GREECE & CYPRUS KEFALONIA DESTINATIONS FACING PAGE:
Myrtos beach and Mellisani Lake
LEFT: Joanna Booth
admires an Odysseus statue in Ithaca
BELOW: Assos village
viewed from a distance: it’s prettier from above and you can find quieter spots elsewhere. Fiskardo and Assos in the north are definitely worth visiting. Here you’ll find pretty, Venetian- style fishing villages where tavernas line the harbour and you can while away an afternoon watching the world go by. Our favourite taverna in Fiskardo was Tassia, where we feasted on seafood but luckily still had a spare corner left for the complimentary dessert. Boats are available to hire at the
far end of Fiskardo harbour from Fiskardo Boat Hire – prices range from €50-€100 per day plus fuel. All come with a sunshade and cool box, so pack swimming things and a picnic lunch and explore the coast – there’s no nicer way to see Kefalonia. The island’s geology has left some interesting cave formations, with two open to the public, both just outside Sami and
both easily visited in a morning. Walk through the cool of the 60m-deep Drogarati Cave to see hordes of stalactites and stalagmites, and then take a boat trip on the underground lake of the Melissani Cave. One of its two caverns is open to the surface and visitors who go between midday and around 2pm will see rays of sunshine making the water glow an almost unearthly blue – though the singing of the boatmen will bring them back to earth. Wine is grown in a few areas
on Kefalonia, so clients can drop into vineyards for tastings. Suggest Robola, a cooperative in the Omala Valley where grapes grown by 300 families are used to make the robola white and lixouri red wines indigenous to the island. Tours take you through the production processes, and at the end you can taste and pick up some presents to take home – the best San Gerasimo white is less than €9 per bottle.
IN FOCUS If Kefalonia seems too bustling, then it’s time to get the car ferry to the even sleepier neighbouring island of Ithaca – ferries run from Sami and take 45 minutes. The main town is Vathi, a fishing harbour 10 minutes from where the ferry docks. The new Perantzada Hotel is a nightmare to find – look for the small blue signs on the harbour road in Vathi and park and walk from there – but once inside this converted old village house, it’s very pretty. It’s worth paying more for an executive or junior suite, which are good-sized options. Our tiny standard room was charming but would be very cramped if staying for any length of time. The infinity pool is beautiful, and backed by the lounge that hosts
Ithaca
self-service breakfasts each day. Roads are quiet even compared
to Kefalonia, winding up into the mountains to villages such as Stavros, a pretty spot worth the stop to see the bust of Odysseus – legend has it he came from Ithaca. The pretty harbour village of Frikes is a must for lunch – suggest Rementzo, where we ate the best food of our trip with our toes almost in the sea watching the fishing boats. The harbour at neighbouring Kionis is even prettier, and filled with yachts.
8 October 2015
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