Ithaca
The Island Homer Gave Odysseus: A Deep Natural Harbour, Goat Track Hills, The Cave Of The Nymphs And The School Of Homer, With Almost No Mass Tourism · Vathy, Ionian Islands
Ithaca is the island Homer gave Odysseus, and it wears the story lightly: a narrow, mountainous ridge of limestone almost cut in two by an isthmus, with a deep horseshoe harbour at Vathy, two small fishing ports at Kioni and Frikes, and goat tracks in between. The sites named for the epic - the Cave of the Nymphs, the Arethousa spring, the school of Homer dig above Stavros - are modest, and the honest position is that no excavation has proved the Homeric palace stood here, though a long-running dig near Stavros is claimed by some as it. What Ithaca really offers is quiet: pebble coves of very clear water, a monastery road up Mount Neritos with a view over three islands, the Venetian bell tower and standing stones at Anogi, and yacht flotillas that come and go. There is no airport, no resort strip and almost no nightlife. Honest caveats: you fly to Kefalonia and take a ferry, beds are few and dear in August, the roads are steep and narrow, and the island shuts down from about November to April.
Ithaca, Ionian Islands; Vathy harbour, Kioni and Frikes in the north, Stavros on the saddle; ferries from Sami on Kefalonia and from Astakos, Vathy, Ionian Islands, Greece
Ithaca has no gate and no ticket: the villages, harbours and beaches are open at all hours and free. Its rhythm is the ferry timetable. Boats from Sami on Kefalonia to Piso Aetos or Vathy take roughly 30 to 45 minutes and run several times a day in summer, fewer in winter; ferries also cross from Astakos on the mainland, and seasonal boats link Frikes with Lefkada and Kefalonia. Confirm sailings the day before, because wind and swell cancel them. The Cave of the Nymphs has been closed for safety at times and opens irregularly with a keeper - confirm before walking up. The small archaeological collection at Stavros and the Kathara monastery keep short, mainly morning hours, often with a midday break, and monastery visits need covered shoulders and knees. Shops and tavernas mostly keep a long midday break in summer and shut altogether from about November to April. Book a car, a room and a high-season ferry with a vehicle well ahead.