Kefalonia

When looking for a hotel in Kefalonia, you can match your travel interests with specific landscape and cultural themes. Mount Ainos, caves, the east coast and historic sites offer different starting points for planning your island stay.

Mount Ainos: mountains and hiking trails

The Ainos range is the highest mountain range in the Ionian Islands. Its highest peak, Megas Soros, stands at 1,627 m. Mount Ainos National Park in Kefalonia is the only terrestrial national park in the Ionian Islands. The protected area “Kefalonia: Ainos, Agia Dynati and Kalon Oros” has the code GR2220006 and covers these three mountains. Rare Kefalonian firs are also among the island’s natural features.

The national park has five hiking trails with a total length of about 26 km, ranging in difficulty from easy to moderate. The trails include a moderate 2 km route and an 8.6 km circular route with steep sections. One specific example is the “Environmental Centre Ainos – Chionistra” circular trail: it starts and ends at the Environmental Centre Ainos at an altitude of 1,384 m, passes through the core area of the national park and is 6,184 m long. This easy trail, with gentle slopes, is estimated to take about an hour and a half. Distance, altitude, gradient and duration provide different points of reference for planning your hike.

Caves and coastal scenery

Drogarati is one of Kefalonia’s most significant caves and has particularly rich formations. The Melissani Cave Lake is also on Kefalonia. Finds from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC show that Melissani Cave was used in antiquity as a place of worship for Pan and the nymphs. It is part of the larger karst network in the area around Sami. On Kefalonia, selected caves are also explored with experienced guides on routes of varying difficulty.

Antisamos is a bay on Kefalonia’s east coast near Sami, where lush greenery meets numerous shades of blue. Myrtos Beach is also on the island. Kefalonia’s waters provide refuge for rare loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus). Ancient amphorae lie on the seabed off Agia Efimia and Skala. The coast therefore offers connections to landscapes and marine life as well as to underwater archaeological traces.

Castles and the island’s history

Assos Castle is considered Venice’s most ambitious fortification project on Kefalonia. Agios Georgios Castle, also called the Castle of St George, stands on a hill in Leivatho in the southwest of the island. Fiskardo was one of the few places on Kefalonia to survive the devastating earthquake of 1953. These sites offer different historical perspectives, from Venetian military architecture to the history of the earthquake.

Planning your journey

The crossing from Vasiliki Port on Lefkada to Fiskardo Port on Kefalonia is listed as taking one hour. Check the current timetable before travelling.

Discover more destinations: Sámi, Argostoli, Fiskardo, Vlachata, Kothreas, Lixoúrion, Svoronata, Kato Kateleios, Faraklata, Skala, Póros, Peratata, Plateies, Assos, Katelios, Kefalonia, Zola, Markopoulo, Antipata, Lakithra, Simotata, Livathou, Minia, Agia Thekli, Spartia, Divarata, Farsa, Chaliotata, Valsamata, Lourdata, Pesada, Chavdata, Kokolata Argostoliou, Moussata, Karavomylos, Poulata, Metaxata, Mantzavinata, Chavriata, Agia Effimia, Lepeda, Atheras, Evreti, Anninata, Valerianos, Dilinata, Mesovounia, Psilithrias, Agrilias, Troianata.

For the main travel overview: Ionian Islands.