Car Hire at Kefalonia Airport

Beautiful island, lots of green with beautiful beaches. Antisamos beach - really recommended.

Kefalonia is great. We were able to explore many beaches across the island.

The whole island was breath taking

Katelios, Avithos beach

Assos was stunning, a few restaurants, bakery, small shops and water sports you can rent. Easy to visit Myrtos and Fiscardo from there. Embilsi beach we loved. Then we stayed on Lourdas beach which was a very chilled location. Great restaurants, plenty to choose from and water sports here as well. Great views and sunsets over the bay. Antisamos was stunning, sunbeds and a minimum spend at Acron, food was great. Go to Melissani either first thing or last. We arrived at 5.30pm and there was no queue and we were the last to go on the row boats. We had the place to ourselves!

Renting a car online from discovercars.com (airport pick up) for our 7-night visit enabled us to visit numerous wonderful places and to meet many warm, friendly people around Kefalonia from our base in Karavomylos (renowned for the stunning Melissani and Drogarati Caves and Karavomylos Lake which are fed by an underground spring and sinkholes on the western side of the island). Our beautiful hotel, Ionian Emerald Resort, was located on Karavomylos Beach; perfect for exploring the island due to its central position on the eastern coast. Sami, a port town, was within easy walking distance and offered numerous shops and restaurants as well as an archeological collection museum. Our favourite restaurants and bars around the Sami area included, first and foremost, Dimitroula’s Place for the warmest welcome, best service and delicious, fresh, homemade, traditional, value-for-money food in a beautiful village garden setting in Grizata (just 7 minutes drive from Sami), followed by Tou Kokora, a lovely restaurant near Karavomylos Lake, which also offers delicious, homemade food and excellent service in a choice of indoor or outdoor settings. Our hotel served delicious food alfresco on a lovely terrace overlooking the pool and sea beyond. We enjoyed a delicious evening alfresco meal in the centre of Sami at Il Familia Restaurant amidst the impressive, mature eucalyptus trees alongside the beach, and a delicious lunch at Adonis Restaurant a little further up the road. We revisited Cosi Bar also in Sami (opposite the ferry terminal) several times for their friendly service and delicious frappes and ice cream. In Argostoli, Marcella’s Cafe Patisserie near the harbour is definitely worth a visit to sample their amazing selection of ice creams and cakes. In Lixouri, I can highly recommend the friendly service and delicious food at the quaint Cafe Ouzeri H Gefira. If you visit Poros, then a meal at ΑΡΓΩ (Argo) Restaurant by the beach is a must. Our touring highlights included visiting Kefalonia’s capital, Argostoli, seeing the large, loggerhead turtles at the marina in the morning, strolling along the promenade, beautifully paved with contrasting pebbles, and exploring the expansive central square and attractive, palm-lined streets off it. Just a few minutes drive outside the centre on the northernmost point of the peninsula, you will find the wondrous sinkholes where seawater flows underground and emerges near Sami. Slightly, further west, you can visit the beautiful, columnar St Theodore Lighthouse, Animal lovers will appreciate a visit to Animal Rescue Kefalonia, just outside Argostoli, where owners, Marina and Joyce, and their volunteers work tirelessly to care for the many strays; donations will be greatly appreciated, animals can be sponsored and, of course, they are looking for permanent homes. A must-see place just outside Sami is the Nautical Museum where you will meet the delightful owner, Sotiris Marketos, a retired Merchant Navy Engineer, who has spent 25 years hand building remarkable scale models of ships from 1500BC to the age of the Titanic. The models are truly amazing and they are displayed beautifully in a modern, purpose built, air conditioned building. After the Nautical Museum, it is definitely worth continuing across to Lixouri, the second largest coastal town on the island, where you will find Iakovateios Library-Museum, founded by the Typaldo-Iakovateio families, and where we met the very knowledgeable librarian, Dimitris, and historian/poet, Mr Galanos. Lixouri has an impressive square close to the marina, boasting a huge Ficus ‘Australis’ tree, surrounded by numerous cafes and restaurants, and attractive shopping streets off it adorned with stunning plants and climbing bougainvilleas. Just over 20 minutes drive from Lixouri, we enjoyed a cooling swim in the sea and refreshments at the beautiful Paralia Petani Beach on the northwest coast of the Paliki Peninsula. We sailed aboard Sklavos Sailing’s Sun Odyssey from Sami with Captain Garasimos and his crew member, Mema, to Atokos (to swim and to see the wild, black pigs and piglets) and we snorkelled and paddle boarded off the coast of Ithaka. A delicious, fresh lunch and drinks were included in the day’s sailing. Of course, having a hire car enables visitors to sail from numerous ports to other neighbouring islands. We visited Myrtos Beach, Assos and Fiskardo in one day. We stopped at the Myrtos Beach Viewpoint just to take photos of the beach below, which is truly breathtaking. In Assos, we had a light bite to eat near its small, beautiful harbour beach. In Fiskardo, we enjoyed cooling frappés and ice cream by the harbour before exploring the marina, the town and the Roman Cemetery. On another day, we visited Poros (via the dramatic, 80m deep Poros Gorge), Skala and St George’s Castle in Kastro. Poros has a major port as well as a long pebble beach which is lined with a promenade and restaurants. Skala features a long, sandy beach and Roman villa ruins. St George’s Castle is a historic 12th-century Byzantine fortress perched high on a 320m hilltop, offering awesome, panoramic views of the villages below and Ionian Sea beyond.

Kefalonia is our favourite Greek island. If you're looking for a relaxing holiday Kefalonia is the island

Car was perfect for exploring local beaches.

Restaurant and beaches were excellent. Lovely people and wonderful island.

Poros is a great place to stay