Lemnos International Airport to Thanos
About 28 km from the airport, south of Myrina; the posted taxi fare runs €34–42.
A wide sandy bay on the south-west coast below a hillside village, with clear shallow water, a couple of tavernas at the back of the beach and very little else — one of the best swimming beaches on the island.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Thanos, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €38). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €4) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €4 | €38 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €8 | €38 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €16 | €38 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €4, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Taxi
As with Plati, distinguish the village on the hill from the beach below it. The rooms and studios are split between the two and the walk down is easier than the walk back up.
Where to catch it: Half an hour west and then south past Plati along the coast.
Best for small groups in a hurryCar rental
Effectively necessary. Thanos has two tavernas and no shop, Myrina is ten minutes north for supplies, and the string of beaches south towards Agios Ioannis has no bus service at all.
Where to catch it: Just over half an hour; parking on the track behind the beach.
Best for travellers who want to explorePrivate transfer
Send the exact location when you book. Arrange the return too — there is no passing traffic here early in the morning.
Where to catch it: Useful because the studios above the beach are on unsigned tracks that a driver either knows or spends twenty minutes finding.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsBus / shuttle
Around five euros and an hour or more. It exists in July and August and barely otherwise, which is the standard pattern for beach routes on Lemnos.
Where to catch it: Airport bus to Myrina, then a southbound summer beach service.
Best for solo & budget travellersThanos & Lemnos in photos
Buying tickets in Lemnos
Lemnos does something unusual and helpful: taxis at the airport work to a posted fare board with set prices to the main settlements — Myrina around €30, Moudros €12–18, Plati €32–38, Thanos €34–42. Glance at the whole list on your way out, because it tells you what journeys will cost later in the week. KTEL Limnou also runs buses to Myrina roughly three times a day, Monday to Saturday, taking about 31 minutes for a few euros, terminating at Eleftherios Venizelos square where all island routes begin. There are no Sunday services. Beyond the capital the network thins to village runs timed for residents, and the beaches are essentially unserved, which is why nearly everyone staying outside Myrina hires a car.
Taxi scams & safety in Lemnos
With fares posted rather than negotiated, Lemnos is about as low-friction as Greek island arrivals get. The risks here are logistical. The rank is small — this island takes few flights — so a full arrival can clear it. More importantly, large parts of Lemnos have no taxi rank and no passing traffic at all: Keros, Thanos, Agios Ioannis and the archaeological site at Poliochni are all places a car drops you and then leaves. If you take a taxi to a site rather than a settlement, agree a return time with the same driver before they go. And if you are flying out early from anywhere outside Myrina, arrange the departure transfer when you book the arrival — with three buses a day and no passing trade at dawn, there is no fallback.
Getting from LXS to Thanos
Thanos is twenty-eight kilometres from the airport, south of Myrina on the west coast — a wide sandy bay below a hillside village, with clear shallow water, two tavernas at the back of the sand and very little else. It is among the best swimming beaches on Lemnos and the posted taxi fare runs €34 to €42.
Half an hour, and the usual village-or-beach question
The drive west and then south past Plati takes about thirty-two minutes. As at Plati, distinguish the village on the hill from the beach below it — the rooms and studios are split between the two, and the walk down is considerably easier than the walk back up in August. The fare board lists Thanos; say which part when you get in.
What is actually at the beach
A long curve of pale sand, dunes behind it, and water that stays shallow a long way out. Two tavernas operate in season and there is no shop, no cash machine, no organised sunbed operation on the scale of Plati. In July and August a scattering of people; in June and September you may have several hundred metres to yourself. That emptiness is the reason to come and the reason to bring supplies.
Unsigned tracks and where a booked car helps
The studios above the beach sit on tracks that are not always named or signposted, and a driver who has been sent the location finds them while one working from a description does not. Pre-booked transfers run €38 to €50, a modest premium over the posted fare. Send the exact pin when you book — this is a stretch of coast where addresses are approximate.
The summer bus, and what it does not cover
Airport bus to Myrina, then a southbound summer beach service — around five euros and an hour or more. It runs in July and August and barely otherwise, which is the standard pattern for beach routes on Lemnos. Outside those two months there is no public way to reach Thanos at all.
Myrina is ten minutes north
The practical saving grace. With a car, the capital's restaurants, shops and pharmacy are ten minutes away, which makes Thanos workable as a base in a way that the far south-west is not. Without one, you are relying on two tavernas and whatever you brought.
The beaches continue south
Beyond Thanos the coast road runs on towards Agios Ioannis and a string of smaller bays, most of them empty and none served by any bus. The sand improves as the development thins. With wheels this is a good afternoon's exploring; without them the beach you booked is the beach you get.
A car, and the reservation to make early
€25 to €45 a day, parking on the track behind the sand. Lemnos has a small rental fleet split between a handful of local firms at the terminal, and August books out. Given that this beach has no shop and the nearest supermarket is in Myrina, arriving without a vehicle and hoping to sort one out locally is not a plan that works here.
The village above, and why it is worth the climb
Thanos village sits a few hundred metres up the hill from the beach, a cluster of stone houses around a square with one or two tavernas that are noticeably cheaper than the ones on the sand. The view down over the bay is the reason to walk up in the evening, and the walk back down afterwards is easier than the reverse. It is the sort of ten-minute detour that most beach visitors never make.
Worth knowing that the sand here can shift noticeably between seasons — a winter of northerlies moves a lot of it, and the beach that was wide in September is sometimes narrower in May. It does not affect the swimming, but photographs from a previous year are not always a reliable guide to what you will find.
In short: €34–42 on the posted board with village or beach specified, €38–50 booked if you are on one of the hillside tracks, and a hire car for anything longer than a couple of days.
