Argostoli Kefalonia resort report and satellite view of Argostoli

Argostoli Kefalonia

Argostoli is main town, cultural centre and island capital of Kefalonia with some 14,000 people living there. It's on the east coast with a deep natural harbour and surrounded by pine carpeted hills. Although the setting is spectacular, the town itself is less so with endless swathes of cement and uninspiring architecture. It was once full of handsome Venetian buildings but was hit badly by the 1953 earthquake. Modern Argostoli was built on the ruins of old Argostoli and cement mixers must have gone into overdrive. The lack of vegetation can turn the town into a slow bake oven in the high summer.
Argostoli has a confusing one-way system so taking a car can be a problem although parking is reasonably easy. The resort has a very large main square laid out with flagstones and lined with tavernas and hotels (a hotel at each corner). On summer nights hundreds of children gather to play in the square as parents sit in open air cafes. There is little atmosphere here before 9.30pm but after that the place comes alive. Prices are at a premium here so don't expect to get a cheap meal at the tavernas. This is also the place for festivals, parades and outdoor performances. At one end of the square is a statue to the philanthropist Panigis Vallianou who paid for both the square and the local hospital.
Just off the square is Napier's gardens, a green oasis in a tide of cement. Napier was a British governor of Kefalonia in the 19th century and the gardens have been recently renovated. Also off the square is the traffic free Lithostroto, the main shopping street with a wide range of shops and cafes but note that everything closes from 2pm-5pm and on Wednesday evening.
Other sights of note are the Archaeological Museum which has artifacts from the Trojan Wars and some gold Mycenaean jewellery and the Folklore Museum which harks back to the days before the earthquake. There is also a long promenade along the harbour, the walk laid with a modern mosaic design and fringed with palm trees with a vegetable market at one end encircled by small cafes.
Nearby is the Drapano Bridge, a 900m stone causeway built across the Koutavos lagoon by the British in 1813, remodeled in 1842, and now traffic free. It's a great place to go turtle spotting. The port has regular ferries to Lixouri (about 25min) and larger car ferries leave here for Patras on the mainland.
There is a small beach near the marina on the Fanari road to Lassi which is shingle and stone but has a small taverna. Other small coves line the shore all the way round the headland to Lassi and its an attractive coastal walk too.