Right next to Sami Beach Hotel, at a distance of 5 min walk, is the seaside village of Karavomilos. This village has a small lake on the seafront, a charming port with fishing boats, a local bakery and 2 restaurants that serve fresh fish dishes. Very close to Karavomilos is the famous Lake Cave of Melissani, where you can take a boat tour. The best time to visit Melissani is in the morning, when maximum sunlight comes through the cave opening and reflects beautiful colors. At the village of Old Vlahata, in close distance to Karavomilos, a popular festival called Saristra Festival takes place every summer in the beginning of August.
Sami Beach Hotel is centrally located on the island of Kefalonia, Greece. This central location provides easy access to many famous places around the island. In particular, our hotel is found 27 km from the airport of Kefalonia and 2.5 km from the port of Sami. Following the road from Sami to Agia Efimia, when you reach Karavomilos, turn right and take the street to the sea. Our hotel is max 45 min drive from every part of the island.
Karavomilos
Sami
Sami is the closest town to Sami Beach Hotel. This is among the largest towns in Kefalonia and has many restaurants, cafes, bars and shops. The port of Sami gets very busy in summer as it receives ferries from Italy and the neighboring island of Ithaca. Sami became famous around the world as the setting of the Hollywood movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Most of the shootings for this movie were filmed in Sami, Antisamos beach and the surrounding hills. Sami is only 5 min drive from Sami Beach Hotel or 20 min walk following a seaside path.
Antisamos Beach
Antisamos beach is only located 5 kilometers away from the hotel. A fantastic beach with crystal clear waters surrounded by green mountains and spectacular views across to Ithaca. The beach has parking facilities, beach bars, umbrellas, sunbeds and water sports.
Myrtos Beach
Myrtos is a world famous beach that has been described as “one of the most dramatic beaches in Greece“, with its “mile-and-a-half long arc of dazzling white pebbles.” It was used as the location for the mine explosion episode in the film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Myrtos beach is 15 Km away from the hotel
Drogarati Cave
The Drogarati Cave in Kefalonia was discovered 300 years ago and opened to the public in 1963. It was discovered when a strong earthquake caused a collapse that revealed the cave’s entrance. Drogarati is an impressive cave with remarkable formations of stalactites and stalagmites. Speleologists say that this cave is about 150 million years old and constitutes a rare geological phenomenon. The cave is about 60m deep and has a constant temperature of 18ΊC. The humidity of the cave reaches 90%.The cave is accessed by a number of steps.
Ancient Acropolis of Sami
Ancient Sami was a powerful fortified town whose ruins are found in Lapitha Mountain, over the port town of Sami Kefalonia. This town was an autonomous and independent state with its own coin inhabited from the Paleolithic Times. A strong and densely populated town with strong fortifications, it was located on top of the cliff. Several references of Ancient Sami are found in Homer’s poems (Heliad, Odyssey) when Sami fought in the Trojan War.
Sami Archeological Museum
The Archaeological Collection of Sami in Kefalonia as well as the mosaics’ exhibition in its surrounding area were inaugurated in August 2021. The permanent exhibition of the Collection presents the diachronic habitation of Sami dated from the early Bronze Age until the early Byzantine times through the finds from the territory of the city-state of Sami and from Fiskardo, the ancient city of Panormos. The mosaic floors have been retrieved from private and public buildings, reflecting the techniques and patterns that are featured in the mosaics’ art in Roman and late Roman Sami depicting the Roman way of life.
