Ithaca map, Greece: villages, beaches and the ferry ports

Where Ithaca is in Greece, and the shape of the island

Ithaca sits just east of Kefalonia, across a strait you can see over from either side, with Lefkada to the north and the mainland at Astakos to the east. The chain of Ionian islands runs down the west coast of Greece, and Ithaca is the one tucked behind the biggest of them. It covers 96 square kilometres and had 2,862 residents at the 2021 census.

The island is two blocks of limestone joined at the waist. The southern half rises to Merovigli, 669 m, and the northern half to Mount Niritos, 806 m, the highest point. Between them the isthmus of Aetos is only 600 metres wide. It separates the strait on the west from the Gulf of Molos on the east, whose southern arm is the long, closed bay of Vathy. The road from the ferry crosses that neck, which is why Piso Aetos is a ten-minute drive from town.

Kefalonia is so close that most visitors treat Ithaca as a day trip from it, and the map of Kefalonia shows the two ports, Sami and Fiskardo, that face this island. It is worth more than a day. The north alone is a different place from Vathy.

Ithaca villages on the map: Vathy, Kioni, Frikes and Stavros

Four villages do almost all the work, one in the south and three in the north. Where you sleep decides what is a walk and what is a drive.

Vathy, the capital in its closed bay

Vathy, also Vathi or Ithaki town, wraps round the end of a bay so enclosed it looks like a lake, with the islet of Lazaretto and its small church in the middle. It has the shops, the bank, the car hire, the yachts and most of the rooms. It also has the beaches at Dexa and Loutsa within 5 minutes and Filiatro within 10. The hill village of Perachori, five minutes above it, has the view down over the whole bay.

Kioni, the harbour on the north-east coast

Kioni is the picture on most Ithaca postcards: stone houses stepping down to a deep harbour, with three old windmills on the headland. It is 30 minutes from Vathy and the furthest village from the ferry, which keeps it quiet. Flotillas fill the quay on summer evenings, and the closest swims are at Plakoutses on the bay and the Kourvoulia coves towards Frikes.

Frikes, where the summer boat comes in

Frikes is a narrow inlet with a handful of tavernas on the quay, five minutes below Stavros. It matters on the map because it is the northern ferry port: the boat from Fiskardo on Kefalonia lands here from mid-June to late September, and so do the summer sailings from Astakos on the mainland. Kioni is 10 minutes along the coast.

Stavros, the crossroads of the north

Stavros sits on the ridge above Polis bay, where both roads from the south arrive, and it is the second village of the island. It is a working village with a square and a bust of Odysseus rather than a harbour, and it is the base for the north's Odysseus sites: the School of Homer is just above it and Polis bay just below. Frikes and Kioni are 5 and 10 minutes away.

Anogi, Lefki, Exogi and the hill villages

The rest of the villages are small and high. Anogi, 20 minutes from Vathy on the mountain road, is the highest of them, with the tall standing stone of Arakli just outside it. Lefki sits on the low road above the strait facing Kefalonia. Exogi, Platrithia and Lachos are clustered above Stavros on the way to Afales bay. None of them has much to sleep in, and all of them are best reached by car.

Ithaca beaches map: the coves around Vathy and the northern bays

Ithaca has no long sandy beach. It has small pebble coves with very clear water, most of them a short drive from Vathy, and a few bays in the north worth the trip. The map marks the ten you are most likely to look for.

Beaches near Vathy: Dexa, Loutsa, Filiatro and Sarakiniko

Dexa is the nearest, 1.5 km out of town on the road to the port, a pebble cove on the inner bay. Loutsa and Mnimata are the next coves along the same shore. On the other side of the ridge east of town, Filiatro and Sarakiniko are both about 10 minutes from Vathy, and Filiatro is the closest organised beach to town.

Gidaki and Skinos, the two you work for

Gidaki is the beach people come to Ithaca for, a long white pebble curve under a green slope on the north-east side of the Vathy peninsula. The last stretch is a dirt track, so it does not fit in a driving table, and the excursion boats from Kefalonia stop here to swim. Skinos, on the same coast, is smaller and the road gets closer.

Beaches in the north of Ithaca: Polis, Afales and Kourvoulia

Polis bay sits below Stavros on the west coast, a pebble beach in the bay where the Loizos cave once stood. Afales, the big bay on the north-west tip, is the wildest beach on the island. Between Frikes and Kioni the coast road passes three small Kourvoulia coves, the easiest swim if you are staying up there.

The west coast: Aspros Gialos and Piso Aetos

On the strait side, Aspros Gialos below the hamlet of Agios Ioannis faces Kefalonia and gets the sunset. Piso Aetos has a small beach next to the ferry quay, handy for a swim while you wait for the boat back.

Ithaca ferry ports: Piso Aetos, Frikes and Vathy

Ithaca has no airport, so everyone arrives by sea, most of them after landing at Kefalonia airport and driving to Sami. The port you land at shapes the first half hour of the holiday. There are two ferry ports, and Vathy is not one of them.

Piso Aetos, the main port

Piso Aetos, also written Pisaetos, is a ferry quay with a canteen on the west coast, under the hill of Aetos. The car ferry from Sami on Kefalonia lands here in about 30 minutes, and it runs all year. From the quay, Vathy is 7 km and 10 minutes over the isthmus, and Stavros is 20 minutes north without going through town. The Kefalonia to Ithaca ferry guide has the 2026 sailings and fares.

Frikes, summer only

Frikes takes the small ferry from Fiskardo, in the north of Kefalonia, about 45 minutes across, which continues to Vasiliki on Lefkada. It runs from mid-June to late September only. It is the better arrival for anyone staying in Kioni, Frikes or Stavros, and a way to hop on to Lefkada without going back through Sami.

Ferries from the mainland at Astakos

From the mainland, the crossing is from Astakos, on the coast of Aetolia-Acarnania. Ionion Pelagos runs it to Piso Aetos all year, in about 3 to 3.5 hours, and to Frikes in about 2 hours in July, August and September. It is the route for anyone driving from Athens, and the frequencies change each season, so check the week you travel.

Vathy harbour: yachts, not ferries

Vathy's harbour is full of sailing boats and excursion boats from Kefalonia, but no scheduled car ferry docks there. If a booking site shows "Ithaca", it means Piso Aetos or Frikes.

Odysseus sites on the Ithaca map

Ithaca has been claimed as the home of Odysseus since antiquity, and the island marks a handful of places with his name. Some are real excavations, others are a reading of Homer. Most of what was found is in the museums, not on site.

School of Homer at Agios Athanasios, above Stavros

On the slope north of Stavros, the site called the School of Homer is where excavations uncovered a large building of the eighth century BC, announced in 2010 as a possible palace of Odysseus. It is the strongest archaeological claim on the island, and the one site in the Lefkada, Kefalonia and Ithaca triangle with possible Linear B inscriptions. What you see today is stone walls and terraces among the olive trees.

Polis bay and the Loizos cave

On the west side of Polis bay, below Stavros, stood a sea cave that has since collapsed. Excavated in the 1930s, it gave up twelve bronze tripods, which recall the tripods the Phaeacians give Odysseus in the Odyssey, and evidence of a cult running from the early Bronze Age to Roman times. Heinrich Schliemann took it for the cave of Odysseus. Today the bay is a beach and the cave is rubble.

Cave of the Nymphs above Dexa

The Marmarospilia, about 3 km from Vathy above Dexa beach, is identified locally with the cave where Odysseus hid the Phaeacians' gifts. The entrance is reported closed after rockfalls, so treat it as a walk to the mouth of the cave and ask in Vathy before going.

Alalkomenes on the hill of Aetos

On the hill above the Piso Aetos ferry quay, the ruins of the ancient town of Alalkomenes include an acropolis and stretches of cyclopean wall. It is the first Odysseus site you pass, on the road between the ferry and Vathy, and the climb gives the best view of both gulfs and the isthmus between them.

The Arethusa spring in the south-east

In the Odyssey, Athena sends Odysseus to the swineherd Eumaeus, who keeps his pigs by the Raven's Rock and the spring of Arethusa. The spring is marked on the map in the south-east of the island. The road ends in a track, so ask locally about the walk before setting out.

Kathara monastery and the Vathy museum

The monastery of Panagia Kathariotissa stands on the mountain road to Anogi, 20 minutes from Vathy, with a wide view over the south of the island. Its feast day is 8 September. In town, the Archaeological Museum of Vathy is open 08:30 to 15:30, closed on Tuesdays, with entry at €5. It holds finds from Geometric to Roman times, including from the digs at Aetos and the Loizos cave. Stavros has a small archaeological collection of its own, on the road to Platrithia.

Ithaca roads and driving times from Vathy

From Vathy one road runs west to the isthmus, past the turn for Piso Aetos, then climbs north. Above the isthmus it splits into two roads to Stavros. The low road runs along the west side above the strait, past Agios Ioannis and Lefki, and is the quicker one at about 20 minutes. The mountain road climbs past Kathara monastery to Anogi and drops into Stavros from the east, about 25 minutes. Take one each way.

From Stavros, short roads fan out to Frikes, Kioni, Exogi and Afales. The table gives the drive to each place on the map, rounded up.

Getting around Ithaca without a car

It can be done if you stay in Vathy. There is no bus timed to the ferries, but taxis and minibuses meet the boats at Piso Aetos and Frikes, and need booking ahead in July and August. For the north, a car or scooter for a day or two is the practical answer.

Header photo: Vathy from the air by Ellibah, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.