Akrotiri Cape & Agios Andreas Lagoon

Where the island ends

Beyond Kamariotissa the land runs out into Akrotiri, also called Agios Andreas, the westernmost point of Samothraki: a narrow tongue of grey gravel built up by winds blowing from opposite sides, with the sea on three sides and a lighthouse at the tip. Look back from here for a view of Mount Saos you don't get anywhere else.

The walk

Allow one and a half to two hours, good shoes for the rocks and a jacket for the wind. From the ferry port walk west along the seafront pavement past the fishing harbour, about 15 minutes, to the modern church of Agios Nikolaos. The road climbs above the dark rocks of Mavra Vrachia and turns to dirt; after about 600 metres the lagoon appears on your left.

Agios Andreas Lagoon

This is the most important wetland on the island and a specially protected area. In spring and autumn it is a resting place for migrating storks, herons, egrets, cormorants, plovers and birds of prey, and occasionally pelicans and swans. Mount Saos is reflected in the water at sunset.

At the end of the lagoon stands the small white chapel of Agios Andreas, built in 1871, with old column fragments set into its walls. Archaeologists place the ancient port of Demetrion here, and one has suggested a temple of Demeter stood where the chapel is. In winter and spring a shallow seasonal lake, Koufki, forms nearby and draws more birds. A dirt road leads back to the asphalt at Kamariotissa.