36 Hours on Kefalonia: Things to Do and See

• Fteri Beach, reachable only by water taxi or a challenging hike, is among the island’s least crowded shores, rewarding visitors with soaring cliffs, a white pebble beach and azure waters.
• The Venetian village of Fiskardo shows how the entire island once looked.
• Orealios Gaea is the winery of the Robola Wine Cooperative, which harvests and produces 85 percent of the island’s indigenous robola crop.

• The family-friendly Platis Gialos Beach has a wide, sandy shoreline and shallow waters.
• A short but steep descent to Pessada Beach rewards visitors with a covelike setting.
• Myrtos Beach, one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Greece, is worth the long, switchback descent.
• Around Fiskardo, a kayak or a self-operated boat is a great way to explore the area’s romantic coves and to spot endangered Mediterranean monk seals.
• A boat tour of Melissani Cave takes visitors to an underground lake that glows aquamarine when the sun shines in through the collapsed roof.
• Zervati Cave, behind a nondescript green gate in a residential neighborhood, offers a quick, refreshing dip.
• The Archaeological Collection of Sami is a small but thoughtful museum featuring artifacts that date from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine era.
• The Nautical Museum of Sami shows off the owner Sotiris Marketos’s beautifully crafted model ships that trace Sami’s rich naval history.
• Antisamos Beach was the filming location for the adaptation of Louis de Bernières’s book “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” an oft-cited reference by the island’s residents.
• The island’s patron saint, St. Gerasimos, rests at the Monastery of Agios Gerasimos in the Omala Valley.

• Palia Plaka offers a taste of the island’s signature meat pie.
• Gentilini Winery & Vineyards has wines made from Kefalonia’s grape varieties in an inviting garden that feels like a friend’s backyard.
• Terre Mouikis, a new fine-dining restaurant in Argostoli, the island’s capital, serves creative twists on Kefalonian classics in a romantic courtyard.
• Entree All Day Bar, a cocktail bar, hosts late-night parties that spill out onto Argostoli’s Vallianos Square.
• The menu at Oenops Wine Restaurant Cellar features bottles from 20-plus wineries on the island.
• The no-frills cafe Stou Tsagkari serves fresh, simple breakfasts to accompany views of the island’s dramatic western coast.
• Myrtillo features a garden cafe with light bites, a shop selling local food products and a cocktail bar inside a camper van.

• Koumaro Kefalonia offers items made by Greek designers and artists that make perfect gifts, including handmade leather sandals, linen two-piece outfits and ceramic tea sets.
• Almyra Selections sells breezy dresses and brand-name swimsuits, as well as jewelry, shoes and accessories.

• Many Kefalonian properties require a minimum stay, which may change depending on demand during peak months. Contact hotels for up-to-date information about minimum stays.
• Eliamos Villas Hotel & Spa is a new luxury property on a cypress-dotted hillside in the southern corner of Kefalonia. It offers 12 villas, complimentary e-bikes and a restaurant that uses ingredients foraged on the island. Rooms start at 630 euros, or $728.
• For a boutique stay that resembles something you might find on Mykonos (think bohemian design and a full schedule of wellness activities), the adults-only F Zeen Retreat in Lourdata has 74 rooms and villas on 10 lush acres. Rooms start at €470.
• At the family-managed Korallis Villas near the southwestern village of Karavados, choose between warmly decorated two-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom residences — many of which feature kitchens and verandas — set amid an olive grove. Rooms start at €100.
• Short-term rentals through Airbnb and Vrbo are widely available, as they are through villa-rental agencies. Entheos Collection operates 70 one- to five-bedroom apartments and residences around the island, many of which feature private pools and full kitchens. Villas start at €200.

• Renting a car is the best way to get around. Simotas Car Rental offers good rates and a free transfer from the Kefalonia airport to its nearby office. For those who don’t want to drive, there are plenty of transfer and tour services, such as Golden Tours Kefalonia, and a bus system that connects the main port and resort hubs. To visit Paliki, Kefalonia’s western peninsula, take a ferry that makes a round trip from Argostoli every hour (€3 per person, €6 per car).

3 p.m. Go for a quick dip

Kefalonia’s southern beaches are sandy with shallow waters (the north tends to be pebbly, with deep blue waters). Have a relaxing swim at the picturesque and kid-friendly Platis Gialos Beach. It is a less crowded alternative to the neighboring Makris Gialos. Both are in the unpretentious village of Lassi, near the airport. Throw down a towel or rent a sun bed (20 euros, or about $23) on the white sand. For more seclusion, drive 20 minutes southeast and take the steep steps down to the tiny Pessada Beach. An undeveloped trail to the right of the stairs leads to a sandier cove.

5 p.m. Sample the signature dish

Don’t let the parade of fishing boats fool you: Kefalonians are ardent about their meat. It’s why the island’s signature dish, kreatopita, a phyllo-wrapped meat-and-rice pie with cinnamon and herbs, often features beef, pork and lamb. One of the best versions is at Palia Plaka, which serves pies made of pork and beef (€9.90) and of salted cod (€10.50). This canteen-style restaurant in Argostoli, some 10 minutes by car from Platis Gialos Beach, is where locals go for Greek home cooking. Before it closes at 6 p.m., load up your plate with dakos salad, made with tomatoes and twice-baked barley bread; garlic-heavy rabbit stew; and meat pie to enjoy on a terrace overlooking the Argostoli harbor.

6:30 p.m. Visit a beloved family-run winery

In the shadow of Mount Ainos is the island’s primary wine-growing region and the only zone designated to grow Kefalonia’s robola grape, which typically creates a stony, lemony white wine. Wineries across the island source robola from here while growing other grapes, including at Gentilini Winery & Vineyards. The estate, a 12-minute drive from Palia Plaka, was founded in the 1970s by the descendant of a 16th-century Italian engineer sent by Venice to Kefalonia to fortify the town of Assos. It’s now run by his daughter and her husband, who treat the garden, where visitors taste wines, kids play and friends catch up under olive trees, as a loving extension of their home (glasses from €5, tastings from €12).

Kefalonia has dramatic landscapes and unassuming charm.

8 a.m. Choose your breakfast-beach combo

From the southwest, Fteri and Myrtos, probably the island’s most stunning shores, are a 40-minute drive up a road that hovers some 1,000 feet above the western shoreline. Fteri is accessible either by a 10-minute water taxi (€20 round-trip, departing every 20 minutes; first come first served) from Agia Kyriaki Beach, or a challenging 2.9-mile out-and-back hike from a trailhead near the village of Zola. In Zola, get a Greek yogurt bowl (€10) and a bird’s-eye view of the coastline at Stou Tsagkari. Myrtos, accessible by car, is the more popular beach (parking spots fill up quickly), with showers, bathrooms, a bar and sun chairs (from €10). On the way to Myrtos, stop by Myrtillo in the town of Divarata for a smoothie (from €4) and to browse Greek clothing and design at the neighboring Koumaro Kefalonia. Both Fteri and Myrtos can experience strong currents and heavy beach breaks, so exercise caution if you’re swimming.

1 p.m. Have lunch in a Venetian village

From Myrtos, it’s a 40-minute drive to the island’s northernmost town, Fiskardo. With much of its 19-century Venetian architecture intact, the harbor area offers a glimpse of how the entire island once looked: Terra-cotta-roofed, pastel-colored buildings with intricate detailing, framed in bougainvillea, line a waterfront of cafes, fish restaurants and boutiques (just squint to ignore the yachts). Shop for printed caftans at Almyra Selections before having lunch at Roula’s Grill House. Start with the taramosalata, a Greek meze dip of salted and cured fish roe (€7) and the prawn saganaki in a tomato-feta sauce (€16), before your choice of perfectly grilled meat or seafood (€18 to 35). On your way back to the parking lot, grab a scoop of frozen Greek yogurt at the Dodoni ice cream parlor (from €2.30).

3 p.m. Take to the water

Kefalonia’s far north is more intimate in scale, with lush, craggy coves that face the neighboring islands of Lefkada and Ithaca, home of Homer’s Odysseus. A few of these inlets, a few minutes’ drive from Fiskardo, are reachable via short hikes, but the best way to explore them is by sea kayak or boat. For ease of access and a better chance of spotting the area’s endangered Mediterranean monk seals, rent a kayak from Fiskardo Kayaks (€35 for three hours) in town. Be sure to stop at the pebbly Kimilia Beach, also accessible via a half-mile hike, to live out your castaway dreams. Alternatively, nearby Regina’s Boats offers self-driven motor boats that fit up to eight people (from €60 a day).

6 p.m. Detour to a magical village

As you head back south to Argostoli, make a quick detour to Assos, a half-hour from Fiskardo. The small village is Kefalonia’s most photogenic: Colorful houses cradle a bay and extend along a narrow isthmus to a peninsula topped by Castle of Assos, a 16th-century Venetian fortress. Stroll along the bay’s tiny stretch of beach, where a handful of restaurants serve traditional food. Have a Mythos beer at Nefeli-Anait to take in views of the castle. Or walk a few minutes up the hill to 3 Wise Monkeys and order the Anamnisis cocktail, made from gin, vanilla, fig, lime and mastiha, a liqueur made from the sap of a mastic tree (€12), to enjoy in a stone courtyard.

8 p.m. Try new takes on Kefalonian classics

Kefalonia’s food offerings are decidedly low-key, mostly consisting of no-frills tavernas. But that’s slowly changing. Last year, the island welcomed the fine-dining restaurant Terre Mouikis in Argostoli. Sit in the courtyard, with dreamy dust-pink walls and floor tiles, or on the rooftop. After heading the kitchen at London’s Michelin-starred Pied à Terre, the Kefalonian chef Asimakis Chaniotis wanted to bring his refined vision home. His dishes bring another dimension to classic Kefalonian recipes; in the tsigaridia, a traditionally simple stew of wild greens, for example, Mr. Chaniotis adds a tomato purée for brightness and grilled cuttlefish for bite (€23). Options include a six-course tasting menu (€70) as well as à la carte offerings.

10 p.m. Enjoy the capital at its liveliest

Walk off the meal along Rizospaston Road, which crosses Argostoli’s central square, Platia Vallianou, before it turns into a humble, pedestrian-only shopping street. Keep the night going with a to-go canned spritz at Holy Memas (€6.50), next door to Terre Mouikis, or order a glass of local orange wine (€6 to 35) and citrusy semolina cake with whipped bitter-chocolate ganache (€11) at Oenops Wine Restaurant Cellar around the corner. Kefalonia’s nightlife is decibels quieter than that of other Greek islands, but if you’re looking for a livelier scene, settle in at Entree All Day Bar, a few minutes’ walk from the restaurant, for the chance to join a late-night dance party (drinks from €6).

The Monastery of Agios Gerasimos in the Omala Valley.

9 a.m. Go spelunking

The 1953 earthquake didn’t just bring down buildings — the roof of the Melissani Cave, just outside the eastern town of Sami, collapsed, revealing its underground lake. Ten-person rowboats take visitors from the cave’s opening to its grand interior (€10 for a brief boat tour). Consider going early: During the peak months of July and August, the wait can reach 90 minutes between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the overhead sun turns the water aquamarine and is most photogenic. For a post-tour cold plunge at another grotto, head to the nearby Zervati Cave. The rock formation, though far less grand than Melissani, is delightful in its own way: It’s hidden behind a nondescript green gate in a residential neighborhood and requires a short but steep scramble to get down to. Once there, you might have its clear pool to yourself (free).

11 a.m. Learn about the island’s ancient history

In addition to being Kefalonia’s cave capital, Sami is home to two small but mighty museums within a few minutes’ drive of each other. For a jaunt through the island’s Bronze Age to Byzantine period, spend an hour at the new Archaeological Collection of Sami (€5), where four rooms feature Mycenaean pottery, Hellenistic jewelry and Roman statues. At the Nautical Museum of Sami (€5), you’ll most likely be welcomed by its owner, Sotiris Marketos, whose tales are reason enough to visit: about trying to sail to Ithaca at 9 years old on a boat he built himself (before being rescued by a fisherman); working as a marine engineer in the Greek Navy; and crafting the museum’s exacting model ships. If you want to squeeze in more beach time, the stunning Antisamos Beach (sun beds from €20) is just 10 minutes northeast of town.

1 p.m. Toast the island’s patron saint

Head to Omala Valley, an Edenic scene of olive and cypress trees set to high contrast against Mount Ainos’s chalky peaks. There, pay your respects to the patron saint of the island, St. Gerasimos, who lived on Kefalonia in the mid-1500s and whose remains are kept in a silver coffin at the Monastery of Agios Gerasimos (free) in the Omala Valley. The monastery’s austere exterior stands in contrast with its friendly nuns and warm interior of towering gold frescoes. Just next door is Orealios Gaea, the winery of the Robola Wine Cooperative, whose 300 members harvest most of the world’s robola. Stop by for a tasting (from €12; six wines) that includes a spread of local cheeses and the latest Robola Amorosa, a jammy white it produces. The terrace overlooks the monastery’s pastel dome to the north and Mount Ainos to the south, providing a fitting final panorama.