Car Hire at Kefalonia Airport

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

We had been to the island before and love it's natural beauty and calm.

The drive from Svoronata to Sami beautiful then drive to Fiskardo was fantastic even a bit Wow! Melissani Caves worth doing, Hidden Garden restaurant Argostili great food and service. Do hire a boat to see Kefalonia from the water and stop off at Denis Taverna with its own little harbour.

We were in Kefalonia for 3 weeks and explored just about everywhere and a lot of things and people were very good.

drove to Fiskardo so beautiful Drove to Sami beautiful caves with amazing water

Visiting local villages, remote swim spots and accessing nature.

Myrtos beach in Kefalonia was superb. Some great restaurants in the nearby village. Sea Rock, Foinikas and Palazzo restaurants in Agia Effimia were all superb.

Lots of nice restaurants in Scala, Argostoli and Lassi.

Kefalonia is stunning, the northern part of the island is a gem similar to the Amalfi coast. We stayed in a Villa so didn't need to worry about other people. Our favourite spots were Assos & Fiskardo (in the evenings).

Woinderful Kefalonia, particularly in the north of Myrtos and the east coast.

Loved Kefalonia, great beaches, food and places to see.

Boat trip for swimming stops, and visiting the out of the way places.

The beach Megali Ammos, driving around the area and the food!! Our favourites are Ladakola in Argostolli, Nefali and Da Veronica's in Lassi and La Tavolata in Sovoranata

Beautiful island to explore by hire car.

Never visited Kefalonia before and will be returning, food was great in the restaurants, plenty of activities to choose from and beautiful island.

We mainly used our car to visit beaches and drive to many restaurants.

Kefalonia has so much you can do and explore - it's the perfect Greek Island.

Was lovely having the freedom to explore the island in a car. Visited many different restaurants and places of interest.

You need a car to get around northern Kefalonia and there’s lots to do.

The car made travelling around the island to see sights and travel to some beautiful beaches very easy.

Great weather, beautiful beaches, good food. Good value for money.

Kefalonia is a special place on this planet

Beautiful island, Katherines suggestions were very helpful.

I have been going to Kefalonia since 2019 until 2025 every year except for 2020 because of the pandemic. This is the first year I have hired a car and was very impressed. There are lots of great places to visit on and off the island and lots of great restaurants and tavernas where the people there were very very friendly.

Fantastic island, very picturesque places everywhere, great food all over the island

We went to Skala beach and enjoyed a day there. We also took a trip to Sami to Melissani Lake, Old Vlachata & Drogatti Cave and then to Antisamos beach. Awesome trips.

First time in Kefalonia, Visit Argostoli seen the amazing turtles, Sami, Fiscardo, Myrtos Beach, and Asos which was so relaxing and beautiful views. Loved the people so friendly, Scenery was amazing! and Food good. Will definitely be returning!

Stayed in Assos all week. Great snorkeling in the bay.

trip round the island visiting myrtos beach,assoss,fiskardo,argostoli,poros and many more such a beautiful island.

Good roads very accessible great beaches some exclusive if you look great food beautiful dramatic scenery.Greeks are lovely people

The roads are crazy !!! Very quiet compared to Portugal where we usually holiday, but lots and lots of bends .

Beautiful scenery. Found some lovely tavernas and really enjoyed our time in Kefalonia.

Managed to see the island, visiting remote towns beaches and great unforgettable sights. Car was perfect and great at handling all terrain we came across.

Myrtos Beach was incredible. Agia Erefimia nr Sami was lovely.

First time to Kefalonia so wanted to see all over the island. Fantastic scenery with some of the coastal drives giving amazing views. Did not find a poor taverna and we tried a lot. Kastro cafe sits just below the castle and is a lovely place to eat great food with spectacular views, closes at 6pm. Also recommend Hidden Garden in Argostoli that provides excellent meat dishes from the spit.

On airport return very very limited food / drink options after passport control