Close your eyes.  Forget everything.  Dream about your perfect beach vacation and let your imagination run wild.  What do you envision?  The sun beats down from a cloudless deep blue sky.  Turquoise water provides a perfect contrast to the brilliant white beach.  The water temperature is chilly enough to be refreshing but not so cold as to be unpleasant.  You can almost smell the Coppertone.  Relaxing in your lounge chair, you sip an ice tea, cold water or soft drink (yeah right---how about an ice cold beer!!).

Researching potential vacation destinations early this year, the Let's Go Greece Travel Guide mentioned Captain Corelli's Mandolin starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz was filmed on Kephalonia.  Thinking the movie might provide some interesting background on Greece, we rented the movie.  Several scenes featured an absolutely spectacular beach.  Further reading and an internet search identified the area as Myrtos Beach on the northwest side of Kephalonia which is one of several Ionian Islands west of Mainland Greece.

Frequently, photographs or movies present a much better image than reality.  Myrtos Beach, however, elicits the opposite response.  As the serpentine road slowly winds toward the beach from the main highway (two lane road), several areas provide excellent vantage points for an almost vertical view of the beach.  Descriptions such as breathtaking, stunning, gasp inducing and WOW may be an understatement.  Your initial reaction probably results from two factors.  First is the amazing color contrast between the white beach and the color of the water which ranges from blue to turquoise to aquamarine.  Secondly, Myrtos is surrounded by 500 foot high cliffs on three sides providing an illusion of seclusion you share with a few select fortunate souls.  What a dilemma.  Do you admire the view all day or head to the beach?

Arriving at the beach, you may be surprised to discover the beautiful white beach is not sand, but rather small white rocks worn smooth over the eons.  Although not sharp, a prudent individual would choose to wear sandals.  Of course, the water is the main attraction.  The beauty of the water and the setting draws you like Ulysses was drawn to the Sirens (thought a little Greek Mythology would be appropriate).  You have an overwhelming primal urge to get wet.  The water temperature is perfect.  A quick chill when you enter that disappears immediately.  The water is so clear you are certain you can stand on the bottom only to dive down and realize it may be thirty feet deep.  You almost have the feeling of floating in air rather than swimming.

If you enjoy any beach activity, Myrtos will not disappoint you.  Because of the large size of the beach (100 yards wide and at least 1/2 mile long), there is plenty of area to throw a Frisbee or Aerobie without disturbing other beachgoers.  It provides the perfect atmosphere for sunbathing, reading and swimming.  Be aware this is Greece and there will probably be some discreet topless sunbathing.  A snack bar is available as well as lounge chair and umbrella rental.  Lounge chairs rent for three Euros ($3.50) a day.  The vendor for the chairs also keeps a vigilant watch on the beach for any misconduct, littering or any activity detrimental to the area.  They seem intent on maintaining a pristine environment.

The intersection where you leave the main road for the harrowing drive down to Myrtos Beach has a small restaurant called Alexandros.  We did not have the opportunity to sample their food which might be excellent but we did stop and order a carafe of their house wine.  Almost universally, house wines are surprisingly good.  After a few sips, there was intense discussion on whether we accidentally received a carafe of sewage.  It was unbelievable.  The location of this restaurant is so good you may be tempted to stop there which is great.  Our only warning is the wine.  Drinkers beware!!!

If your travel plans include visiting Myrtos Beach, you will need a car.  Live Life recommends renting a car (van) in Athens and driving four to five hours to the western port of Kyllini on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.  The ferry ride to Poros on the southeastern side of Kefalonia only takes an hour.  From Poros, you have a pleasant, scenic 1 1/2 hour drive to Myrtos Beach on the opposite side of the island.  Although Kefalonia is not a huge island (maybe 50 miles north to south and twenty miles east to west), the hilly semi-mountainous terrain and winding roads take a lot of time to travel.  Having your own transportation will save an enormous amount of time as well as give you flexibility in your vacation plans. 

Where should you stay and what else is there to do?  The closest town is Assos which is located about ten minutes north of Myrtos Beach.  It is a beautiful, picturesque village situated on the neck of a peninsula that sticks out into the Ionian Sea.  Assos consists of a couple of streets with several restaurants and small guest houses.  The town surrounds a small lagoon with a pebbly beach that is a perfect place for a quick swim on a hot day.  The most famous attraction is a 16th century Venetian fortress built on the peninsula overlooking the city and lagoon.  The fortress was somewhat of a disappointment because it was mostly ruins and quite frankly, there was not too much to see.  The hike to get there, however, was reasonably strenuous and offered great views of Assos below and was well worth the effort.

One place to stay in Assos is the Gerania Pension which offers basic, clean rooms within a few minutes walk from town and Assos Beach.  The rooms have a small balcony, a refrigerator as well as comfortable beds.  Flowery gardens and a gracious hostess complete the setting.  A small breakfast consisting of coffee, bread and jam is included.  We would not hesitate to recommend staying at the Gerania as long as you do not expect luxury accommodations.  We are non-smokers and we appreciated the fact that the rooms appeared to be non-smoking.

Just north of Kefalonia lies the island of Lefkada.  One ferry a day leaves the town of Fiskardo on the northern coast of Kefalonia for the hour trip to Vasiliki on the southern part of Lefkada.  It was rumored there were some terrific beaches on the southwestern corner of the island.  After a 1 1/2 hour trip we arrived at Porto Katsiki.  This is a much smaller, more intimate version of Myrtos Beach but equally spectacular.  Instead of a long winding road to the beach, this road ends at a small parking lot 80 feet above the beach.  A snack bar/taverna is perched on the cliff overlooking the area.  To prevent being redundant in beach descriptions, let us just say the beach is awesome.  The water is perfect, you are enveloped by cliffs and the texture of the beach is again pebbles although they are much smaller than Myrtos and get caught under your sandals.  At the widest point, the beach probably only measures 100 feet so this is not a Frisbee throwing area.  Again, it would be surprising if you did not encounter some topless sunbathing.     

The beach at Porto Katsiki faces west so be advised the entire area is shaded until around 11 in the morning.  Myrtos being larger is not situated in such close proximity to the cliffs so this is typically not a concern. 

A few caveats concerning Porto Katsiki and Greek travel in general.  July and August are the peak season when prices often are much higher and many areas become extremely crowded.  It has been reported that traffic jams are common on the small road to Porto Katsiki during the high season and parking is difficult to impossible.  The beach may be crammed with tourist boats for the resort towns of Nidri and Vasiliki disgorging passengers in droves and aggressive travel companies may walk the beach with megaphones hawking various tours.  The point is not to detract from Katsiki but rather to suggest visiting Greece during the off months.  This will heighten your enjoyment and save you from a disappointing experience after traveling thousands of miles.  Live Life suggests visiting from the middle of May to the middle of June and then after the first week of September until early October.

Reportedly another excellent beach named Egremni is located in the immediate vicinity.  Apparently the crowds are smaller and access is somewhat more difficult due to the necessity of climbing a lot of stairs.  Although Live Life did not have the time to visit, our researchers are usually quite accurate in their recommendations and we did not want you to miss a great beach because we did not have the time to visit it.

Both Myrtos Beach and the beach at Porto Katsiki must be considered two of the great beaches of the world.  The setting near the cliffs, the color and clarity of the water and the generally dry sunny climate of Greece contribute to the beauty of the area and a great beach experience.  It is worth the cost, time, effort as well as a 6000 mile trip to visit these two natural wonders. 

**All Photos by Don Miller

If You Go

Pension Gerania

Telephone: 30 267 40 51526

Winter: 30 210 4111958

Winter Fax :30 210 4135309

e-mail info@pensiongerania.gr

www.pensiongerania.gr

Back to Index

©2004-2006 Live Life Travel. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Statement | Articles Listed by Country
design by: EPOIA Interactive Studios, LLC