We have just returned from a week at Maria & Zak’s family owned & run hotel. The Hotel is very clean and kept to a high standard. The rooms are simply furnished – ours was a family room with a separate bedroom with double bed, but the standard rooms are twin beds. The whole place has recently undergone a renovation and is freshly painted with new patio doors and screens. The public areas are much more modern than you would expect with cream leather sofas and a swish bar. The breakfast is of the traditional Greek variety – roll, bread, butter jam, orange squash, coffee, but is well done with beautiful fresh bread rolls every morning. Plenty of pool loungers, with mattress & umbrellas, meant there was never a fight to get one. Doors can echo when slammed shut, but this is to be expected when all the halls and rooms have marbled floors – we never found it to be a big issue and it did not disturb either of our 3 & 7 yr old daughters slumber. Hairdryer & iron in room with option for air-con, which was not needed in Sept. Most of all, the place was run with real care and everyone could not have been friendlier. We would recommend the place to anyone.

Just returned from Kefalos and we had fab weather. Always warm without being too hot or overbearing. Some days the wind can get up a bit.
Sarah - we ate at the Restaurant-Bar Santa Barbara, which is on the harbour road overlooking Kamari Bay. The only genuine Italian place we found - the pizzas were excellent and large (7 Euros) and the two daughters who waitress are such laugh as they sing and dance their way around the tables.

Hired a Suzuki Jimney from them for 2 days from their site near the Oasis Supermarket in Kefalos (they also have a branch nearer the harbour). We wanted a Samurai, but they didn’t recommend this with young children as the rear seats are too high relative to the sides. They also said the Jimney has power steering and ABS. Seemed genuine bunches who are a family run firm, operating for many years. They charged us October rates in September, which worked out at 80 Euros all in (included extra personal insurance at 2 Euros a day which they said was compulsory with children, and 2 Euros per day for an additional driver). The deposit was just 20 Euros. They provided a complimentary map which includes suggestions of places to visit, and they told us where we could find free parking in Kos centre. We collected the car at 9am and could either return it at 9pm on the second day, or between 8 and 8:30am the day after. We would recommend them, but there is a 200 Euro excess, and all damage to tyres is the responsibility of the customer - a no fault puncture could turn out to be very expensive. It’s worth noting that the conditions of hire state that the driver must not consume any alcohol. Also, check the car carefully for damage when you sign the agreement; ours said there was no damage but we later noticed the light lens was cracked – fortunately, they did not spot this or make an issue of it when we handed it back.

A mixed bag. We did not get off to a very good start – despite booking over 2 weeks prior to departure they charged us an extra £48 to collect out tickets at the airport. We collected our tickets, which I checked in the booking in queue to find that we had only been given the outbound tickets! My wife returned to the Kosmar desk where the lady on duty didn’t seem at all bothered, but did manage to find our return tickets. On checking this envelope there was also a letter addressed to another customer, which we returned to the desk – again, not at all bothered. When we checked in we asked if our vegetarian meals had been requested – surprise, surprise, Kosmar had not even told the airline our names.
John was our rep in resort, and he did turn up regularly to the Hotel and seemed a decent sort of bloke, but we didn’t need any assistance from him. Most of the rep’s talk did seem to revolve around how to make life easier for the Hotel rather than us though! We were not very impressed with having to vacate rooms 14 and a half hours before pick up, so opted to pay an extra 20 Euros, which bought us another 8 hours in our rooms.
A word of warning about the Airport at Kos – they simply cannot cope with the number of flights. The result is complete chaos at busy times: it took us 2 hours to get our baggage on arrival. On departure we queued for over 2 hours – one queue to get in the building; another for check-in; and the worst one was for passport control. If you know what to expect it doesn’t come as quite such a shock!
The hotel Zeus was excellent.

We liked this fun jeep. It has a canvas top that can be pulled down from the front or back separately. There is more protection in the back for children on this than the Samurai, and this was an important consideration with a 3 year old and 7 year old. It has power steering and ABS. It’s great for getting about the Island, especially up the mountain roads to Zia. On the down side: with a 1.3 litre engine is a bit under powered and there is very little luggage space in the ‘boot’ and virtually zero security, but on Kos that was never a problem! I must admit we never had to engage 4 wheel drive, but the option is there is needed. You can keep your air-con - driving along with the wind in your hair on a glorious sunny day takes some beating for our money and the kids loved it.

I guess this is going to be one of those love it or hate it trips. I’m not going to say that everyone will enjoy it as much as we did. If you’re the sort of person who likes a fun-packed night out in Kardemena then this trip may not appeal to you.
We paid 23 Euros per adult and children were half price (under 2’s go free). Beware those that don’t tell you about the 7 Euro bus fare to get you to the volcano, which everyone has to pay (we later spotted the best deal with Trust Car Hire at 20 Euros. The worst deal was with the reps at 27 Euros).
This is what we liked about the trip: the variety. For your money you get a great boat trip; to explore the wonderful island village of Nisyros (there’s half a dozen ways to spell this); a bus trip and a volcano visit thrown in. We thought it was very good value for money. We departed from Kefalos harbour at 9:30am and arrived on Nysiros at 10:45. The bus rep told us we were on a 12:30 bus, so we explored the magical village of Nisyros which has some wonderful back streets and buildings. We had a leisurely lunch at one of the portside tavernas (none were ‘greasy Joes’ in our view!). The bus takes you the 17 Km up the mountain via a succession of hair-pin bends with some fantastic views. You drop down into the valley of the volcano, but are only given 35mins to explore on foot, which was a bit disappointing. This allows just enough time to walk down into the crater and back. We managed this carrying a 3 yr old on shoulders and with a 7 yr old, all wearing strong sandals (we did see some wearing flip-flops and they managed, but we also saw some ending up on their backside when the slipped! The volcanic ash and stone on the path down can be a bit slippery if you’re not firm footed). The smells from the sulphur are great, and not too overpowering. Steam and smells come out from various pot holes on the crater surface – it’s unique.
On return to Nisyros we had time to explore a little more. We walked up to the Monastery, which closed about 2:45pm, but the views are worth the walk up anyway. There was just enough time for a leisurely drink at a bar before catching the boat back to Kos. We thought it was a great day out, but you will know if this is the sort of thing that you like.

A great sandy beach, but it did seem a bit busy and tightly packed with sun loungers. There’s a good water sports place where you can pay large amounts of money to go on crazy rides like rubber rings towed behind a speedboat, and an inflatable platform that took off into the air at a fast speed and you flew along! We opted for a more sedate hire of a pedalo which had a built in water slide that our daughter loved (a bit expensive at 10 Euros for half an hour). Two loungers and an umbrella were 7 Euros for the day.
The beach side taverna rocks with some good music; great pizza and fresh baguettes.
You can get here by coach, the Kos bus, or water taxi. We drove in our hire car and there was plenty of free parking.

We travelled to Kos Town by our hire car, and combined it with a evening sunset visit to Zia Mountain Village (for a family of 4 this is cheaper than booking the excursions). Kosmar were charging 12 Euros per person. The local bus from Kefalos is 5.60 Euro return (dep. 07:30/10:00/11:00, ret. 14:30/16:30/21:00), but beware taking the last bus, which does not always materialise and then it’s a very expensive taxi ride. You can park for free next to the Casa Romana, off Grigoriou E’
We were really impressed with Kos Town and would definitely recommend it as a day trip to anyone staying elsewhere on the Island. There are loads of restaurants and interesting small boutique type shops to browse for hours on end. The harbour is interesting to see all the boats; some are replica wooden sailing ships that run trips to Turkey or the popular ‘3 Island Tour’. From here you can see clearly across to Turkey. We were told that Kos is having problems with illegal immigrants from Turkey, which include the begging children who roam about and are very pushy (we saw them but they never approached us or bothered us).
There are several sites of historical remains in the Town, including the columnar remains of the Basilica A which date back to the 5th Century. In Britain, these would be fenced off and protected, but this being Greece you are free to scramble about all over them!
It’s best to shop around as identical items vary in price from shop to shop. By the time we had left at 4:30pm, things had gone pretty quiet.

We drove there ourselves (same place as Paradise beach and signposted from the main road, parking is free). If you’re looking for the Bubbles bit, then either look for all the people stood in the sea looking down, or else use the Paradise Hotel as the marker and it is straight out from there. We saw plenty of bubbles, but if you think it’s going to be like a Jacuzzi then you’ll probably be disappointed – when we were there there was just an occasional stream of bubbles coming up from the sea bed.

A great sandy beach, but it did seem a bit busy and tightly packed with sun loungers. There’s a good water sports place where you can pay large amounts of money to go on crazy rides like rubber rings towed behind a speedboat, and an inflatable platform that took off into the air at a fast speed and you flew along! We opted for a more sedate hire of a pedalo which had a built in water slide that our daughter loved (a bit expensive at 10 Euros for half an hour). Two loungers and an umbrella were 7 Euros for the day.
The beach side taverna rocks with some good music; great pizza and fresh baguettes.
You can get here by coach, the Kos bus, or water taxi. We drove in our hire car and there was plenty of free parking.

We reserved this visit until we had a hire car – only 1.5 Km from the harbour, but all up hill. Therein lies it’s advantage – the best views of Kamari Bay and the Kefalos beach resort. We took the recommendations of others and went in search of the old man and his small bakery come café. After much exploring of back streets I looked up a small street and saw a man stood outside a shop and sure enough it was him. As we approached he launched into his patter of “vanille, chocolate, mocha gateaux, éclairs...” and we stepped into his empty café and it was like stepping back 40 years in time. The shop probably hasn’t changed much in that time. We ordered coffee and cake with a biscuit for our youngest child. He delighted in bringing two biscuits, explaining that the second was a present from him. Soon enough aided and abetted by us, he had enticed another couple in, and then a third couple. Even while he is taking your money he is still darting out of the café to speak to those passing, not wanting to miss an opportunity! Priceless. The obligatory handshakes were done and then a photo with our two girls.
Apart from the view, the rest of Old Kefalos has little to commend it. Away from the main shopping streets there are a lot of ugly concrete buildings, many with graffiti. A previous commentator described the place as having the charm of a council housing estate – perhaps a little unfair, but I see where he’s coming from.
Our children played in the park, which would be shut down under health & safety considerations in the UK! But do go, if only to visit the old café owner.

We arrived by hire car quite late and found all the parking gone and coaches double parked on the main street. We drove to the far end of the village and mistook the Ayli Taverna for the recommended Aveli Taverna., but they did have reserved car parking. They were turning people away if they weren’t eating there, so we agreed to come back to eat to secure our parking place.
We then wandered through the village and pottered among the various stalls that were set out in the street creating a special kind of atmosphere. We returned to the Ayli and took up a table on their roof terrace. The view from the roof has to be the best bit of the Taverna – the food and service was certainly a let down. The waiter placed a paper table cloth over a dirty table for us. Our daughter spilled her drink of lemonade on the paper table cloth, but they did not do anything to help and when the food arrived they put it down on top of the wet table. The food was adequate, but nothing special. A short time later a coach party arrived and filled the place up, and confirmed in my mind that they were trading on their location rather than their food or service. Nevertheless, fantastic views, but the dramatic sunset failed to materialise and instead we had just a very average one. If we were to return we would try to arrive earlier and eat at the first taverna on the right into the village.

This is a great resort with plenty to do and enough places to eat out at a different place every night, if that’s what you want. The beach is no the best for sand but does have sandy stretches and beautiful crystal clear water. All the staff at shops and restaurants were so friendly and happy that our daughter asked us why! We popped into a store for a box of matches and the owner saw my daughter’s badge saying she was ‘7 today’. In a spontaneous gesture she offered her a free lolly, and also gave one to our 3 year old so she didn’t feel left out! We left with the shop owner having given us more than we had given her (the matches only cost 30 cents!), and this in so many ways summed up the generous nature of the people in this resort for us. Similar acts of kindness were shown to us throughout our stay in Kefalos – people giving something for nothing, which is so rare to see these days.
For accommodation, we can highly recommend the Hotel Zeus where we stayed.
If you hire a car, this makes a great base from which to explore the whole Island. Trust Car Rental will sort you out. Eat at any one of Stamatia, Stop In, Sebastian’s, or Santa Barbara and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Following the recommendations on this web site we ate here on our first night, and then returned on our last night. The location is unbeatable, as it’s one of only a couple of restaurants located right on the beach. As you sit at your table you look out over the sand and hear the waves lapping at the shore, instead of the noise of scooters racing up and down the coast road.
The staff here are first class. There is a man assisted by two ladies who are all delightful and utterly professional and genuinely friendly. They work seamlessly together to take your order, deliver your food and attend to you throughout your meal. They made a great fuss of our two daughters, particularly Bill, who returned to tease our 3 year old at regular intervals throughout the meal. This was concluded by a request from him for them to follow him into the back and they emerged with two large complimentary ice cream deserts.
Now down to the food – as vegetarians we were somewhat restricted but had various starter dishes, pizza, pastas and Greek salads. All the food was excellent. The cost for 2 adults and 2 children for starters, main meals with wine/drinks averaged 29-33 Euros, which we thought was good value for money. In our view, Stamatia is among the best restaurants in the resort and is highly recommended.

The ‘Stop In’ is set back further from the main road than others, which gives the advantage of reducing road noise, but the disadvantage of not capitalising on the sea views. We might not have chosen this unassuming restraint had it not been for recommendations on this web site, but we were glad that we did. Not least because they had one of the most extensive vegetarian sections of any menu we saw in the resort.
The owner, Irini, is really delightful and so genuinely friendly. She kept referring to us as the ‘lovely family’ as she took our order and delivered our food. She went out of her way to speak to our daughters and nothing was too much trouble. Someone else said that she made them feel like a special customer, and I think that is her way. It’s another family run place and when her son returned home from music practice she made a big fuss of him in the middle of the restaurant before going through his homework – there is no artificial cut off point between work and home life in this sort of place. You almost feel part of the family, eating in their front room some times.
We ate a vegetarian mixed Greek plate and vegetarian Moussaka, and both were excellent. At the end of the meal we were presented with complimentary liqueurs and our daughters were each given a handful of sweets to take away. More like visiting a friend for dinner than a commercial transaction! Visit the Stop In and get the Irini treatment yourself.