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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Just booked for Kefalonia in August - excited! What's great there?

20 replies

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 16:02

We've booked a villa in Old Skala and will be hiring a car. Anyone been? I'd love some recommendations of beaches, restaurants, towns, things to do etc.

Love having a holiday booked after spending a gazillion hours searching Grin

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mummymeister · 11/02/2016 16:08

we went some time ago so what I am saying might no longer be true but it was incredibly picturesque with some lovely unspoilt bits. went to fiskado and also out and about on our bikes.

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 16:48

Ooh lovely. I can't wait!

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ZedWoman · 11/02/2016 18:35

I haven't been since 2003, so any resort/restaurant recommendations would be totally out of date. However, we really enjoyed:

Beaches:

Antisamos (near Sami)
Petani (north west of the island)
Myrtos (north of the island)

All are chalky pebbles and were beautifully clean when we went. Antisamos was my favourite.

Melissani caves are well worth the visit, as are the sea mills at Katavothres near Argostoli where the water is sucked down under the island.

Take a ferry from Sami to Ithaka which is a lovely little island. We had a fantastic kleftiko in Frikes harbour.

We hired a Jimny and DH drove it across the top of Mt Aenos. It was terrifying (for me, DH thought it was great) but the views were well worth it.

Assos fortress is lovely.

We also visited a the old Venetian castle of Agios Georgios which was undergoing some restoration when we last visited. The 'cafe' nearest the entrance was owned by a crazy English couple who'd managed to acquire various leftover props from 'the film' and were happy to chuck foam hand grenaades around the place.

There are various Robola wine co-operatives that are worth visiting.

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 18:43

That all sounds amazing, thanks for the info!

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SoMuchToBits · 11/02/2016 18:43

We stayed in Fiskardo last year - and the year before! Absolutely lovely place. Our favourite restaurants there were Lagoudera II and Ellie's. You can get boat trips from there (although they take a large portion of the day), or hire small boats to take out yourself (we did this last year).

We also went to Assos, and walked up to the fortress.

We didn't travel much further afield, as didn't have a car, but still had a fantastic time.

wannabestressfree · 11/02/2016 18:44

Definitely hire a car.... it's fun to explore and watch the heat. It's 'my god' hot....

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 19:10

Oh god is it really that hot? I used to hate the heat but I've been loving it the last few years in Majorca. We had 33 degrees last year - will it be hotter than that???? Hoping I'm not going to roast! I am pale!

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SoMuchToBits · 11/02/2016 19:14

We were there late August, and it didn't get much above 30, and it was a dry heat, often with a breeze. It was hot, but not ridiculous.

wannabestressfree · 11/02/2016 19:14

I went last year and it was boiling....

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 19:18

We're going 21st August.

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tangerinesarenottheonlyfruit · 11/02/2016 19:56

No tips as it was so long ago, can't remember the names of anything, but it was beautiful!

Donge13 · 11/02/2016 20:07

It's my favourite place.
Agostoli is fantastic, the turtles are by the boats every day about 12. It's also great for food.
Melissani caves are also worth a trip.
A visit to the vineyards are a must.
And Costa Costa beach in lassi is fantastic, waiter service from your sun lounger.
Enjoy your holiday Smile

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 21:17

Real turtles???

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Donge13 · 11/02/2016 21:26

Yes and they are huge! You can see them really easily as they are swimming by the fishing boats, you will know where they are as there will be a little crowd of people taking photos.
After you have seen the turtles i would recommend Lunch at the captains table restaurant. It is on the front and is lovely.

IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 21:27

We are there! Thank you!

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Donge13 · 11/02/2016 21:43

It was a lovely way to kill a afternoon

Just booked for Kefalonia in August - excited! What's great there?
IHeartKingThistle · 11/02/2016 21:52

Oh lovely turtle Smile

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girlywhirly · 12/02/2016 09:48

If you are staying in Old Skala, you can get a boat trip to Ithaca from Skala beach; you book at a little open air desk next to the Anassa hotel on the sea front. You pay on the day of the trip in cash only, then queue on the beach to get on the boat. Take swimwear as they have a couple of swim stops. They also do trips to Fiskardo and Zante.

Golden eagles in the mountains, you may be lucky enough to see them.

When you get there, try to get hold of a Skala 3D tourist map, it will show you where all the hotels/bars/tavernas etc are. There are the remains of a roman villa near the beach, some nicely restored mosaics. As far as I know there is no charge for seeing them. Pop in to Veronica's jewellers, lovely things and reasonably priced, on the main street. You will probably need neoprene swimming shoes as well for the beach as it is a mixture of coarse sand and gravel/stones.

I was there last year and the temp was in the high 30's. On the plus side the sea was warm which it isn't at the start of the season. There were a couple of turtle nests next to each other down at one end of Skala beach, roped off. I often wonder how many little ones hatched and are still living.

One of the best innovations was at the airport going back. After you check in and drop your luggage off, you have the option to go back outside and down the road to a taverna, rather than boil inside the terminal building! You do need to keep an eye on the time though, but you can get food and a cold drink before you fly. Tiny airports don't do very well on the catering side I've found.

5BlueHydrangea · 12/02/2016 10:03

We went there in 2004. Took a trip to Melissani lake (caves) Had a boat trip run by an old (like 80!) Greek tour guide. Most of the guests were Greek so he chattered away to them. Every so often he looked at us and shouted "You, English!" Then told us something. Very funny! Great memory.
We went in August, was about 40 degrees! Far too hot for us. Luckily our apartments had a pool. We were near a Beach too although that required a walk down a long windy cliff road, then up again later!
We did experience a minor earthquake when we were there, woke up early one morning to feel the building shaking. Pool was all over the place. Quite surreal! Very little damage reported on the island, was 5.5 on the scale I think.
We hired a car and travelled around a lot. Hot but we saw loads. Dd and I enjoyed it but dh said his overwhelming memory of the holiday was driving around in the car!
I found the salty sea irritated my eyes quite a bit - much more than UK or anywhere else we've been. The others were fine though.
Have a great pic somewhere of dd (12) holding the most enormous watermelon we got from a market somewhere. Massive and cheap!

Was a great holiday. Loads of happy memories. Hopefully you'll love it.

IHeartKingThistle · 12/02/2016 14:59

Thankyou so much for all the advice!

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