With Lilies and Jasmines

The route covers a total of 62 kilometers and takes about 2 hours by car or motorcycle without stops. It is suitable year-round and appeals to visitors interested in gastronomy, culture, the natural environment, and outdoor activities.

In about 2 hours, this circular journey beginning and ending in Moudros presents Lemnos like a fairytale of nature and flavor. From Moudros harbor, with its many dining and lodging options, the road passes through Romanos and Varos before reaching Kotsinas, where the castle and settlement echo centuries of history. In Repanidi and Kontopouli, the salt pans sparkle under the sun, hosting migratory birds and salty fragrances worth discovering. Ancient Ifestia and Poliochni bring to light the origins of the Aegean and Greek civilization, while the beaches at Fanaraki and Keros invite swimming and relaxation.

Here, gastronomy is a hymn to land and sea. Fish soup with trahanas marries the riches of the sea with a traditional dairy product, while stuffed crab shells and limpets with rice, garlic, and herbs highlight the skill of local fishermen’s households. Black-eyed beans cooked with pork or lamb embody inspiration, love, and care. Lemnos’ kavourmas—pork preserved in fat with herbs—is a meze that pairs perfectly with warm pasta and a glass of Limnio wine.

In local shops and on village tables, you’ll find exceptional products ideal as meze: rustic breads and rusks made from mavragani wheat, melipasto cheese, olives, afkos, black-eyed beans, lamb, goat, sardines, petrobarbounia, excellent wines, and ouzo of Lemnos. For dessert, samsades—small rolls with walnut, honey, and cinnamon—are unbeatable, while almond sweets with rosewater offer a delicate, aromatic flavor that lingers in memory.

Each stop on this route tells a story of the island: the toil in the fields, the fisherman’s struggles, and the joy of company around the table.

Route Products

PDO products: Kalathaki Lemnou, Feta, Kasseri, Lemnos wine, Muscat of Lemnos.
PGI products: Lemnos olive oil, Lemnos lamb, Lemnos goat, Wine of the Aegean Sea.

Special products: Lemnos flour, rustic breads and rusks from mavragani wheat, afkos, sesame, black-eyed beans, trahanas, flomaria, melichloro or melipasto cheese, kaskavali cheese, meats, fish and seafood, wines, tsipouro, ouzo.

Route Delicacies

Lobster with mountain greens or spinach: An old fishermen’s recipe of Lemnos, combining seafood with tender greens in a dish that smells of spring and sea. Lobster is lightly sautéed in olive oil with onion, deglazed with white wine, and simmered with dill and tomato or lemon. Boiled mountain greens or spinach are added at the end. This exquisite dish is paired with the island’s finest wines.

Rooster with flomaria: A dish featuring Lemnos’ famous traditional pasta, resembling thin noodles or tagliatelle, made with flour, eggs, milk, and salt. The rooster is cooked in tomato sauce with onion, garlic, wine, and plenty of herbs. The sauce is then combined with the flomaria, which absorb all the flavors. The dish is finished with grated melichloro or other local cheese and paired with red local wine.

Lemnos samsades: Among the island’s most iconic traditional sweets, a hallmark of its pastry-making tradition. These syrupy rolls are filled with plenty of sesame, sometimes with added almond. Their uniqueness lies in the technique: the dough is rolled thin, brushed with oil, filled, then wrapped and “ruffled” to create their signature wavy, airy texture. After baking and soaking in syrup, they become crisp and honeyed. Cinnamon and clove enhance their flavor, while honey adds fragrance and sweetness.