At the far north edge of Cephalonia one can find the pleasant fishing port of Fiskardo.
This village was named after the Norman Duke Guiscard (Ghiscardo in Italian), who, coming from Sicily, conquered the island in the 11th century which up to then belonged to the Byzantine Empire. The village is famous for having survived the 1953 earthquake which destroyed the rest of the island as well as the island of Zakynthos (Zante) so you are to see traditional Cephalonian buildings, painted in various, often happy, colours; a habit which was imported from Italy during the Venetian era.
In winter, there you can see only a few fishing boats with fishermen cleaning their nets under the constant glance of dozens of cats waiting patiently for something to eat. In summertime , though, this image changes completely. There is a parade of British yachts, of German sailing boats, of French catamarans or of Italian inflatable boat... Consequently, they have doubled the area of the port installing a floating quay and it is always rather difficult to preserve a good water quality. When the cafes and restaurants open their doors and their terraces, they invade the port. Guide du Routard has named Fiskardo as the Greek Saint-Tropez, since numerous Greek and Hollywood stars have passed by. Consequently, some restaurants are quite expensive such as "Tassia's" which is well-known all over Greece.
Fiskardo has also got a museum which you can visit free of charge (you can offer a donation if you like) and is devoted to the protection of the environment. Created by a group of volunteers who are in charge of protecting the reproduction places of the monk seal, the museum, which is located in the old primary school, would really need a more constant financing, but it still is an interesting place to visit and very instructive for children.
Note : Fiskardo is the port where ferry boats from the nearby island of Leucada - Lefkada in Greek - (from the ports of Vassiliki or Nydri) or Ithaca (Port of Frikes) arrive. Just one company (Tetranisia Ferries) links the islands twice to four times a day.