gulf is the easternmost of three large gulfs that prominently indent the south side of the Peloponnese. On the east side of the Gulf, there are two adjacent south-facing beaches in the village of Kantia. While the main beach—the more eastern of the two—is a conventional textile beach, nude bathing is common at Kantia Beach West 37.5200N, 22.9446E . It is a lightly visited beach that rarely has more than a dozen nude bathers in attendance.
In the northwestern area of the Peloponnese, west of Patras and the Rio-Antirrio bridge, Kalogria Beach 38.1666N, 21.3643E & 38.1471N, 21.3684E near the village of Araxos is a long sandy beach amid gorgeous scenery, backed by a dense, lush, deep-green band of woodlands comprised mainly of distinctively shaped umbrella pines that lend the area an aura of enchantment. The main (textile) gathering place at Kalogria is toward the northern end of the 7-kilometer-long beach, and there are two areas for nudists. Immediately north of the long beach, there is a small, completely separate beach which is attended mostly by bare bathers. Furthermore, most of the main beach south of the textile area is empty, offering ample opportunities for nudists who prefer more privacy.
About midway along the western coast of the Peloponnese, Kaiafas Beach 37.4993N, 21.6057E near the town of Zacharo is a long beach that is hidden from the nearby coastal road, with no developed access points and no signs pointing the way. It is frequented by nude bathers, who tend to be very spread out since there is so much space relative to the number of visitors.
Toward the south end of the west side of the Peloponnese, two nearby beaches north of the village of Pylos offer varying degrees of opportunity for nude bathing. Voidokoilia Beach 36.9621N, 21.6600E is a large, sandy crescent in an idyllic bay. A place of stunning and unique beauty, and it is arguably the most renowned beach of the Peloponnese, drawing lots of visitors despite a lack of any kind of amenities. Nudity occurs sporadically at one end of Voidokoilia during the off season, but nudity is frequently not a viable option. However, just north of Voidokoilia and accessed from the same parking area, Glossa Beach 36.9666N, 21.6589E is a hidden beach in a tiny, sheltered bay, offering an enchanting environment on a miniaturized scale compared to Voidokoilia. Nude bathing is much better established at Glossa than at Voidokoilia.
Continuing south of Pilos to the southwestern corner of the Peloponnese, Anemomilos Beach 36.8022N, 21.7867E extends west from the village of Foinikounta. This 2-kilometer-long sandy beach is lined with four camping establishments. Between two of them, nude bathing occurs along a dune-backed segment of the beach that is comparatively secluded.
LODGING
Fig Leaf Villas
36.9331N, 21.9170E
Kalamaki
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| | Thessaly MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Thessaly is the region of central Greece that is north of Attica and Evia but south of Macedonia, and its coastline is along the Aegean sea. The southern end of the coastline of Theesaly is formed by the Pelion peninsula, a hook-shaped land mass that resembles a flexed arm, partially enclosing a body of water called the Pagasetic Gulf. If you think of the shape of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, invert it then rotate it 90 degrees clockwise and you've got the basic shape of the Pelion. Along the eastern (Aegean) coast of the Pelion, Melani Beach 39.2627N, 23.2939E is a picturesque sand-and-shingle beach in a hilly, verdant setting. One end of the beach is popular with nude bathers, and it is the most popular nude beach of Thessaly. Farther north in Thessaly, near the coastal village of Agiokampos, Rakopotamos Beach 39.6403N, 22.8988E consists of three adjacent beaches, and the hidden southern beach is frequented by nudists.
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THE SARONIC ISLANDS MAP [ ↑ ]
The Saronic Gulf is the large body of water between Attica and the Peloponnese. Athens lies along the eastern side of the gulf, as does Piraeus, the suburb of Athens that is the location of Greece's largest port. More ferry trips to the Greek islands originate in Piraeus than in any other place in the country. The Saronic Islands include four inhabited islands in the Saronic Gulf—Salamina, Aigina, Agistri and Poros—along with a number of smaller uninhabited islands. Additionally, there are several islands off the coast of the Peloponnese that lie between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Gulf, a large indentation of the Peloponnese. These islands—the largest of which are Hydra, Dokos and Spetses—are sometimes grouped with the Saronic Islands, and the expanded island group may be referred to as the Argo-Saronic Islands.
The Saronic Islands are very popular since they can be reached quickly and cheaply from Piraeus. They can even be day-tripping destinations. Many mainland Greeks have vacations homes in the Saronic Islands due to their convenience, and many Athens visitors take excursions to the Saronic Gulf for a taste of the Greek islands without going too far afield. Alas, this convenience to the mainland makes the Saronic Islands a generally poor choice for naturism. The only established nude beach in the Saronic Gulf is in Agistri, the smallest of the four inhabited islands.
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| | Agistri MAP [ ↑ ]
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NUDE BEACHES
Agistri is a small island that covers just over 13 square kilometers, and just about all the development of the island is contained within Skala and Milos, two villages that are less than two kilometers apart. Halikiada Beach 37.7010N, 23.3728E is a hidden beach with a nudist tradition that dates at least to the early 1980s. It is within easy walking distance from Skala, but a reasonable level of fitness is required to clamber down to the beach. With a little planning, you can visit Agistri as a day trip from Athens and have up to ten hours on the island, allowing ample time to visit the nude beach. You do not need transportation on the island.
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