for more than 2,000 years, invaders have been fighting over glorious kefalonia romans, the kingdom of naples, the venetian republic, the ottoman empire, the french, british and, during the second world war, the italians and germans have all left their mark fortunately, the present settlers   the greeks themselves and the odd expat   have stoutly resisted the encroachment of mass tourism so instead of fast food restaurants you will find charming family run tavernas that make this island a foodie heaven great forests of pines, cypress and cedars still sweep down the steep hillsides, often ending in cliffs of chalk as white as those at dover, or in fine shingle and sand beaches, fringing a sea whose warm, sun reflecting waters are of startling clarity the famous curve of myrtos beach, as well as many little inland villages, are seen on the road to fiscardo  inland, the roads, winding around mountains whose accessible slopes are swathed in olive groves and vineyards are blessedly free of excessive traffic we landed at the island's only airport near the capital town of argostoli, took a five minute walk to the car rental office and were quickly on our way to the village of spartia on the southern coast   our first base of a two centre holiday richard johnson rejoices in unspoiled kefalonia  we were staying first at the superb villa hephaestus the view from our shady veranda was wonderful   indeed, my american wife called it 'awesome' the sweep of lourdas bay, with its long sandy beaches, was spread out below us, while the neighbouring island of zakynthos could be seen in the misty distance hephaestus is a modern villa with a well equipped kitchen, and we love to cook however, after a long day travelling, we decided we needed restorative cocktails, a carafe of white wine and a good fish dinner not fancying driving along twisting lanes, we called a taxi to take us to the beautifully situated and highly regarded water way restaurant at spartia beach the proprietor is a local fisherman, so the best of his catch goes to the kitchen, which is presided over by his wife, while his charming daughter tepsi is in charge of front of house from lourdas bay you can see zakynthos island, where the beautiful shipwreck beach (pictured) is found  a sweeping view across the turquoise waters of lourdata bay and the white stands of lourdas beach  the island is replete with diverse things to see on day trips but the nightlife is virtually non existent, so we decided to stay home in the evenings and explore during the day we checked out the string of beaches around lourdas bay and found plenty of good restaurants at the top of a flight of easy steps from lourdas beach, we found lorraine's magic hill restaurant, with superb food lovingly prepared by the eponymous owner with ingredients from her husband's organic farm the portions are generous and there's a great view across the bay to fellow ionian isle zakynthos the popular skala beach is just at the end of the bay the metaxa beach bar is a good place for coffee and the area is lined with tavernas we shopped for supplies for our evening meals at argostoli's port one can buy catch of the night fish straight from the boats that line the quay (park where you like, for free) the popular golden skala beach is just at the end of the bay with the nearby metaxa beach bar good for coffee  the town of argostoli's port is ideal for picking up supplies, including catch of the night fish  from the boats  enjoyable excursions to the countryside took us to the ruined hilltop castle of st george, near peratata, and the monastery of st ayos at both places entrance is free, and don't miss the castle cafe just outside the gates its enthusiastic proprietors are greek/english and serve superior food in a shady garden the monastery of saint geronimo is situated in a vine clad valley north east of the castle it was rebuilt in byzantine style in the 1960s, the original having been destroyed during a 1953 earthquake the walls of the interior are decorated in exuberant style with biblical scenes, and a huge candelabra hangs from the ceiling we loved our stay in the south, but for the second week of our stay it was time to take the 35 mile drive to fiscardo, on the island's north cape the trip afforded superb views of the coast   including the famous curve of myrtos beach   as well as many little inland villages fiscardo, once a remote fishing port, has been transformed into a world class yachting centre, with smart restaurants and boutiques jostling for every inch of the quayside the second week of our stay was a 35 mile drive away in the fishing village of fiscardo , in the island's north  'it's like st tropez in the old days,' i mused our villa, island view, is set on the hillside overlooking the port from its verandas and infinity pool the neighbouring islands of ithaca   mythical home of odysseus   and lefkas could be seen through the shimmering sea mist we found some attractive beaches a few minutes' drive from fiscardo our two favourites were agia jerusalem and alaties, both reached by turning right out of the village of maganos and following the signs agia jerusalem is considered a 'secret' place, peaceful even in august when we visited (in september), fewer than a dozen people were enjoying the sunbeds provided agia jerusalem beach is considered a 'secret' place, peaceful even in august, and a favourite of the writer  there's an excellent taverna, with fresh fish and dishes from a menu that changes daily alaties, on the other hand, is a tiny cove with a miniature beach it's lovely to swim there among the fir trees above the beach is a modern restaurant where fresh prawns can be had apart from one afternoon of rain (we were on a boat trip to lefkas but 30 minutes out of fiscardo, an unexpected squall hit us and it rained for the remainder of the trip), the weather was perfect we had a wonderful time with beautiful scenery, great food and fun when we wanted it i can see why so many people have wanted to invade kefalonia!
kefalonia first villa hephaestus lourdas bay zakynthos the day
visited spartia in the south of kefalonia and then fiscardo, in the north . first, from villa hephaestus, could see lourdas bay and  zakynthos island . charming local, family run eateries were found throughout the island . nightlife is virtually non existent, so spent energy exploring during the day . fiscardo, once a remote fishing port, is now a world class yachting centre 