Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The western coast
Those with transport can also strike out for the rugged western coast of the peninsula,
first visiting the monastery at
Kipouréon
(daily 8am-6pm; free), now home to just a
single monk, then heading north to the spectacular beach at
Petaní
, one of the best in
the Ionians. Tucked in the fold of the
Áyios Spyrídhonas
inlet further north, the beach
of
Pórto Athéras
, which serves the traditional village of Athéras, a short way inland, is
another fine strip of sand with shallow water.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
LIXOÚRI AND ITS PENINSULA
Ì
Akrogiali
Lixoúri
T
26710 92613.
Wonderful
unpretentious taverna on the seafront, which draws admirers
from all over the island for its excellent and inexpensive grilled
and baked meat, fish and seafood.
Daily noon-1am.
Ì
La Cité
Lixoúri
T
26710 92701,
W
lacitehotellixouri
.gr.
Four blocks back from the front, this great-value hotel has
a uniquely shaped pool in its exotic garden, whil
e the
rooms
are spacious and colourfully furnished. April-Oct.
€45
Ì
Spiaggia
Áyios Nikólaos
T
697 76 31 053,
W
vatsa
.gr.
Atmospheric restaurant with an attractive wood and
bamboo deck, where you can tuck into excellent pasta,
seaweed salad and seafood. There are four well-equipped
luxur
y ch
alets behind. May-Oct; restaurant daily 11am-
late.
€80
Xouras
Petaní
T
26710 97128,
E
petanoi@gmail.com.
By far the better of the two tavernas here, whose friendly
Greek-American owner Dina serves a fine selection of grills,
salads and some oven-cooked dishes. There are
comfortable studios a
ttac
hed too. May-Oct; restaurant
daily 11am-midnight.
€50
Yialós
Pórto Athéras.
Good all-round taverna at the back
of the beach, which serves mostly grills and whose garden
acts as home for families with camper vans and could be
used for camping.
May-Sept daily noon-1am.
11
Southeast Kefaloniá
Southeast Kefaloniá
contains some fine beaches and much of the island's package
tourism, from smaller resorts such as
Lourdháta
and
Káto Kateliós
east via the busiest
foreign enclave of
Skála
to the port resort of
Póros
. One or two of the villages strung
along the main Argostóli-Póros road, which follows the southern contours of Mt Énos,
are also worth a brief halt, especially
Markópoulo
.
Lourdháta and around
From the pleasant village of Vlaháta, around 15km east of Argostóli, a couple of
turnings bear 2km down the mountainside to
LOURDHÁTA
, which has a kilometre-long
shingle beach, mixed with imported sand. Another fine beach, reached by a turning
from Moussáta, 2km west of Vlaháta, is
Trapezáki
, a relatively slim but appealing
strand with just one restaurant by the small jetty.
Markópoulo
The inland village of
MARKÓPOULO
witnesses a bizarre snake-handling ritual every year
on August 15, on the occasion of the
Assumption of the Virgin festival
, when a swarm
of harmless snakes “appears” in commemoration of a legend that the nuns of the
former convent here prayed to be turned into snakes to avoid an attack by pirates. The
church at which the ritual is enacted is well worth visiting at any time of year.
Káto Kateliós and around
Some of the finest sandy beaches on the island are to be found around the growing
micro-resort of
KÁTO KATELIÓS
, which already has a couple of hotels, and below the
village of
Ratzaklí
just before the resort of Skála. The coast around Káto Kateliós is also
Kefaloniá's key breeding ground for the loggerhead
turtle
(see p.753); camping on the
nearby beaches is therefore prohibited.
Skála
SKÁLA
is a low-rise resort set among handsome pines above a few kilometres of good
sandy beach. A
Roman villa
(daily 10am-2pm & 5-8pm, longer hours in summer;
