August 2020 – 4 nights with the family
August 2021 – 3 weeks with the extended family
Overall our favorite Greek Island. And we hadn’t even heard of it until a few weeks before we went! It was even quieter than usual the first time we went because of Covid, but it is still an undiscovered gem.
We loved this island so much that we convinced our extended Greek family to come with us again the next summer. This time, we rented a house for 3 weeks and really got to know the island well. Usually, we prefer to visit different places each time we travel, but we loved going back to Kefalonia. On this repeat trip, we went again to all our favorite beaches, restaurants, and hikes.
Like the rest of our travel guides, this is not an all-encompassing account of everything we did. We do not want to make a list of ‘Best’ or ‘Must-do’ experiences since we know it depends on your personal preferences. These are only our personal favorites and they are divided into two groups: “Avventura Favves” and “Other Things We Liked”.
The Avventura’s Ionian Islands Map – see all of our Favves from Kefalonia and Zakynthos.
Overview
We love Greece. We love the people, the food, the beaches and the overall vibe. Our family all agrees that Santorini is more picturesque and beautiful, the food on Zakynthos was a bit more interesting and better, we love the nature and quiet of Skopelos, Crete has incredible diversity of experiences, but Kefalonia surprised us all by being the best overall experience. It’s the only one where we keep discussing that we would want to live there.
Kefalonia is a big island with a laid-back and classy vibe. It takes 2 hours to drive both across and up and down the island. Although you can stay in one location (as we did), if you want to experience all that this beautiful island has to offer, you can expect to spend some time in the car. It’s the cleanest and most organized island that we have been to in Greece (the trash bins were not overflowing, the bathrooms were always clean) and the people were incredibly helpful and friendly. They were genuinely proud of their island and offered us many recommendations. There were so many beautiful beaches and many great hiking trails. We were impressed with the traditional Greek flavor, but with an added modern sense of style and design (even little things like colorful and interesting beehives and hand painted signs at the beach). Visiting this island was an afterthought for us when we planned our trip to Zakynthos (its famous Shipwreck Beach had been on our list for awhile), but it truly deserved its own place in our adventures.
The first time here, we found a beautiful house (Villa Alonia) further east on the island, closer to Skala. The next time, we rented a house in Metaxata about a 15-minute drive from the main town on Kefalonia of Argostoli. We preferred the location near Argostoli a bit better as there were tons of options for beaches and restaurants within a short drive, but it was not as quiet with less naturalistic beauty than the eastern part of the island. We think ideally one should spend a few days in both parts.
Avventura Favves
Beaches – During our 3 1/2 weeks on the island, we went to tons of different beaches and we still missed some of the highlights!
Emplisi Beach – This one is a small, uncrowded pebble beach with easy parking and the most crystal clear water we have ever seen. It was like swimming in a pool. There are no chairs/umbrellas to rent. Update August 2021: This was still amazing water, but much more crowded this year! Get there early.
Dafnoudi Beach – This is a very isolated beach that requires a 10 minute walk through a shaded trail to reach (bring good shoes!). It was very rocky and had a beautiful cave you could swim into.
Myrtos Beach – This is arguably the most famous beach on the island with terrific views looking down on it from above. The water is such an amazing color. It is a large beach so it’s not very crowded but the parking is a bit crazy here, so like most of the beaches on the island, get there early! There are umbrellas and sunbeds to rent.
Fteri Beach – At the recommendation of a cousin who grew up on the island, we had made a plan to take out a boat to explore the extraordinary color and sand of the western beaches of the island, of which many are inaccessible by land. But we unexpectedly ended up in the hospital for 3 days with a bacterial infection for Joy, so we had to cancel this cruise. After getting safely out of the hospital, we elected to try the 45-minute hike to this beach. We read a lot of worrisome posts online about people having difficulty finding the path, but we found it reasonably well-marked and just continued to look for the red and green dots along the way. We were rewarded both with stunning views along the way and one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen. A definite must for those that are fit enough to handle the hike – it was quite a hill on the way back.
Antisamos Beach – This is arguably the most popular beach on the island and was definitely one of our favorites. It was on the east coast near Samos, so it was a bit of a drive for us. There are 3 beach clubs there – we chose the less expensive and more casual Antisamos Beach Bar and we loved the vibe. There was free parking, chairs/umbrellas, and really nice food at the adjacent restaurant. There is no sand here (all pebbles), but the beach is nestled right into the green surrounding mountains and you have the feeling that you are in Thailand.
Makris Gialos Beach – This was Lynn’s Dad’s favorite beach on this island so we went there many times. It’s a long sandy beach with plenty of space and very cushy chairs! The beach bar is reasonable and delicious and the kids had a great time with the water sports.
Sailboat to Ithaca – We did a sailing trip for the day going around the nearby island of Ithaca, and caught many beautiful beaches, including Gidaki Beach, of which were only accessible by boat. The cliffs are breathtaking and the water is such a unique shade of blue.
Atheras Beach – This is a smaller beach in a quiet port area with an excellent restaurant overlooking the beach.
Petani Beach – There were intense waves here that the kids loved. It was relatively crowded with cars but there was still enough space and it was beautiful.
Pessada Beach – This is a small uncrowded sandy beach with incredible water clarity. There are no chairs/umbrellas and no services and there are some stairs to climb down to get to it, but we loved it.
Spasmata Beach – This smaller beach was really quiet with chairs/umbrellas and was easy to access. It was literally right next to the airport and was actually quite fun to watch the planes take off every once and a while.
Kimila Beach – This is another beach near Fiskardo that requires a short hike to get to. The water is beautiful and the rocks are nice to climb, but it’s not so comfortable to sit for a long time as the pebbles are rough, but there is a bit of natural shade.
DIAS Apiary – Despite our love of honey and respect for bees, this is not something we would necessarily have thought to do. It was an incredible experience. Thanasis and his wife gave an extremely informative, entertaining and interactive tour (16€/adult, 10€/kid) which included honey tastings, wine and homemade snacks. Reservation required.
Ainos National Park – We strongly recommend this hike to the highest point of Kefalonia for the 360° views. Be sure to come from the northwest entrance to be on a paved road, park near the radio tower, and walk 15 minutes along a quiet unpaved road through fir trees. It is then a nice, short trail up to the highest peak. It was about 45 minutes in total. Bring a pen to share a message in the guestbook. Next time, we will take the long hike up to the peak (4.5 hours). It looked well-marked and beautiful. Update (Aug 2021) – we still didn’t get a chance to do the 4.5-hour hike, but the 45-minute hike was beautiful again. We highly recommend it. Keep an eye out for the wild horses if you have a 4×4 and are in the southeast part of the park near the monastery. Sadly we didn’t see any.
Haritatos Estate Winery – This is a small family-run winery that gives a nice tour by appointment only. It is a gorgeous property (in fact, it has been used in Aegean Airlines promotional material) with lots of dogs and other animals. It was 10 euro for the tour and tasting and their delicious wines were 10 euro per bottle (the 6th was free). Call for a reservation.
Restaurants & Bars
Taverna Gialos in Porto Atheras – They had many choices of freshly caught whole fish (we had a white grouper that was amazing), along with several traditional mezes. The location is ideal overlooking Atheras Beach.
Ladokolla – The location on the west side of the island offers an incredible sunset view. The staff was super friendly and there were several unique dishes, as well as traditional items on the menu.
Taverna Agrapidos – This was recommended to us by the local who gave us our rental car as the most delicious food on the island and she was not wrong! It had a beautiful view and the traditional food was spot-on. After dinner, walk down to Poros town for some local nightlife and to watch the Greek boys playing football on the square.
Myrtillo Cafe – We stumbled upon this cute and modern cafe on our way to the beaches up north and stopped in for a tasty smoothie using local yogurt and honey. There was lots more on the menu, delicious toasts and desserts. There were also local products for sale.
Dum Spiro Spero – This is a typical casual Greek Taverna. We ate here a couple of times and the owner is very friendly and his mother makes delicious spanakopita (spinach pie) and other classic items.
En Kefalonia (no picture, sadly!) – This is an organic restaurant with all local products that is only open on the weekends. We had difficulty getting a reservation as the phone was always busy, but eventually, we walked into the place to reserve it. The service was very good and the dishes were delicious. The setting in a beautiful garden area creates a beautiful ambiance.
Picnic – We had a great lunch here one day when visiting the beaches up near Fiskardo. Although they have classic Greek dishes, it is really more of an American-style cafe with lots of breakfast and sandwich choices. Kai had amazing pancakes and Joy enjoyed a BLT with avocado!
Lorraine’s Magic Hill – This family-run restaurant has the perfect combination of great cocktails, local ingredients, beautiful views, and friendly people. We sadly have no pictures of this one either because Dave went alone with the older 2 kids, while Lynn was in the hospital with Joy (long story, she’s fine!).
Anemos – The adults went here for a nice romantic night out and it did not disappoint. There are fun cocktails and delicious grilled meats with beautiful views right next to the water. Surprisingly it might have been the best cheeseburger we’ve ever eaten.
Captains Bar – We enjoyed delicious and unique ouzo and mastika (a Greek digestif) cocktails without kids one night in this fun nautical themed bar.
Outdoor Kefalonia – We saw this company the first time we were here but didn’t have a day to devote to an activity, so we booked it this time around. We did a 6-hour activity of Coasteering and it was just awesome. Our guide George led us through 5 km of coastline where we jumped from cliffs, swam through caves, and climbed up rocks. We also got to hold a sea urchin! They have other activities to choose from as well and it’s a very well-run company.
Accommodations & Car Rental
Villa Alonia – We stayed at this beautiful and comfortable private villa with a pool. It’s owned by an incredibly friendly family who provided many good recommendations to enjoy the island, as well as some food items and wine upon our arrival. They even restocked with some fresh tomatoes and wine later in the week.
Simotas Car Rental – This is probably the first and last time a car rental will be on the list of favorites, but they were super easy to work with and they gave us a great map and list of recommendations. The car wasn’t brand new, but it was very clean and in good condition.
Other Things We Liked
Melissani Cave – This is the most touristy thing to do on Kefalonia. It was interesting to see this lake in a cave, but it can be crowded and the water color is spectacular but so are the beaches.
Xi Beach – This is a beach with clay and dark sand. It’s long and beautiful and fun if you want to spread clay all over your body. Vardianni Tavern or Captain Nikolas seem like good food options, although we moved on from the beach pretty quickly and didn’t get the chance.
Fiskardo Village – This is the only part of the island not affected by the earthquake of 1953 and so the buildings are older and more historic. We ate at Nicolas Taverna for a beautiful view of the harbor. The second time there we enjoyed walking around the town and doing some shopping – there were lots of unique homemade items and it’s a good place to purchase some gifts.
Kaminia Beach and Katelios Grill House – This was right near Villa Alonia where we stayed in a very low key part of the island. It was such a huge beach that you could always find an isolated spot and we ate some excellent gyros here.
Other good restaurants
- Olive Restaurant near the Venetian castle (pretty views from up high, trendy but with classic dishes, we paid a little more but it was great)
- Myrtos Taverna (family taverna, nothing fancy with the usual taverna items but well-executed and the best Greek salad we had all week)
- Bakery Fournos – We picked up spanakopita (spinach pie), tiropita (cheese pie), and donuts and bread from this old man at this casual bakery many mornings. He runs out of everything by 10:00 am!
- Kath’ Odon Psitopoleíon (Odon Grill) – This casual spot has delicious gyros and souvlaki.
- Sepia Sushi Restaurant – While it might be the same caliber as top-notch sushi restaurants in major cities, they do prepare high-quality fish in a space with a trendy attitude. It’s also in a fun area of town that is busy with lots of people in the evenings and it is great to walk around.
Logistics and Miscellaneous Notes
- Ferry to Lixouri from Argostolion – This short ferry is a fun way to break up the drive if going to explore near Xi or Petani beaches. You can buy tickets on the boat and it runs approximately every half hour during the day. http://www.ionianseaferries.gr/en/itineraries – The dock is here: https://goo.gl/maps/pcuM9b4di4RAeKun9
- Kefalonia is very easy to get to. We took the direct ferry from Zakynthos (not from Zakynthos port but but the northern point of Agios Nikolaos; it arrives at the Pessada port on Kefalonia). There are only 2 ferries per day in the summer months. You can buy tickets at Xionis Tours in Zakynthos. There are multiple places on Kefalonia to get tickets – http://www.ionianseaferries.gr/en/sale-pointsprices
- We flew from Kefalonia home to Milan – direct on EasyJet. Super easy.
Next Time We Go
- Almost 4 weeks in total on this island and there are still more beaches to discover. Next time we’ll do that boat tour to Agia Kiriaki and Vouti beaches. Plus enjoy all of our favorites all over again.
Have any questions or suggestions for Kefalonia? Post them in the comments below or contact us at LewinAvventura@gmail.com.
The Avventura 