The Ultimate Travel Guide to Kefalonia, Greece
Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece. It is known to have some of the best beaches in the greek islands and is a perfect place for a holiday. Read on for The Ultimate Travel Guide to Kefalonia, Greece.
When to visit Kefalonia
Kefalonia has hot sunny summers and mild rainy winters. We visited in April, right at the beginning of the tourist season and it was low 20’s celsius. It was a really nice time to visit if you’d like quiet beaches and places practically to yourself. However, the sea was cold and a lot of restaurants hadn’t opened yet for the season. We felt that May half term would be a great time to visit as places would be fully open but it wouldn’t be the boiling temperatures of the summer just yet. The Greek islands in the summer months are a very popular destination so expect it to be busy if you do visit during peak season. If you’d like to find out more about what Greece and the Greek Islands have to offer check out the brilliant Family Experiences Blog here.
Our top recommendations on the island of Kefalonia
Myrtos Beach
Kefalonia is full of incredible beaches but Myrtos Beach is up there with the best of them. Situated in the north west of Kefalonia island, Myrtos beach is in a bay, framed with crystal clear waters and surrounded with green hills and steep rocky cliffs. It’s one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The road down to it is twisting and turning, but it is worth it for what is waiting for you. When we went, we had the beach almost to ourselves but I can imagine it is extremely popular during the summer months.
Melissani Cave
Visiting these caves was a highlight of our visit, and if you go, you will see why. You take a small boat into the cave and the impressive landscape has to be seen to be believed, let alone the colour of the world which is incredible. Because it wasn’t busy when we went we had the boat to ourselves so had a private tour of the cave, enjoying the natural beauty of this great place. Check out our detailed review here.
Antisamos Beach
Again, Antisamos is one of Kefalonia’s most famous beaches and for good reason. It is long and wide and has small pebbles and turquoise waters. The surrounding hills covered in pine trees, it is the ideal place to spend a few hours – or even the whole day. When we went we packed a picnic and had it on the beach. During peak season there is beach bars and sun loungers/umbrellas to rent and it does get busy. When we visited we had the beach almost to ourselves but no facilities were available.
Sami
The Port of Sami is a lovely town located on the east of the island. Whilst pretty small we found it to be a really nice place to stop for lunch whilst watching the fishing boats. From here there are many boats leaving daily to other parts of Greece and even Italy.
Fiskardo
The town of Fistardo in the North of Kefalonia was my favourite that we visited during our stay. It survived fairly unscathed from the devastating earthquake that affected much of the rest of the island, so the architecture is older than much of the other towns and the traditional houses are gorgeous.
Situated around a pretty harbour, there are lovely souvenir shops and restaurants placed perfectly to watch the day cruise boats coming and going. I can imagine in the high season this town is bustling but it was relaxed (but busy enough) when we went which was great.
Argostoli
The Capital of Kefalonia is Argostoli. As you would expect from a Capital City is it the most populous place on the island. However, it still retains its traditional architecture, cute restaurants, a lovely promenade and palm tree lined streets. Whilst it was quiet when we were there we were really pleased we took a day trip there, we had a delicious lunch and could see that once all the restaurants opened for the season you’d be spoilt for choice. We found it easy to park our rental car on the water front.
Summary
We completely fell in love with Kefalonia. It is a beautiful island, and we had the best time exploring all the amazing things it has to offer.
Thanks for reading The Ultimate Travel Guide to Kefalonia, Greece, we hope you found it useful. If you’d like to read more about where we stayed in Kefalonia, check out our Airbnb Review here.
