Attractions of Ithaki

Vathi is located on the shore of a closed lake a like bay and is the main port and capital of the island. The houses, built in the old architectural style after the earthquake of 1953, the calm waters of the bay, the mountains surrounding it and the small, densely vegetated islet of Lazaretto lying in the middle of the port, make a particularly picturesque view. You can visit the small archaeological museum, the cathedral and the theater library in Vati.

Perahori (2 km south of Vathi) is located in an area with many olive trees and oaks and a wonderful view of the port. To the southwest of the village is the seventeenth century monastery of Taxiarches.

Five kilometers south-east of Vathi is the ancient spring of Arethusa, the Cave of the Nymphs or Marmarospilia, where Odysseus, when returning home, to have hidden the treasure of the Theacians.

At 4 km west of Vathi there is a crossroad, the road to the left of which leads (3 km) to Piso Aetos, a small harbor from which there are regular ferry services to Agia Euthymia on Kefallenia.

Near the road there is a mountain with the ruins of the acropolis of the ancient city of Alalcomenes of the 8th century BC, which the locals call "The Castle of Odysseus", and Schliemann saw in it the "city" of Odysseus. From the crossroads at Piso Aetos the main road goes north along the narrow isthmus and comes to a crossroad from which the road to the right leads to the monastery of Cafaron. This monastery was built at the end of the 17th century, 600 meters above sea level on Mount Narith, thickly covered with strawberry trees and with a wonderful view. The road from the monastery goes to the village of Anogi and then downhill, making many turns, to Stavros.

We return to the main road, which goes over the sea overlooking the mountains of Kefallenia behind the sea. Below there is the coast of Ai-Yiannis with a wonderful sandy beach and a short distance in front of Aetos is the village of Lefki. The village of Stavros (17.5 km from Vathi) and the surrounding area are of significant archaeological interest.

Finds made a short distance to the north, on the hill of Pilikata indicate the presence of man on the island since the end of the III millennium BC and the existence of a settlement in the middle of the II millennium BC. Odysseus' city is most likely to have been here. Pilikat has a small archaeological museum. Southwest of Stavros is a bay with the antique name of Polis and a beautiful sandy beach.

In the Loizou cave on the north side of the mountain are found many ceramics, mostly Mycenaean. The most isolated of Ithaca's villages, Exogi is located 5 km northwest of Stavros on a hill with a great view. Frikes (21 km from Vathi) is a small harbor from which the ferries to Fiskardo (Kefalenia) and Nidri (Lefkada) depart. The most beautiful coast of Ithaca is on the road that goes from Frickes to Kioni (5 km), a very picturesque village on the shores of a small bay with an abundance of greenery.