Once we set foot in the beaches Limnionas and Armiriki we realised that they both belong to the category “love it or hate it”. We ‘hated’ it for the obvious reasons. Too much crowded, too much noisy… Yet you should bear in mind that our visit took place in the second week of August, so perhaps we exaggerate things a little! Anyway we moved to the next beach Zarakes which is not bad at all, less beautiful but much more suitable for longer stays.
We arrived at Limionas beach [38.24297,24.24650] late in the afternoon with plans to enjoy the rest of the day swimming and possibly to spend the night there. It could be a nice scenario because the beach is really beautiful but we changed our mind as soon as we saw the crowd. OK, maybe ‘crowd’ is not the most appropriate word, but it is quite indicative to our standards. First, it was impossible to find a place to park outside the fenced parkings of the restaurants. Nevertheless, we saw a couple of campers inside these parkings and they told us that the atmosphere was relaxed (“just buy something to drink”). Second, we are less and less tolerant of the ‘beach’ noise (squeaks, music, rackets etc). Although there was a strong possibility that the place would be quieter during the night (no bars, tents or other visible noise sources) we decided not to risk and we left.
We moved a little further north up to Armiriki beach [38.26122,24.25108]. What a wonderful and absolutely wasted place! As you can see from the images, free camping is NOT prohibited or at least it is largely tolerated. This has resulted in a mass of tents, pretty like an unofficial campsite (two huts has been turned into bars with toilets and showers), where some smart guys ‘book’ early in the summer their spots by placing their empty tents. They deprive space from the others for months just to enjoy one week of ‘free-camping’ holidays. Unfortunately, this disgrace is typical to many Greek islands, not only Euboea.
By that time it was too late and we were too tired to continue our journey so we decided to stay for the night trying to complain as little as possible. During dinner time, it was like a nightmare (or for others a …feast) with smell of barbecued flesh, screamings, undefined but loud music and other sufferings. It was a great and unexpected surprise that around 11:00 pm the ‘campsite’ became silent. A good night sleep helped us to deal with the very early morning waking. We had breakfast and left this amazingly beautiful but unbearable during peak season beach.
When we arrived at Zarakes beach [38.31583,24.22600], located just half an hour away, we regretted our decision to stay in Armiriki instead of trying to find a better place. This was a definitely better place! If we want to be sincere the beach is not that great and there is a slightly decadent atmosphere (which I personally like a lot!). Α couple of Greek campers were parked at the edge of the beach and that’s all. There is a very convenient tap next to the shower where you can refill you tank. Zarakes is definitely a good stop-over.
