Argostoli- Cephalonia for 6 hours

[Parapara]

I was wondering if anyone who had berthed at Argostoli could tell me what would be the best thing to do there in 6 hours. There are 2 ship's tours but we would prefer to do our own thing if possible. Any suggestions please?

[Eileen G]

In May we went to the Greek Island of Cefelonia. We arrived at 7 and after all the excursions got off we were able to tender into town at 8. We were planning to rent a car so we headed down the street. The first two car rental places weren’t open yet so we asked someone where we could rent a car and he said keep going. We found Sunbird car rental and they were opened and ready for all the cruise ship passengers. We rented a cute little Chevrolet. We got a map and were off. Since we were here before the season we had no trouble finding a car but if your going in summer and want to rent a car I would arrange a car ahead.

The drive from Argistoli to Assos has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world. The road is cut along the side of the mountain and you have mountain on one side and a long sheer drop to the water on the other. The water is an amazing color of blue with mountains in the background. We wanted to stop and take pictures but there was no place for quite a while. Finally we came to some scenic turnouts. We had to watch for goats on the road but luckily there was little traffic.

We stopped at Miktros Beach which is the island’s most famous beach. There is a long windy road down to the beach but it’s well worth it. The beach consists of white pebbles and the water is clear blue. There is a small cave at one end that you can walk into that has an outlet to the water. The beach is pretty large and surrounded by mountains.

We continued a short bit more down the road to Assos. This is a small picturesque village on the water. We walked around a little but didn’t stay long as we had much more to see on the island. We back tracked a little to get to the road that crossed the island to Agia Efimia. This is another small village on the water. On this side of the island the road continues right along the water. You can see modern windmills on the top of the mountains.

It was a short beautiful ride from Agia Efimia to Sami which is one of the major ports on the island. Sami has a very nice water front area and we stopped here and had a gyro for lunch. We continued a little past Sami to Antisamos Beach. Again the views were absolutely beautiful. This beach was a bit rocky but had a nice beach restaurant and clear blue water. Unfortunately we had to be back to the ship’s tender by 2:30 so we had to head back to Argistoli. It was an easy drive back over the mountains. It took us 45 minutes to get back to the car rental place. We stopped for gas and returned the car. We had a little time left to do a little shopping.

[Parapara]

Thank you Eileen for your detailed itinerary. A couple of questions re renting a car. Do you need an international driving licence? Did you hire the car by the hour or day? Was it expensive? It appears from what I have read, there is not that much to see in Argostoli since the earthquake in 1953 ruined a lot of it, so the idea of taking off and seeing as much of the island as possible looks appealing.

Jean

[Eileen G]

We did not need to show an international drivers licence. However my DH did need to leave his regular drivers licence with the rental car place. It would have been nice to have an international one to leave with them instead. We rented the car for the day. It was 50 euros. If you have not seen "Captain Correli's Mandolin" you may want to rent it . It was completly filmed in Cefalinia.

Here are my pictures of Cefalonia.

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2475179260101391319cDGXHR

[Parapara]

Thank you very much for the info., Eileen. I think we will try to hire a car as you did ( even if it means driving on the "wrong" side of the road for us!) At least we are used to windy, hilly roads. Your photos are lovely.Can't wait to leave ( 3 1/2 weeks to go!)

Jean

Forgot to mention. I have read Captain Correlli's Mandolin but not seen the film so will try and get it out before we go.