KEFALONIA GREECE trip report

KEFALONIA ISLAND – An Undiscovered Treasure

Kefalonia is a large Ionian on the West side of Greece. It is has the abundant charms of more popular islands, but because its roads are not "tourist bus friendly" it is not, and may never be, an overrun tourist destination. But that just means it is all the more enjoyable when you visit.

We stayed the first two nights at a nature resort, Emilisse, on the very north tip of this large Greek island (second largest after Crete). A beautiful resort in a beautiful setting.

In the morning we walked into the nearby town of Fiskardia which is one of the only two towns on the island that was not leveled by an earthquake decades ago.

This is a charming town with many pretty waterfront restaurants and nice boutiques.

Emilisse has nearby coves and semi secluded beaches reached by wooded paths.

We then drove to our second resort on the southwest side of Kefalonia. Along the way we visited Assos, the other town to have survived the earthquake. As we pulled off the high coastal road to visit the town, we had to stop and try to capture the brilliant colors of the sea and mountains. The town itself is charming.

After leaving Assos we drove to the incredible Myrtos beach seen here looking down from the coastal road and on the beach. Cameras just cannot capture the dazzling brilliance of the colors. We obviously had to spend some time here.

We then reached our resort on the southwestern part of the island, F Zeen. This place is beautiful. Here is a spot on the pretty walkway through the resort, and a view from the main restaurant.

Here is the view from our patio, and the bar/restaurant below our room where breakfast was served.

We took a 3 hour private boat ride along the beautiful coastline, to caves,and to a dramatically gnarly island.

And of course we visited several secluded beaches where we swam in crystal clear water.

We also visited a beach with a wall of dry clay with a gash where water ran down and turned the clay into natural skin treatment that I had lots of fun with.

We found a delightful taverna called Klismata right above the resort’s beach. Run by the matron, Marina, a joyful owner, manager, cook and entertainer. We loved this place, dining alfresco under grape vines with a vast array of great Greek homestyle cuisine on the menu. Check out this pork chop my husband Chris had! We became besties with Marina.

That’s it for our visit to Kefalonia. It was a glorious place and a memorable visit. We will be back.

That’s our report on our visit to Kefalonia. You may also like to see other reports on Greek destinations such as our Athens report, our Windstar Aegean Islands Cruise report and our Paros Greece report.

You may also be interested in seeing our reports on other island destinations. In addition to the Paros report and the Windstar Aegean Island Cruise reports mentioned above, see our Bali report and our report on The Maldives. And take a look at the Sea Dream Caribbean Cruise report, and the Star Clipper Thai Island Cruise report.