Kefalonia Captain Corelli's Island Paradise
The Greek Ionian Island of Kefalonia Beaches and Resorts Guide
Aug 21, 2009
Let’s get the Captain Corelli thing out of the way first. The box office hit broadcast the island’s beauty far and wide and exploded visitor numbers in a way that surpassed the Greek tourism office's wildest dreams. But Kefalonia is a sizeable island with enough space to absorb the extra visitors with ease.
Yes, a couple of namesake cafes have set up shop, but Hollywood stardom has not gone to the island’s head. It remains a smart upmarket destination with a strong yachtie contingent centred in Fiskardo.
Kefalonia’s highlights are all in the north, while the less characterful package resorts - Lassi and Skala, for example, are in the south. Public transport is a touch erratic so a hire car is the best way to roam around and explore the island.
The Greek Ionian Island of Kefalonia - Best Resorts and Bases
Argostoli, the island’s capital makes a buzzy base but the nearest beach is about a half-hour walk away in Lassi. At the centre of the action is Platia Vallianou, a lovely palm-lined square ringed with café terraces serving up sticky baklava with frothed-up frappé coffees.
At weekends the die-hard party crowd keeps the scene rocking until dawn. It's just 50m to the waterfront restaurant strip, and along Rizospaton are lovely pastel-washed villas with fancy ironwork balconies that survived the 1953 earthquake, now home to bars and restaurants.
At the northern tip of Kefalonia, Fiskardo is the island's answer to St Tropez. It's a postcard-perfect harbour of elegant pastel-washed Venetian houses with lavender and royal blue shutters. They also came through the quake in good shape, and now house chichi gift shops and trendy tavernas that bring day trippers flocking in.
It’s an undeniably charming place, however, Fiskardo’s popularity with the yachtie set and upmarket UK holiday companies keeps rooms full and prices high, so finding a bed can be a bit of a problem in peak season.
Assos is a heartbreakingly pretty village of tumbledown pastel houses in a dinky enclosed bay. Sightseers invade each day, but when they leave after lunch the idyll returns. To round off the perfect setting, a Venetian citadel sits atop an islet tethered by a causeway to the harbour. There’s a tiny pebble beach on the doorstep, or glorious Myrtos beach is a short drive over the headland
The Greek Ionian Island of Kefalonia - Best Beaches
Kefalonia’s turquoise jewel is the jaw-dropping beach at Myrtos. Seen from the cliffs above, the sea flaunts more shades of blue than a peacock’s tail. Unfortunately this beauty is a bit of a beast: the dazzling white sand is very exposed so a sun shade is needed, and the surging surf can be dangerous when swimming.
Antisamos beach is a glorious crescent of cream pebbles and aquamarine sea encircled by thickly wooded hills just a short drive from the likeable port of Sami. Both beach and port played starring roles in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Sami has a tempting harbour-front taverna strip to hang out on and is a useful base for island hopping on the ferries shuttling to and from the island of Ithaka.
Remote Petani beach on the wild west coast of the Lixouri peninsula is arguably Kefalonia’s best. It’s a heavenly strip of gleaming bone-white pebbles bracketed by plunging cliffs. The sea’s maybe not quite so milky turquoise as at Myrtos but it is at least safe to swim and is more user-friendly thanks to its two tavernas.
The Greek Ionian Island of Kefalonia - Best Sights Around the Island
Oarsmen row visitors around Melissani Lake near Sami as the overhead sun throws violet and purple lances into the deep indigo waters of the grotto. From here it’s a short drive to Drogarati Cave for a deliciously cool wander around the stalagmites and stalactites in the church-like underground chamber.
Wine lovers should head for the plain of Omalos, where the Robola wine co-operative offers tastings of the island’s signature grape. Also worth a visit is the Gentillini vineyard at Minies near the airport.
The museum at Agios Andreas monastery has a stunning collection of gilt and painted iconastases, carvings and icons left homeless after the earthquake flattened churches. Nearby is the ruined Byzantine citadel of Agios Georgios, built in the 4th century and later beefed up by Normans and Venetians to defend against Turkish raiders.
Getting to Kefalonia from the UK
Charter airlines offer the only direct flights from the UK to Kefalonia. Latest timings and prices can be found on the websites of Thomson, Thomas Cook, MyTravel and Monarch. Scheduled flights with BA or Olympic Airlines fly to Athens to connect with Olympic Airlines internal flights to Kefalonia.
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