Mount Ainos

Mount Ainos, at 1,628 metres, is Kefalonia's highest point and the centrepiece of a national park covering the island's southern interior. The mountain is blanketed in Kefalonian fir — a species endemic to the region — giving it a dark, northern-European appearance that contrasts sharply with the sun-bleached coast below.

A road leads most of the way up, and a short marked trail reaches the summit from the car park. The walk takes about an hour each way and offers increasingly dramatic views over the island and the surrounding sea. The summit is cool even in summer — bring a layer. In winter, the mountain occasionally sees snow.

The national park is also notable for its wild horses — a small herd of semi-feral horses roams the upper meadows and can occasionally be seen near the road on the way up.

things to do sight
A story
The fir trees that cover Mount Ainos are a distinct species found nowhere else in the world — Abies cephalonica, the Greek fir, which the ancient Greeks called "the dark forest." Venetian sailors prized the trees for ship masts and logged the forests heavily; the national park was created in 1962 partly to protect what remained. On a clear day the summit commands views of the entire Ionian Sea, from mainland Greece to the distant coast of Italy.