Ithaca
We’d pre-booked a hire car on our next island – Ithaca – as public transport was limited, and we collected our car at the ferry port of Pisaetos and we drove for about 30 minutes to Vathy, our home on the island.
Our apartment was possibly the best of our whole trip, spacious, comfortable, and well appointed
and everyday we enjoyed breakfast of Greek yoghurt and fruit outside in our private patio garden.
We used the car to explore (after an initial bit of stress when google maps sent us up a very narrow, steep street to nowhere!)
and our first outing was to Sarakinko beach, which ended up being my favourite on Ithaca (and not because it was an easy 10 minute drive from Vathy with easy parking!)
On our second full day we headed to the north of the island, driving for about an hour to Kioni
It was pretty, but yachty, and, despite finding a nice quite beach, we agreed we made the right decision not to have stayed here
On our return, we stopped for a drink and snack at Frikes – a very pleasant one horse port town that we would return to on our departure from the island
and then headed up to the highest point on the island, and visited the Monestry of Katharon
The views were magnificent
and worth the dangers of the drive, which weren’t just the 180 degree switchbacks, but sharing the road with goats
and Becky forever wanting to stop and get out of the car to get the perfect pic (to be fair, the road itself was wide and well tarmaced, not the worst to drive on.)
Closer to home, we also visited Filiatro beach, another gem
and then it was another early morning departure – a 7am taxi from Vathy to Frikes to catch the ferry back to Kefalonia. As is our style, we left early, which meant we had an hour or so sat on a bench drinking coffee and eating cakes for breakfast, overlooking the calm habour. It was beautiful and peaceful, and a shame to leave the island for Fiskardo on Kefalonia
