For our summer holidays this year we couldn’t decide if we want to spend them in Europe or go somewhere tropical again. But since you can always go somewhere tropical during wintertime and because European summers are so nice, we decided for Europe. We have so many amazing places where you can spend your summer holidays, from Croatia, Italy, Spain, Greece, and I could go on and on. In the end we decided for Greece, since it is famous for it’s crystal clear sea, the best beaches in the world, good food, and you can fly there for pretty cheap. First we couldn’t decide if we want to visit only one island, that would be Lefkada or Cephalonia, so in the end we decided to do both in 10 days. You can see our itinerary here.
Day 1: Lefkada town
Arrived early in the morning. Since our room was not ready yet we headed to town to have some breakfast and explore a bit. We were pleasantly surprised by Lefkada town as it is really one of the most charming towns. It is packed with cute coffee places and seafront bars, small boutique shops and good restaurants. On our first day we were not really lucky with the weather as it was raining for half a day, but we managed to rent a scooter and headed to nearby Agios Nikitas to spend some time at the beach. In the evening we had one of the best meals during our whole holiday. Nissi Meditarenen Kuzina rated as number one on Tripadvisor is definitely not overrated like some other places. Everything from tzatziki, chicken souvlaki and grilled octopus with vegetable carpaccio were absolutely delicious. We highly recommend it! We stayed at Hotel Boschetto, a small boutique hotel located on the main promenade.
Day 2: Around the West Coast of Lefkada
On our second day we rented a car for all the following days and set off to explore the island. We started from Lefkada town and headed south driving along the West coast. Our first stop was Milos beach. To get to the beach it’s a short, easy 15-minute hike. The beach is quite big so it does not feel crowded at all. There are no bars or shops on the beach so make sure to bring some drinks and snacks with you. Next was Avali beach, which doesn’t look too far away but it’s actually a 30 minute drive away. Once you start to descend down to the beach you will be amazed by the never ending turquoise colour of the sea. Further down south from Avali beach are Kavalikefta beach and Megali Petra beach which are two spectacular sand/small pebbles beaches with huge boulders. In the evening we all the way down south of Lefkada, to Vasiliki, where we had booked an accommodation for the next two nights.
Day 3: Porto Katsiki & Cape Lefkada
One of the most famous beaches on Lefkada island is definitely Porto Katsiki. The beach beneath the high cliff surrounded by endless blue sea is really spectacular! However, it is also highly visited. If you come early in the morning it means for half of the day you will be in the shadow, since it situated to the West, but if you come later you will risk not getting a parking space (which costs 7 EUR for whole day). The beach is small white pebbles beach and is really really nice, but we decided to stay there only for couple of hours, since it was really crowded.
In the afternoon we decided to visit also the most southwestern tip of the Island – Cape Lefkada. The scenery here is simply amazing. Waves crashing into the rocks beneath the cliffs, views that reach to the endless sea and a mysterious lighthouse on top of the cliff. It’s definitely one of the most unique places to visit on Lefkada.
Day 4: A day in charming Fiskardo
On our forth day we drove to Nydri to catch the ferry to Cephalonia. We took the morning ferry at 09:00 (around 50 Eur for car and two passengers). The ride takes a little bit less than two hours. We got off at Fiskardo (northernmost point in Cephalonia) and instantly fell in love with this cute little town. We set off to explore the town a bit, which is full of small coffee places, restaurants and boutique shops. After having a much needed cup of coffee we then headed to Argostoli along the northwestern part of the island. On the way we stopped in little bay with crystal clear water to refresh and had a quick swim. After one hour of scenic drive through the hills and valleys we reached Argostoli (or more precisely Lassi), where we had booked our accommodation for the next two nights.
Day 5: Melissani Cave & Cephalonia’s Porto Katsiki
First thing in the morning we set off to visit the famous Melissani cave. We read that the best time to visit is around noon when the sun is directly above the hole. We got there a little bit earlier and headed directly to the cave where you have to pay the entrance fee (7 EUR). The ride on the boat is short and it takes around 10-15 minutes, but the cave is spectacular. The depth of the water is more than 30 meter, but because of the crystal clearness of the water it seems like it’s pretty shallow. The turquoise colour of the water is simply breathtaking!
After our visit we drove towards Agia Effimia, which seems like a really cool town, but on the same day we also wanted to see Assos, which meant we had to get to the other side of the island. Assos actually left us rather disappointed, so we decided to head to the beach instead. Myrtos beach lies on the West coast of Cephalonia just 15 minutes drive south from Assos and is one of the best beaches on the whole island. To me it was similar to Porto Katsiki, but much smaller and less visited. Sunset swim in golden hour sunlight was definitely the perfect ending of the day.
Day 6: Morning in Argostoli and afternoon at the beach
Since we haven’t had time to properly visit the capital of Cephalonia in our past two days on the island, in the morning we decided to see the city. Argostoli is a quite big city, so we took a stroll through Argostoli’s city centre in the morning. We read that you can spot sea turtles in the marina and we did! It was one of the best things ever see couple of turtles swimming and playing around. After our encounter with seas turtles we headed to southeastern part of the island, more specifically to the area around Skala. We spent the afternoon in a small bay called Kato Lagadi 10 minutes away from Skala.
Day 7: Spend a day at the beach
I don’t know about you, but we prefer small quiet beaches, the ones we can preferably have only to ourselves. In order to find a beach like this in the high season in Greece requires a little bit of Google Maps researching, driving through a dirt road and a little bit of hiking. In the end we found a beach just for us and spent the whole day laying there, just enjoying sea and sun. This one is located a little bit further north from Maria Petra Beach and it’s not even marked on Google Maps.
Day 8: Rent a boat for a day
Even before starting the holiday we decided we want to rent a boat for a day. Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan, as it turns out the boats usually get fully booked, at least three days in advance. We called every possible boat provider on whole island trying to find one for us. In the end we did find a boat for a day and rented it in Fiskardo (one day rental for a small boat with 25 horse power costs 80 EUR + fuel). Happily we set of to explore the neighbouring island of Ithaca and small nearby bays (it turns out most of the bays in the northeastern part of Cephalonia are accessible by boat only).
We returned a boat late in the afternoon (usually you have to return it by 18:00 the latest), had a delicious dinner and then it was already time to take the ferry back to Lefkada. On our way back to Nydri we witnessed one of the most spectacular sunsets.
Day 9: Last day day at the beach & the coolest sunset bar
On our last day we decided to head to Nydri waterfalls, located some 4 kilometres out of town. It’s a short easy hike to the waterfalls and if you wish you can also swim in small lagoons. We decided not to and after that headed to the beach just south of Nydri to spent the last hours of our vacation by the sea. In the early evening we set off to Exanthia, more specifically to Fly Me Sun & Stars bar. The bar is located high up on the hill around 40 minute drive from Nydri. Overlooking the West coast of the island, Fly Me is a chill out bar where you can witness some pretty spectacular sunsets while sipping on delicious cocktails (I recommend Fly me!). It was one of the highlights of our trip and is a place definitely worth visiting! They also have a restaurant there, which we unfortunately didn’t have a chance to try, but make sure to book in advance get fully booked everyday during sunset hour.
Day 10: Time to go home
Our flight was scheduled to depart around midday so in the morning we had the last breakfast (our favourite was going to the bakery to get some freshly baked goodies together with some freshly squeezed orange juice and a cup of coffee). From Nydri it was around 40 minute drive to the airport. We returned rent a car and said goodbye to this beautiful island.
Here is also a short video from our trip:
