I am having difficulty deciding where to stay on Lesvos. We want quiet, and a not too touristy area, but we don't want to be (too) far out, although it seems that we will have a car (thanks Sheila and Eleni for answering my earlier post!). I was thinking of Eressos or Molyvos. Molyvos seems nice, but I keep reading different reviews of how touristy it is. Eressos seems almost ideal, but there appears to be very few hotels there (we don't want to stay in the big resort there, but I also don't want to just rent a room somewhere). We'd like relaxation and an ocean view without being so far out that we have to drive even just to go to dinner. I hope you all can help! We are going in September.

Thanks in advance!

We stayed in Skalla Kallonis which we liked a lot. Half a dozen tavernas and a couple of shops. Mostly apartments but 2 or three biggish hotels. In the early spring it's the only place that's busy, because of the birders.

Nowhere on Lesvos is touristy, really. Eressos tends to be where those who are visiting Lesvos for its association with Sappho stay. It's a very pretty town, bigger than Skalla Kalloni, and teh streets nearest teh beach are kept car free.

Molynos was brilliant; very undeveloped. Not many places to stay and I can't think of a beach around the village, though there are some a few miles along the coast.

We used, under the auspices of Matt Barrett's site, a travel agent in lesvos who was brilliantly helpful. When I get home, I'll give you the link for it.

I also

Definitely go for Molyvos ,as Eressos is more tha one hour drive from any interesting place.
Molyvos has been awarded as an european model for smooth tourism development respecting nature,architecture and traditions.
Here are my favourites www.votsalahotel.com near Thermi and
Panselinos near Eftalou http://users.otenet.gr/~samarigr/greek.htm

In any case you made one of the best choices with this island :incredible beauty of nature, traditional architecture, and fabulous food!!(a car is a must)

I found it. It was Eressos Travel. they were great.

And you could have a look at http://gogreece.about.com/gi/dynamic...m/history1.htm

I agree that nowhere on Lesvos is touristy. I absolutely loved both Molyvos and Eressos. Why can't you do both? Do you have enough time? Each place offers something different. Eressos is very laid back and beachy. Both places are incredibly friendly, with small-town feel. We rented a car and drove to Eressos for 3 days, then drove up to Molyvos for another 3 days.

In Eressos, we stayed at a small hotel, Hotel Gallini. However, it was not right on the ocean, but it was fine and a short walk to dinner. The town is very small, so everything is walkable. Lots of GREAT food all along the beach. We loved "Yamas" for a great place to hang out and relax during the day -- eat, drink. Hopefully they're still there (I haven't been in a couple of years).

In Molyvos, we stayed at the Sun Rise Hotel, which was beautiful, but it required a short drive to the main restaurant area down in the harbor. If it's still there, the Captain's Table is a fantastic place to eat.

As Sheila did, I also got tons of info and recommendations from Matt Barrett's site (www.lesvos.com)

We stayed in Petra last year. It was lovely with a great beach and a nice old town. It is only a short taxi ride into Molyvos which was really nice but has not got a decent beach. You can walk to Anaxos along the beach from Petra and coming back, stay to eat at one of the beach tavernas looking across the bay the floodlit castle at Molyvos. Heaven!!