The area
The Fiscardo area is breathtakingly beautiful; it has a coastline dotted with rocky coves at the foot of dense, vivid green forest and a crystal clear sea so warm you can swim all day. In the hills lie half-forgotten villages unchanged for generations with small tavernas and bars where old men click worry beads and play endless games of tavli, (a form of backgammon).
How do you spend your time? Long, languid, sun-filled days watching your skin turn golden brown. Pottering about in a little boat to find an extra-private cove or slipping across to the island of Ithaca for a change of scene. Afternoon siestas, which everyone takes very seriously. Breakfasts of delicious local bread and honey, late night suppers in tavernas where the produce is local and the service relaxed. Watching the lights of passing ships ghosting past in the strait between Kefalonia and Ithaca at night. Refreshing late night dips in the pool or sea.
There is late night action in Fiscardo where the party goes on 'til dawn but most people seek Fiscardo for beauty and privacy; when you are in one of the Dolicha Villas, you would never know that just down the road the very rich are playing with their yachts and private submarines (yes, really!) and that the restaurants and bars are pulsating. It is part of the area’s charm that you can have it both ways - hectic partying or peace and tranquility.
Kefalonia is in western Greece and lies close to Italy. indeed in history’s long march Italian interests have ruled the island for much longer than the Greeks. There are daily ferry services that allow you to go to sleep in Greece and wake up the next morning in Italy. You are also just a skim away from Ithaca, Lefkada and Meganissi, all islands with their own brand of charm.
Fiscardo is at the northern-most tip of Kefalonia in an area that over the last ten years has been discovered by the rich and famous - each summer an array of European royalty, A-list celebrities and the super-rich moor outside the tiny harbour on giant yachts and land to dine at Tassia’s the trendiest restaurant in the Ionian. Tassia, who is Greece’s premier celebrity chef with her own TV programme, will cheerfully dig out her photographs of Madonna, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Spielberg, King Albert ll of the Belgians, John Cusack and many, many more. For saltier yachtsmen in sail boats rather than superyachts, Fiscardo is an important stop as they sail from the islands of Corfu or Lefkada to Zakynthos. In spite of its sudden popularity Fiscardo and the other villages remains unspoiled, largely because of a government law declaring it an area of great natural beauty which imposes strict building conditions in the entire area.
Maganon, the nearest village to Hilltop Villa and Villa Bernice is a traditional Greek village with tavernas that offer lamb or pork on a spit and serve other traditional fare. It stands at a crossroads, convenient for all the local beaches and with a store that has the best fresh produce around. It is handy for Myrtos beach too which is one of the most famous beaches in Greece, not only because it is very beautiful but because it featured in the movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Remember the scene where Nicholas Cage tries a controlled explosion of a bomb and nearly blows himself up, much to the consternation of Penelope Cruz? That’s Myrtos.
Read more about the history of Fiscardo and Kefalonia »
