A car is essential on Kefalonia: the island is the largest in the Ionian Sea, its sights are far apart, and KTEL buses are sparse. Distances also deceive - the mountainous terrain means a 20 km hop can take 40 minutes. This guide plans the island's best drives for 2026 with real drive times, parking and costs. Every distance below is measured from Argostoli, the island's capital and the most common rental base, so you can build a route around opening times and parking rather than the map alone. Kefalonia driving attractions at a glance. Myrtos Beach is about 30 km and roughly 45 minutes from Argostoli, free to visit, and best reached before 10:30 or after 17:00. Melissani Cave is about 25 km and 35 minutes away and costs 10 euros for an adult; the light is best between 11:30 and 14:00, while 09:00 is the queue-free slot. Drogarati Cave is about 21 km and 30 minutes away and costs 6 euros, or 4 euros with a Melissani ticket, and is quietest from 09:00 to 10:30 or after 16:00. Assos and Fiskardo lie about 50 km and 1 hour 15 minutes north, cost nothing to visit, and make a full-day excursion. Mount Ainos is about 30 km and 50 minutes away, free, and best climbed between 08:00 and 10:00 while it is still cool. Xi Beach on the Paliki peninsula is about 40 km by road or roughly 25 minutes by ferry, free, and suits midday family swimming. The Sami caves: Melissani and Drogarati. The geological wonders near the eastern port of Sami are best explored together as a single morning road trip. Melissani Cave, a collapse cave housing an underground brackish lake, is the island's most famous natural sight. To see the water glow electric blue, visit when the sun is directly overhead, between 11:30 and 14:00 - but expect queues then: in July and August the wait in the unshaded courtyard reaches 90 to 120 minutes, while the rowing-boat tour inside lasts only about 10 to 15 minutes. For a calmer visit, arrive at 09:00 when the gates open. Just 3.5 km inland, a five-minute drive, lies Drogarati Cave, an ancient cavern known for its acoustics and stalactites. It sits around 60 metres down at a constant 18 degrees Celsius, a welcome escape from the heat. An adult ticket for Melissani is 10 euros and for Drogarati 6 euros. Show your Melissani ticket at the Drogarati booth and the price drops to 4 euros, so both caves cost 14 euros. There is no single pre-purchased combo ticket - you simply present the first cave's ticket at the second for the discount. Opening hours are set by the Municipality of Sami and shift through the season. For 2026 the pattern runs roughly as follows: in April, midday openings only with last entry around 13:00; in May, shoulder-season hours of about 10:00 to 17:00 daily; and from June through September, peak-season hours of about 09:00 to 18:00 daily. Always check the official Municipality of Sami announcements before setting off, as weather or maintenance can shift these windows. Both caves share the same daily schedule, so they are easy to combine. The classic north road trip: Myrtos, Assos and Fiskardo. The drive from the central plains to the rugged north is the island's signature road trip and the best introduction to exploring Kefalonia's beaches by car. It starts at Myrtos Beach, about 30 km north of Argostoli. The descent from the main road at Divarata is a steep 2 km stretch of tight switchbacks - shift into a low gear to use engine braking, and watch for coaches that need both lanes on the sharpest corners. The free car park at the base holds about 100 vehicles and routinely fills by 10:30 to 11:00 in the morning, earlier still at the August peak. Arrive late and you will park on the steep access road, with a long, hot walk back. Aim to arrive before 10:30, or come after 17:00 for the sunset, and buy water and snacks in Divarata first - there are no permanent shops on the beach. From Myrtos, continue north along the cliffside road to Assos, a village built around a narrow isthmus and crowned by a 16th-century Venetian fortress. Parking inside Assos is very limited; use the car park at the village entrance. Roughly 40 minutes further north is Fiskardo, the only village to survive the 1953 earthquake intact, keeping its 18th-century Venetian architecture around a lively waterfront. Cars are banned inside the village: park in the signposted free lots on the bypass road above the harbour and walk the short, level path down. Mount Ainos National Park by car. Mount Ainos is the highest peak in the Ionian Islands, rising to 1,628 metres at its summit, Megas Soros. Established in 1962, it is Greece's only island-based national park, famous for its forests of the endemic Kefalonian fir, Abies cephalonica. Entry is free, with no gates and no fixed opening hours. Getting there is straightforward: a well-maintained, fully paved road climbs from the Argostoli-Sami highway to the telecommunication towers just below the peak, and a standard economy hire car handles it easily - no 4x4 needed. The drive from Argostoli takes about 50 minutes. Park in the gravel clearing where the tarmac ends; from there a signposted footpath reaches the true summit in 30 to 60 minutes. Watch for the island's semi-wild horses - a herd of roughly 40 to 45, descended from Pindos ponies, that roams the rugged, unpaved south and east slopes. Do not drive your hire car down those dirt tracks: it voids standard Greek rental agreements and leaves you liable for undercarriage damage. Stick to the paved route and explore the side trails on foot. Fire-safety notice: during the peak heat of late July and August the authorities may close the park at short notice on high fire-risk days. Check the daily fire-risk map or ask your car hire representative before heading up. The Paliki peninsula via the Argostoli-Lixouri ferry. The Paliki peninsula, west of Argostoli, has a different character - rolling hills, red-sand beaches and geological oddities. You can drive the 35 km around the shallow Koutavos Lagoon, which takes 40 to 50 minutes on winding roads, but the local roll-on/roll-off car ferry from Argostoli to Lixouri is far easier. The crossing takes about 20 to 30 minutes and costs around 4 euros for a car plus driver, with tickets bought on board. It runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, dropping to hourly on Sundays. Once you roll off in Lixouri, several attractions are close by. Xi Beach lies about 10 km south of Lixouri and is famous for its orange-red clay sand and white cliffs; the water stays waist-deep for nearly 50 metres out, which is ideal for families, and the large, flat, free car park fills by midday in peak season. Kounopetra, the moving rock, is about 20 minutes south of Lixouri - a flat rock that oscillated rhythmically in the sea for centuries until the 1953 earthquake stopped it, now a quiet, scenic stop with free parking. Platia Ammos Beach was once a wild favourite but is now strictly boat-only, because the 2014 earthquake destroyed the cliff staircase; a normal car reaches only the clifftop viewpoint at the end of the unpaved road, and the view is spectacular at sunset, but do not try to climb down. Quieter gems near Sami and Argostoli. Antisamos Beach sits just 4 km east of Sami - a bay backed by green hills dropping into turquoise water, and a filming location for Captain Corelli's Mandolin in 2001. The approach is a steep, winding but fully paved pass with views of the Ithaca Strait. Unlike Myrtos, it has beach clubs with large, flat, organised car parks, free for customers, making it an easy add-on to a morning at the caves. Zervati Cave, just outside Karavomylos, is a peaceful and free alternative to Melissani - a collapsed doline filled with clear, brackish water where springs mix with the sea, and no organised tours. Park by the green metal gate directly opposite the Zervati fish restaurant on the coastal road, then take the short, shaded path down, and bring a strong torch to light the walls and the deep blue water. On the northern tip of the Argostoli peninsula, seawater enters the Katavothres coastal sinkholes and flows through underground channels across the island, re-emerging about 14 days later at Melissani and Karavomylos - a route proven in 1963 by Austrian geologists using dye tracing. Park free beside the restored sea mill and water wheel, then drive the coastal road to the Agioi Theodoroi Lighthouse, known locally as Fanari, a relaxed sunset spot with free roadside parking. Driving practicalities and car hire tips. For Kefalonia's tight switchbacks and narrow village streets, a compact or economy car such as a Fiat 500, Hyundai i10 or Toyota Yaris is ideal - easier to park and to pass oncoming traffic. You only need a small SUV or 4x4 for rough dirt tracks, and standard hire insurance is void the moment you leave the asphalt, so any tyre or undercarriage damage on dirt roads is on you. An economy or compact car suits tight village roads, easy parking and low petrol use; a medium sedan suits families with large suitcases and longer drives; a small SUV adds ground clearance for steep gravel approaches; and a 4x4 is only for remote exploration, subject to the insurance exclusions above. Petrol stations cluster around Argostoli, Lixouri, Sami, Skala and the airport, but thin out in the interior, around Mount Ainos, the far north and Paliki. Notably, there is no petrol station in Fiskardo village - the nearest is at Konidarata, about 10 minutes south. Top up before the mountains or the northern peninsula. Many independent stations close on Sundays, and some rural ones by 19:00 in the shoulder seasons; card terminals in remote areas occasionally lose connectivity, so carry cash. Driving in Greece falls under the updated Highway Code, Law 5209/2025, in force since 13 September 2025 - not the coastal-access Law 5092/2024. Seatbelts are mandatory for all occupants, and an unbuckled driver faces a 350-euro fine plus a 30-day licence suspension. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.05 percent for standard drivers and 0.02 percent for novices who have held a licence for under two years; the safest approach is not to drink before driving. Unless signposted otherwise, speed limits are 50 km/h in built-up areas, 90 km/h on open roads and 130 km/h on motorways. Headlights are required at night and in poor visibility, and handheld phone use is prohibited - use a hands-free system. Under Greek Law 4850/2021, visitors with a valid national licence from the UK, EU, US, Canada or Australia may drive for up to six months without an International Driving Permit. In practice, some local agencies and insurers still prefer to see an IDP, so getting one before you travel prevents any delay at the desk. A suggested 3-day driving itinerary covers the highlights efficiently, with minimal back-and-forth driving. Day 1 takes in Sami and the central valleys: arrive at Melissani Cave for 09:00 to beat the tour buses, drive five minutes to Drogarati Cave around 10:30 and show your Melissani ticket for the discount, cross the paved pass to Antisamos Beach for lunch and an easy swim from about 11:45, then head back via Katavothres from 16:00, finishing at the Agioi Theodoroi Lighthouse for sunset. Day 2 covers the rugged north: leave around 09:15 to reach Myrtos Beach before 10:30 for parking, continue to Assos by about 12:15 and park at the entrance for lunch by the harbour, then drive on to Fiskardo from 15:00, park in the bypass lot and stroll the Venetian waterfront. Day 3 explores the Paliki peninsula: take the 09:30 car ferry from Argostoli to Lixouri, drive south to the coast near Kounopetra by about 10:15, spend the warmest hours from 11:30 at Xi Beach and its shallow water, then drive to the Platia Ammos viewpoint around 16:00 before returning for the evening ferry.