Galini Apartments

We stayed in Katelios in August 2009 at the Gallini apartments.
The Gallini is very nice - the apartments are spacious with toaster, kettle, fridge and hob, the people are friendly and the pool is great. The only thing that might stop me going again is the lack of air-con – it was still very warm overnight and air-con would be really good. The bar does snacks at lunch-time and I can vouch for both the Greek salad and the BLT!
Katelios is kind of scruffy but none the worse for that, with a very informal tone. It’s very much a quiet resort geared to families or couples I would say. Really it consists only of about 10 or so bars and tavernas along the beach edge, with a couple of general shops. The road going up the hill has several apartment complexes strung out along it – the Gallini is about 10 mins walk away. It’s not a steep hill at this point, the walk is very easy. There is another taverna – Jerry’s – halfway between the Gallini and the beach, and a shop just opposite the Gallini which sells pretty much everything.
All the tavernas seem to do much the same food (Greek classics, fish and pizzas) at much the same prices – we ate mostly at Jerry’s and the Katelios Taverna simply because we liked the people. Portion sizes are big, and you can get a meal and a drink for 10 euros. At Jerry’s you mostly are offered a drink ‘on the house’ when you pay your bill! Most places have kids menus with burger, pizza etc.
Unless you want to just stay in Katelios, you need to hire a car. Bus services are very limited indeed. We hired from Venus – just down the hill from the Gallini – and they were friendly and reasonably priced, though probably more expensive than pre-booking and picking up at the airport would have been. A Polo cost us 250 euros for a week, all included. Driving in Kefalonia is very easy, the traffic is light especially away from Argostoli and there are very few junctions – basically find your road and drive along it till you get to your destination! The quality of the roads is mostly good, and signage is good with place-names in English as well as Greek. There are numerous signs warning of cows in the road, but so far as I can make out they mean goats – we saw a few of these! Beware there is a stretch of new road under construction near Argostoli which has a couple of roundabouts! You need to give-way to the right on these.
The beach at Katelios is sandy but a bit scruffy. The one round the corner where the turtles nest is better and is very shallow for a long way out. This might be good for little kids but frustrating if you want to swim! We liked the beach at Poros which has deeper water and is better for swimming. Note the other nearby beach at Skala shelves very steeply. The island is full of great beaches, most seem to have blue flag status, take your trunks if you are out in the car!
You can hire boats from Katelios beach, but this seemed quite expensive. Also there is a fast water taxi to Skala and Poros which was fun and much cheaper.
Sightseeing highlights for us were Myrtos beach and Assos, Mellisani lake is worth seeing, also Aghia Effinia is a nice little place, the mountain road from Katelios to Sami and the coast road from Argostoli to Assos. We didn’t get as far as Fiskardo, it’s more than a 2-hour drive from Katelios and we couldn’t be bothered.
Tip – buy plug-in mosquito repellers from the local shop, they really work! We got bitten lots overnight till we got these, and not at all after that.