Well, that’s hard to answer in one sentence.
We first came to Leros in 2010, it was our first visit to Greece. Frankly, it was “love at second sight.” It took a while for my wife and me to be captivated by this small island.

It took us a few days until we could fully engage with the “morbid charm” of some areas until we realized that Leros has a very individual, slowly grown tourism. We quickly noticed that in Leros the principle “Live and let live” exists as a kind of guiding principle. All of that was very nice to us.

But the most impressive, by far, was the way the Lerians greeted and welcomed us here, the way we were welcomed with open arms, and the warm openness with which people approached us or reacted to us.

While leaving the island we thought, beautiful – so this is Greece!

It took a few years, until 2015, for us to return to Leros and base our sailboat here. In the meantime, we traveled to some more regions of Greece. Yes, there is the prettier beach, there is the more original village or more impressive excavations – but we have not met such warm-hearted people as on Leros.
Islands with well-known names usually have their “highlights”, but overall and from the point of view of gentle tourism, it´s a matter of fact that every light also brings a shadow.
So we started to miss Leros, the hustle and bustle in Lakki and on Panteli Beach, the relaxed drink at the mills, well-kept food for every taste at fair prices, the sunsets in sleepy Gourna – and all the nice people we can now call “our friends“!

As a matter of all this, it was only a logical step that we chose the safe harbor of Leros Marina Evros as our home port when the decision to move fully to our boat was made. We have now been living on Leros since March 2021 – and have not regretted it for a minute!

So why is Leros so special, so unique?

This island is a wonderful, self-sufficient microcosm where the clocks turn a little slower than elsewhere, less hectic, and calm – the home of the warmest people we have met on our trip so far.