The vine-roofed street
Wisteria shading the main street between the shops.
Rosa-Maria Rinkl — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Christian Scheja from Munich, Germany — CC BY 2.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Stex-1999 — CC0
**A stone town climbing a hill beneath a castle, its lanes shaded by wisteria** — at the northern tip of Lesbos, and unquestionably the loveliest thing on the island. Its official name is **Mithymna**, but everyone calls it **Molyvos**. Its houses are of **grey and red stone** rather than white plaster — which makes it look entirely unlike the Cyclades: an **Ottoman-Aegean** town of wooden balconies and arched doorways. ⚠ Its streets are **stone-paved and very steep**, and all of them climb to a **Genoese castle** on the summit. ✅ Its best-known feature is the **main street roofed by wisteria** — a green tunnel over the paving between the shops. ✅ Below it lies a **small harbour** of fishing boats and waterside tavernas. ⚠ And the Turkish coast is very close on the horizon.
Wisteria shading the main street between the shops.
A summit fort over the town, the sea and the Turkish coast.
Fishing boats and waterside tavernas below the town.
Mithymna, 81108 Lesbos, Greece
**Because it is not a Cycladic island: its architecture, size and climate all belong closer to Anatolia.** ✅ **The architecture**: Lesbos's houses are of **exposed stone** — grey, red and brown — **with covered wooden balconies**, arched doors and tiled roofs, **an Ottoman-Aegean manner** found all along the facing Anatolian coast. **No white plaster and no blue domes** — that is Cycladic architecture, an entirely different region. ✅ **The size**: Lesbos is **Greece's third-largest island** — big enough for towns, plains, mountains and two enormous inland gulfs, **so it does not feel like an island**. ✅ **The economy**: **olives**, not tourism — some **eleven million olive trees**, with **soap and ouzo** as historic industries. **So the island lives off itself** and does not entirely convert in summer. ✅ **What that means for a visitor**: lower prices, genuine villages, **and far lighter crowds** — ⚠ **but also long distances**: the island is large, driving end to end takes two hours, **and a car is essential**.
**The island is very large — one base is not enough, so choose by priority or split your stay.** ✅ **Molyvos (north)**: **the most beautiful by far** — stone town, castle, harbour, nearby beaches and hot springs; **best if you want the place itself**. ⚠ But it is **far** from the west and south (an hour and a half to the Petrified Forest). ✅ **Mytilene (east)**: the capital, airport and port — **the best logistically**: transport, museums, restaurants and the widest choice of rooms; ⚠ **but it is a working city**, not a pretty destination. ✅ **Plomari / Agiasos (south)**: ouzo, mountain and traditional villages — **best for authenticity**. ✅ **Skala Eresou (west)**: a long sandy beach with the Petrified Forest nearby — **best for a beach and quiet**; ⚠ **very isolated** from the rest of the island. ✅ **The practical advice**: **for four days or more, split your stay** — two nights in Molyvos and two in the west or south; **otherwise you will spend your holiday in the car**. ⚠ **A car is essential** in any case.