Idyllic Ithaca
We flew to Kefalonia airport as Ithaca doesn’t have its own, a flight that took 3 hours 15 minutes. From there we were transferred by taxi for a 50 minute drive to Sami, before catching the ferry (only just as we were the last ones on) across to Ithaca. Our boat crossing took 40 minutes, but in high season and when the weather is fine, there are smaller boats that take half the time. We had a hire car waiting for us at the port, and drove 15 minutes to Villa Nondas, just above the capital Vathy, which was our home in the sun for the next 2 weeks.
This island is green and hilly, and Vathy, although the capital, is relatively small with a deep natural harbour, pastel-coloured buildings and restaurants along the waterfront and in its back streets together with some boutique shops. It’s a great place to watch the world go by with the yachts coming and going each day, and if you love ice cream, you won’t be disappointed with at least 3 places that sold a variety of flavours and the same number of bakeries if you prefer cakes.
Restaurants offered the usual Greek favourites of lamb chops, kleftiko, stifado and souvlaki with a few local Ithacan dishes thrown in for good measure. There was also pizza and pasta if you preferred a change. Prices for food and drinks were slightly cheaper than at home, which was good and there were several well stocked supermarkets if you prefer to self cater.
Our villa had a private pool with views over Vathy and although I could have sat in the shade with a good book for 2 weeks, we made use of the car and ventured out a couple of times. It isn’t a particularly big island and driving from Vathy in the south to our first stop going north, Stavros, took 30 minutes. Said to be the place where the poet Homer lived, it has a bust of Odysseus and is a pleasant village with a few cafes. From Stavros we drove another 10 minutes further north to Exogi, climbing all the way, it offered great views of the coast below and some not to be missed photo opportunities.
We then headed east to Frikes, a quiet, relaxed, pretty little village with a small harbour and a handful of restaurants by the water, where there is a pebble beach and a few boats gently bobbing. A perfect spot to have lunch, so we did! There is some accommodation in Frikes, so you can stay there as well. Heading south east, our final stop was Kioni, about a 15 minute drive away. Another pretty harbour but bigger and busier than Frikes, with more restaurants and people, who I think mainly came from the boats that were moored there. Again it’s a place with accommodation, so you can stay for a holiday. After our exertions, (not really!) we decided it was time to head back to Vathy, via quite a few hairpin bends and more great views, for a well-deserved ice cream.
After a few days of recovering from leaving the sunbed, we went out again. This time for a walk that we were told about, going through pine trees to Gidaki beach. Although it was only a mile, the terrain was a mixture of footpath and a lot of loose stones and was up and down hill so it took us 45 minutes, probably because we hadn’t realised that flip flops are not suitable for this walk! We made it anyway and were greeted with a pebble beach that had sunbeds and brollies for hire, plus a small bar area for a welcome drink (no toilets though). There are boats that do the trip from Vathy, but who wants to do that when you can walk perilously in flip flops!
One other place of note, was a restaurant in the small village of Perachori, a short drive higher up from where we staying. It wasn’t so much the food, which was fine, it was the amazing views that it offered over other islands and Lefkas.
It was great to be back in Greece again after a few years away, and I really enjoyed our stay on Ithaca. It was relaxing with great food, pretty harbours and lovely weather. Perfect! If you would like more information or if you would like me to help plan your trip to Ithaca, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.