Cool for Cats (Kefalonia)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Kefalonia
Date:	30/09/08 (282 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful countryside and coast ; not expensive

Disadvantages: Many beaches are stony ; roads are of fairly indifferent quality

When we saw Kefalonia rising out of the sea mist as we rounded the northern tip of the adjacent island, Zakynthos (Zante), a few of months back, little did we think that we would be spending some time on the island so soon. But, we both needed another break (well, my wife did and I was happy to tag along!) and we had both wanted to visit Kefalonia for some time.

Kefalonia is the biggest island of the Ionian group and is undoubtedly best known for being the location for Louis de Berniere's world-wide best seller, "Captian Corelli's Mandolin" and the film of the book that featured the mesmerizing Penelope Cruz, and a tour de force performance by Nicholas Cage. But Kefalonia is very much more than this. One of the most beautiful islands in the Med, it has a lot to offer the visitor.

Getting there
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We spent a fortnight on the island with Thomson Holidays. We were based in Lassi, just south of the capital, Argostoli, and stayed at the Lorenzo Hotel in this resort. I will write separate reviews of Lassi and the hotel, if I can get Dooyoo to add them.

We flew in to the island's only airport, located just south of Lassi. It has the benefit of being only 15 minutes by coach from Lassi but the downside is that planes can be seen taking off and landing although aircraft noise isn't too bad. I have reviewed the airport separately as it bears more than a passing mention.

Getting around
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kefalonia has a large number of hire car and scooter outlets. All of them seemed to be being used by visitors so I suppose that the competition most keep them "honest" and offer competitive deals. Certainly, in most cases, the vehicles all seemed to be in pristine condition and kept sparklingly clean. Personally, I would not choose a scooter. The roads are very winding and the surfaces not especially good. On a scooter I feel you are just too exposed.

We allowed the tour rep to earn a bit of cash for herself by getting her to organise the car for us with their recommended operator, PCFanis. I expect we might have been able to get a better deal if we had done all the work ourselves but, life's too short! In the end we ended up with a little open-top Fiat Seiciento which, whilst having seen better days, it must be admitted, proved reliable and economical. We paid 105 Euros for three days hire, with an extra day thrown in free of charge.

We spent about 30 Euros on petrol for our excursions. Petrol is about the same price we pay here but, beware, few petrol stations accept credit cards and none are self-service. You drive up and ask the attendant for an amount of petrol in Euros, then hand over the money and drive away. We didn't tip.

There are buses but, as with most Greek islands, the services are limited. On this occasion we didn't use them at all as, other than when we had the car, the only other time we went anywhere was into Argostoli, and that was just a half hour walk from Lassi.

The roads over the entire island cannot be described as good and many are merely unsurfaced tracks. You are required to guarantee when you hire a vehicle, even a 4x4, that you will not take it off-road. The only bit of dual carriageway is a section just being built south of Argostoli, as I write this. Mostly the roads you will be likely to use wind their way around the coastline or cross the mountains from one side of the island to the other. You will be unlikely to use anything higher than fourth gear very much, even downhill!

The Island
~~~~~~~~~~
Kefalonia is, as I said, the largest island in this group. To the south is Zakynthos and just off of it's north-east coast is the little island of Ithaki, until recently thought to be the place where Odysseus was born. Also close by are other small islands including the privately owned island of Skorpios of the Onassis dynasty.

The island is oddly shaped, consisting of a large main landmass to the east and a smaller one to the west, joined by a narrow isthmus. The smaller part of the island is called Paliki and and is where will be found the old capital, Lixouri, before the current capital was established in Argosoli. Recent geological explorations have now suggested that it is actually Paliki that was the true home of Odysseus.

The geological evidence suggests that Paliki was once an island in its own right and that it is the geological upheavals that continually affect the area (the coming together of the African and European tectonic plates that also resulted in the Alps) that caused the islands to rise and the isthmus to be formed to join the two together as they are today. Certainly Homer's descriptions better fit Paliki than they do Ithaki.

The island suffered a catastrophic earthquake in the 50s and most of the island's existing buildings post-date that, as a consequence. The architecture is expedient and so less than inspiring! The exception is the far north, which sits on a different rock foundation (most of the island is limestone) and suffered far less. Fiskardo, especially, still has examples of much older buildings.

It is dominated by two high mountain ranges to the east and west of the main landmass, with what appears to be a very fertile and attractive valley between the two. Here will mainly be found the small-holdings that supply much of the island's food plus its extensive wine industry. Paliki is also formed largely of a central mountain spine, also running north-south. The consequence is that coastal areas with enough flat land to locate large towns are rare. The good side of this is, though, that you can find absolute gems hidden away on rocky coves, and stunning beaches and bays accessed by almost vertical zig-zag roads.

Photo opportunities are virtually endless.

Argostoli
~~~~~~~~~~
The capital sits on a hilly tongue of land that is surrounded on three sides by water. The main occupied area is on the east of the tongue, facing the main island mass. This does mean that as a protected harbour, you don't get much better. Lixouri is far more open to the seas.

I can't honestly say that I found Argostoli attractive. It is a functional capital and is where the local fishing fleets are based. The most attractive parts of the town are the marina area where very expensive yachts are regularly moored and the pedestrianised Konstantinou Street. Also worth a visit is Vallianou Square, around which are located many cafes and restaurants, which overspill onto the square itself.

The southern end of the harbour area, once you have passed by the relatively unappealing market stalls and outlets, ends at a pedestrian causeway, across which you can get to the main part of the island without having to travel to the far end of the bay. Here you will also find some much more attractive restaurants, including an excellent one at which we ate - Kalafitis - who describe themselves as the "oldest restaurant in Kefalonia" and who have an open-sided marquee on the edge of the harbour where you can eat and feed the fishes with your unwanted bread.

We ate there and enjoyed a very pleasant lunch consisting of a whole bunch of starters, Tapas style, which together with a very nice bottle of the local Robola White wine, came to 38 Euros (£31) for the two of us; a very nice way to spend and hour or two.

Also being fed in the harbour are a large number of loggerhead turtles, who turn up around midday each day to feast on the scraps that the fishermen throw overboard whilst cleaning their nets from the night's catch. This a sight well worth taking in. These beautiful creatures are huge.

We also ate at the Portside Restaurant, right opposite the harbour offices, more because of a need to get out of a heavy thunderstorm than because it looked particularly appealing. However, it proved to be a good choice. The food was excellent and the service good, even if the potentially stunning views of the main island across the water were spoilt by the unattractive harbour buildings across the road.

Be aware that, as with all of the island, shops close for the day at 2.00pm. Only restaurants and cafes stay open for the tourist, although we did notice a few shops were starting to buck the tradition.

Sami
~~~~~~
My copy of the "Rough Guide to the Greek Islands" unkindly describes the only reason for wanting to visit Sami to be to take a ferry to Ithaki! I think this is grossly unfair. Sami, at least the area around the harbour, is quite attractive though, I admit, there are even more attractive places.

Sami is on the east side of the island, at the south end of Samis Bay. At the north end of the bay is Agia Efimia and from both you can take ferries to Ithaki if you want. To reach Sami from Argostoli will take about three quarters of an hour by car and you will cross two quite high mountain ranges on the way.

We visited Sami twice, once by coach to take a day cruise to sail around and visit Ithaki and once whilst visiting the local tourist attractions of the Melisanni Lake and the Drogarati Caves. Sami is where much of the filming of Captain Corelli took place and the fact is advertised everywhere.

Primarily we went there to have lunch. We ate on the harbour at Adonis. The length of the harbour edge, on either side of the main square, is lined with marquees associated with the restaurants behind them. We chose Adonis simply because they advertised fresh mussels. In the end we had a seafood platter as it turned out they had no prawns! Nevertheless, the meal was quite acceptable and the water-edge environment very pleasant. With a bottle of Tsantilis White the bill came to 21 Euros (£16).

Melissani Lake
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The feature of the lake is that it is deep in a hollow in the ground. It seems that over thousands of years water had seeped through the limestone, eating out a vast cavern. At some time the roof of the cavern got so close to the surface above that the roof fell into the lake. There is a second cavern alongside the first which has undergone the same erosion but where the roof has not yet quite broken through to the surface.

You get to the lake level down a sloping tunnel and then board one of the row-boats that will take you around the two caverns. The visit lasts about 25 minutes. The views are interesting but I have to say that if we hadn't bothered to visit it wouldn't have caused me any grief. Worth it if you like that sort of thing.

Drogarati Caves
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The caves have been formed by the same process but here, instead of a lake being formed, the feature is the stalagmites and stalactites that are everywhere. Sadly the caves have suffered much erosion and damage due to the thousands of visitors. There are much better examples elsewhere in the World. However, the caves are very cool so for relief from the heat of the day they are a welcome break.

Across the road from the caves a cafe has enterprisingly built a pool and offers free use of it and the sun-loungers to customers buying food and drink from them. After visiting the caves we spent a very pleasant hour there with a couple of beers, before moving on.

Myrtos Bay
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All over Kefalonia you will find beaches located in stunning bays that can only be reached by precipitous zig-zag roads. The most famous of these is undoubtedly Myrtos Bay. If you've seen Captain Corelli then this is the one. The views are outstanding and, when we were there in September, the beach was very far from crowded. This may be because realistically the only way to get there is by car.

As with virtually all beaches on Kefalonia, you get fine limestone grit rather than true sand. The texture ranges from very fine to quite pebbly. It's definitely not as comfortable as sand and on some beaches you would be recommended to buy a pair of the very light rubber soled shoes, that look very similar to rock-climbing slippers. You can buy these for a few Euros and they definitely help. You can swim in them as well.

The water is quite warm here and as clear as can be. You swim surrounded by tine fishes, which seem to have go used to the intrusion. Swim or just lie in the sun, it makes a very nice way to spend a day. Sun-loungers and umbrellas are available for a small fee and there is a beach-side cafe for lunch if you wish. We didn't because we were on our way to Fiskardo for the day and this was just a couple of hours break.

Assos
~~~~~~~
Assos is just a bit further up the coast and is signposted for its castle. We didn't visit that but we did visit the village built around the harbour. We were very glad we did. This little village is utterly delightful, quite the most attractive of all that we visited during our stay. Very secluded and with several restaurants, this would be a very nice place to spend the day were it not for the small stony beach.

The castle is right on the end of the peninsula and is a steep climb from the village. It was way too hot for us but we did get some good photos from across the harbour.

Visit, walk around, have lunch, move on. We didn't have lunch because we were still on our way to...

Fiskardo
~~~~~~~~~~~
...is right at the northern end of the island and then around the corner to the east a touch. Fiskardo is the second most attractive village that we visited and is noted for its original architecture, still standing after the earthquake due to the rock foundations found here. What you see is probably what most of Kefalonia looked like back in the 19th century.

Fiskardo has a large harbour and is the starting point for many of the day cruises to the neighbouring islands. Consequently the harbour is filled with some fairly large boats. Their comings and goings aren't too distracting though.

It's a great place to wander around and explore it tiny squares and alleyways. Everywhere you go there are small restaurants, bars and cafes, as this is a very popular tourist destination. Fiskardo will always be busy, even out of season but there will always be somewhere very pleasant to eat. We did so at Irida's in the harbour edge, where once again we lunched on a selection of starters and fed the fish with our excess bread. Washed down with a half litre (I was driving) of the house white wine, we spent a very nice hour and a half for the princely sum of 34 Euros (£28).

Paliki
~~~~~~~~
...is the lump that hangs off of the western side of Kefalonia. You can reach it by ferry in about 25 minutes from Argosoli or you can drive north towards Myrtos Bay and then hang a left at the signpost for Lixouri. We drove, as we wanted to see a bit more of the countryside.

There are a number of resorts on Paliki, mostly at the southern end. We didn't visit any of them but heard good reports.

Rather than head straight for Lixouri we took a detour to try to find Petani Bay. Driving in Kefalonia, especially on Paliki, is helped by making an effort to learn the Greek alphabet. Many signs are only in Greek and so finding your way about does require some effort if you want to avoid getting lost.

Petani Bay
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...is on the western side of Paliki and so can only be reached over the top of the mountain ridge that runs the length of this peninsula. In doing so you travel through quiet, sleepy villages where houses perch on steep slopes and offer the most staggeringly beautiful views. The entire trip was littered with "I wouldn't mind living there"s. The roads are very narrow, twisting and turning but eventually you reach the bay through the now familiar steep zig-zag road.

Petani Bay, though less well-known that Myrtos Bay, is every bit as beautiful and, due to its relative remoteness, even quieter. The beach is similar and the water also crystal clear. Here are a couple of cafes offering terraces overlooking the beach. We had lunch in the blue one (don't know it's name) and enjoyed quite the best selection of starters we had in our entire visit. Included was a plate of whitebait of quite staggering size (the plate and the whitebait) and mouthwatering taste. Washed down with a couple of beers (still driving) it came to just 22 Euros (£16).

Lixouri
~~~~~~~~~
...is the old capital. Not as attractive as Argostoli and by no means as big, it's probably worth a visit for a day. There are certainly a lot of the usual harbour-side restaurants although the actual harbour edge is here a lot farther away than at most other locations.

There is a small pedestrianised shopping area but this doesn't offer the same range of interests as Argostoli. There is also a large central square where most people seemed to hang out. We didn't spend much time in Lixouri ourselves as we had arrived fairly late in the day and all the shops were already shut. We just wandered around about a bit whilst we waited for the ferry to take us back to Argostoli.

Katelios Bay
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our final outing in the rented car was along the southern coast to Katelios Bay. We had been told that the beaches at this end of the island were the best so we were keen to find out if it was true. To be honest We didn't find the claims to be justified. The beach consists mainly of coarse sand but, like many beaches on Kefalonia, the sand is full of large rocks. Many are small enough to pull out and indeed the back of the beach seems to be mainly built out of rocks pulled out of the sand and thrown back there, out of the way. There is still a lot more work to be done.

The sea here also suffers from a problem not found elsewhere on the island; seaweed. As with the south coast of Zakynthos, the sea is abundant with ribbon seaweed, the sort that looks like ticker-tape and wraps itself around your legs as you wade into the water.

We were unimpressed and spent only an hour or so here. I'm sure it's a nice place and there does seem to be a booming community emerging if the amount of new building is anything to go by.

Kastro
~~~~~~~~
On our way back a large castle loomed into view, set on a hill overlooking the coast. Consulting the local guide we discovered that this castle was the place from which the Venetians ruled the island back when Venice was the dominant power in The Med.

The drive up the hill brought us to a small, pretty village, through which a narrow road lead almost to the gateway to the castle. However, it is pretty well impossible to park here so a quick return to the village centre to park allowed us to explore at leisure.

The castle is in a quite decayed state but it is still possible to determine its layout and principal features. Most of all, however, the views from the ramparts are simply outstanding. You can see for miles, which is probably why the Venetians built it here in the first place. It was eventually abandoned when geological activity resulted in it ending up further and further from the coast.

There is no information on the site so you really just have to wander around and use your imagination, and your camera. Best of all, however, is that entry to the site is free but be sure that you get there before 3.00pm, otherwise the gates will be closed. My recommendation is to visit in the morning, before the full heat of the day and finish your visit around lunchtime so that you can be absolutely sure to visit...

The Castle Cafe Bar
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I've mentioned a few recommended restaurants in this review. Those you can visit if you choose; this one is mandatory!!!!

The restaurant is owned by a British woman. You realise this when you see amongst the list of desserts, Carrot Cake! The service is the friendliest you could possibly find. The seating is on a series of terraces looking out over the same views that you get from the castle.

We had a Tuna Salad for my wife and a Chef's Salad for me, which proved to be huge and more than enough for a lunch. We enjoyed them with a couple of beers and, best of all, unlimited quantities of cold water, free of charge. This was the only place on Kefalonia where we were not charged for water.

For dessert my wife could not resist the Carrot Cake and pronounced it amongst the best she had ever tasted. I had our host's special version of the traditional Greek yoghurt and honey, with sultanas. It was Nectar of the Gods! The cost came to around 30 Euros.

Summary
~~~~~~~~~
Kefalonia is a big island and in just the four days that we had the hire car we most certainly didn't see it all. Most of our time was spent in and around our hotel base in Lassi. I will write a separate review of this destination.

Most of all, I can highly recommend Kefalonia for a holiday, whether you go for one week or more. Especially, hire a car for a few days and get out and about.

Oh, and if you were wondering about the title, that's all about the cats of Kefalonia. Wild cats are everywhere, especially around the tourist resorts. These are not your usual moth-eaten moggies, oh no. These are the most beautiful and clearly healthy animals you are likely to see. Their pedigree shows an obvious link to the Egyptian cat, with its long legs and muzzle.

These animals are tolerated and fed by the locals and tourists alike and they obviously know how to work the crowd to get the best tit-bits and where best to curl up out of the sun for a rest. They are wild even so. They wander around the tables in the restaurants but do not try to venture into the hotels. You will often see them on the beaches playing in the sand like small kids.

If you are allergic to cats, Kefalonia may not be the best place for you.

Summary: A beautiful, friendly island off the west coast of Greece