Kefalonia’s best spots for sustenance, stays, sea, and sunsets ‑ an anti‑tourist‑trap list, based on 3 recent euro summer visits. Island hopping and AirBnB reccs below. I’ll admit that we either made food at home, or tried a different place for dinners / stopped at cafes en route – I’m still trying to find their names. But here are the ‘tangible’ tips to the beautiful island:
LOGISTICS
GETTING THERE:
For those with limited time to explore, there is an airport on the island, making it easy to reach by air, from Athens and select European cities. However, every time we’ve visited, we’ve opted to road-trip from Athens to Kyllini (about a 4 hour route), and then a ferry across to the Ionian islands, where we later hopped between. While there are no ferries from Athens’ ports, you can catch international ferries from Italy’s eat coast to the Ionian islands.
GETTING AROUND:
Because our journey included a roadtrip from Athens to Greece’s west coast, we took the car with us onto the ferry, and used it to explore Kefalonia. However, if you fly in and would like a niftier means of transport, I’d suggest renting a bike, as it is a rather large island. While there is public transport, and taxis are around, the former might not be as convenient or ‘freeing’, and the latter might rack up a large bill.
WHERE TO STAY:
While we have had some cat-fish stays, all of our best AirBnBs have been in Argostoli (town) and somehow listed with wonderfully ambiguous names:
Our first trip was quite last minute and organized as we were on the ferry to Kefalonia. I’m sure there are other wonderful places to stay at, but we chose an AirBnB called Thalassa View Maisonette run by Spiridoula – one of the best AirBnB stays to date! Beautiful views and clean, with everything you need. I would only recommend if you have a car or quad bike though as it’s far from the center (but there are bus stops close by), as well as a pertiptero (24hr kiosk) called ‘Dolphin’. More recently, we got to stay at House in Argostolion run by Spiros – and was also absolutely lovely.
HOW LONG TO STAY FOR:
Depending on your preference of holiday, you can either conquer Greece’s west coast, island hopping between the lush islands, and stay about 3-4 nights. Or you can enjoy a longer stay and explore the beautiful setting of Kefalonia for 5-6 nights.
EXPLORE
Foki, beach
Unpopular opinion but I think this is the best beach on the island! I’m not a huge fan of pebble beaches but this one is so quaint and green, it’s stunning! There is a small cafe across the road where you can get sustenance and bathrooms, and we found parking quite easily. I’ll admit the water is a bit dark so we didn’t see much when snorkelling, but it’s the perfect spot to read a book or play some tavli in the sun.
Myrtos, beach
A great place to watch the sunset, if not spend the whole day on the beach! Myrtos is one of the island’s iconic bays and rightfully so. Not many places to grab a bite to eat though, so bring snacks and water with.
Melissani, cave
Located just outside the town of Sami, you’ll find one of the most beautiful spots on the island. The small boats will take you into the middle of the waters where the light shines in from above – we were lucky enough to also hear one of the guides sing to himself and it echoed through cave – I cannot promise this as part of the experience, bless. But it’s a really lovely experience that I’d highly recommend. Melissani cave is also seeped with mythology and known as the ‘lair of nymphs’ – a suitable name for the enchanting spot.
Antisamos, beach
After visiting the cave, we missioned to Antisamos beach – a popular organized beach with beautiful waters and a buzzing bar. It’s a ‘convenient’ place to go – there’s parking, beds/umbrellas, bathrooms and restaurants, along with water activities to try. The bay is also nestled amongst the greenery, offering an incredible setting too.
Fiskardo, town
This picturesque little town is a great stop too – you can walk through the streets, explore the stalls and old ruins. We had some delicious seafood at 📍Tassia’s restaurant and the staff had even gifted us complimentary drinks and snacks to try. If you love bougainvillea, the town is full of them, but we happened to find a BnB called 📍Nitsa that has a full garden of blossoms and pink pots (although we did get chowed by mosquitoes here).
Gelato Fresco Italiano, gelato
The photos don’t do it justice and the shop itself is quite unassuming, but this was the best gelato we tried on the island! More recently though, we also came across Galiatsatos gelato (which Alec raved about but I had zero taste with my flu, so I cannot confirm this time, bless).
Ladokola, gyro
Gyros is out favourite go-to dinner, but the Ionian is not known for this type of food. However, Ladokola was a lovely find and quite cute (in that they served everything on a sheet of sandwich paper, gyro, salad, everything).
Agios Gerasimos, church
Visiting churches is a personal preference- but even for those that are not Greek Orthodox, this church / monastery was really beautiful to see. It was quite a drive up (from what I recall) but so worth it. And there was a local selling fresh ‘rigani outside too.
Neighboring islands
Zakynthos
The island of the iconic Navagio shipwreck, bright blue waters and turtle breeding ground – the island is a popular destination on the west coast. See more on Zakynthos on its must-see spots here.
Ithaca
The authentic small neighbor is considered one of the most beautiful islands by Greeks from all walks of life. Its preserved quaintness and natural beauty draw many of the locals, and is worth visiting as part of an island hopping experience.
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