Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pisaetós
The harbour of
PISAETÓS
, around 5km west of Vathý via a steep route across the
island's neck, has a fair-sized rocky beach that's all right for a pre-ferry swim and
popular with local rod-and-line fishermen. Little goes on here except during the busy
period around ferry arrivals, when a small canteen on the quay is the focus of activity.
INFORMATION
VATHÝ AND AROUND
Services
There is no tourist office but a smattering of
banks, a post office, police and a medical centre. An
excellent website on the island is
W
ithacagreece.com.
ACCOMMODATION
The best source of rooms, studios or villas around the capital or all over the island are the two main quayside travel agencies
(see opposite).
Ì
Captain Yiannis
T
26740 33311,
W
captainyiannis.com.
Complete with tennis court and
pool with bar, this great-value resort round the east side of
the bay is spread over several blocks of modern ro
oms
and
apartments. Breakfast included. Mid-May to Sept.
€55
Mentor
T
26740 32433,
W
hotelmentor.gr.
In the
southeast corner of the harbour, the town's oldest hotel was
refurbished a few years ago and its comfortable roo
ms h
ave
balconies either with direct or side views of the water.
€45
Omirikon
T
26740 33596,
W
omirikonhotel.com.
Stylish boutique hotel, yet with a personal, family-run
touch. All its rooms are classed as suites, and are spacious
and well furnished
wi
th sea-view balconies. Breakfast
included. May-Oct.
€70
11
EATING AND DRINKING
O Nikos
T
26740 33039.
Just off the square, this
is a
good old-fashioned
estiatório
, where you can feast on
heaps of oven-baked goodies, on show behind the glass
panel within. Pavement seating in summer.
Daily
11am-midnight.
Paliocaravo (aka Gregory's)
T
26740 32573.
Popular
for its lamb and fish, with a good range of accompanying
dishes and beverages, plus the occasional impromptu
music session.
April-Oct daily noon-1am.
Ì
To Kohili
T
26740 33565.
By far the best of the half-
dozen harbourside tavernas, serving a good range of
mezédhes as well as tasty meat dishes such as lamb
kléftiko
,
yiouvétsi
and
soutsoukákia
, plus grills and pasta.
Daily 11am-1am.
Northern Itháki
The main road out of Vathý continues across the isthmus and takes a spectacular route
to the northern half of Itháki, based around
Stavrós
. This is excellent scooter country,
and the close proximity of the settlements, small coves and Homeric interest also make
it good rambling terrain. As with the rest of Itháki there are only limited tourist
facilities, concentrated mostly in
Fríkes
and
Kióni
.
Stavrós
STAVRÓS
, the second-largest town on the island, is a steep 2km above the nearest beach
at Pólis Bay. It's a pleasant enough town, with
kafenía
edging a small square dominated
by a rather fierce statue of Odysseus. There is even a tiny
museum
(Tues-Sun 8.30am-
3pm; free) of the road to Platrithriés, displaying local archeological finds. Most of these
come from the early Helladic site on the side of
Pelikáta
Hill
, where remains of roads,
walls and other structures have been suggested as the possible site of Odysseus's palace.
Anoyí
Some 5km
southeast of Stavrós along a scenic mountain road is
ANOYÍ
, which translates
roughly as “upper ground”. Once the second-most important settlement on the island,
it is almost deserted today. The centre of the village is dominated by a freestanding
Venetian campanile, built to serve the church of the
Panayía
, which features heavily
restored Byzantine frescoes. The church comes alive for the annual
paniyíri
on August
14, the eve of the Virgin's Assumption; at other times enquire at the
kafenío
about
