**FREE first night meal at our local village taverna. Dimitris' taverna will welcome you on the first night of your stay for a complimentary traditional Greek meal**

A home from home! This beautiful Greek stone villa is situated on the outskirts of the traditional hillside village of Paleokatouna, only 3km from the popular resort of Nidri. The main features of the house include: panoramic sea and mountain views, a large well-equipped kitchen, five bedrooms, four ensuite bathrooms, one extra downstairs WC, deck-level infinity swimming pool, ping pong table and Wi-Fi.

Upon entering this homely villa you are welcomed into a spacious entrance hall. The large fitted kitchen on the right comes complete with two ovens, an island with induction hob, microwave, double sink, dishwasher and ample dinnerware and utensils. The cosy sitting room, on the left, overlooking the pool has a corner sofa, armchair, open fireplace and smart TV. One double bedroom with connectable twin beds is located on the ground floor boasting immediate access to the pool and private en-suite bathroom with shower.

Up the sweeping marble staircase to the first floor there are a further four bedrooms. The large master bedroom to the front, with private access to the sundeck overlooking the satellite islands of Lefkada, has a large bathroom with his and her basins, walk-in shower and toilet. Two further bedrooms are interconnected by a shared bathroom, with a double bed in one and twin beds in the other, it is ideal for a family of four. The final and fifth bedroom with twin connectable beds has a balcony overlooking the pool with a table and chairs complete with stone chess set ready to be played! This room also has a private en-suite bathroom with shower. All windows and doors in the villa have mosquito screens.

The outside comprises of two shaded seating areas - with comfortable outdoor lounge furniture and a beautiful dining table made with lava from Mount Etna. The swimming pool, BBQ and table tennis provide more entertainment. The raised sun deck with panoramic sea and mountain views - accessed from the master bedroom - is perfect for pre-dinner drinks as the sun sets and casts a magical pink light on the mainland mountains.

This villa is perfect for extended families and groups of friends, the lounge and dining area outside make it the perfect place for evening BBQs and social gatherings, overlooking the Ionian islands.

The villa meets the standards of the Greek Tourism Board and has been awarded an EOT license for short-term rental.

GETTING TO LEFKADA:
The island is incredibly accessible due to the bridge that connects it to the mainland, so in addition to the local airport of Preveza there are other options to get here. Many low cost airlines fly into the neighbouring island of Corfu, from which you can take a 1.5 hour ferry to the mainland, collect a hire care and take an enjoyable 2 hour coastal drive south to Lefkada. Flights into neighbouring Kefalonia offer another option, a taxi or hire car from the airport to the ferry port in the north allows you to board a ferry directly to Lefkada. Other options are flights into the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki - both a 5 hour drive to the island largely along new and empty motorways. For further details about these options simply get in touch!

THE HISTORY OF LEFKADA - written by Nick Edwards
Lefkada largely shares the history of the rest of the Ionian archipelago. There is some evidence of Neolithic settlements and in Homeric times the island is supposed to have been given by Laertes to Arcadius, when their children Odysseus and Penelope got married. This myth and the discovery of some Mycenean remains near Vassiliki led respected nineteenth-century German archaeologist Wilhelm Dorpfeld to claim Lefkada was the real site of Odysseus' home, rather than Ithaki.

The island was an important power base for the Corinthians during the Classical period and played a key role in the Peloponnesian War. It became a quiet backwater during Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times and it was later under Venetian control for less time than the other Ionians, only around a century from 1684 to 1797. Its proximity to the mainland also made it more susceptible to Turkish raids and although it was never held by the Ottoman rulers of mainland Greece for long, it did undergo short spells of Tourkokratia.

Lefkada also shares the Ionian penchant for music and the arts, boasting its own form of kantades and having been home to some prominent members of the Ionian School of Painting, most notably Panagiotis Doxaras (1662-1729) and his son Nikolaos (1705-75). The most famous man of letters to hail from Lefkada was poet Aristotelis Valaoritis (1824-79) but half Irish/half Greek writer Lefcadio Hearn was also born here and named after the island, although he subsequently wrote more about Japan and New Orleans. The artistic tradition continues into the present day in the shape of the annual Festival of Music, Arts, Literature and Dance, which extends throughout the summer and attracts performers from all over the globe.