BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide

Renting a Boat in Ithaca: On the Trail of Odysseus Between Vathy and Kioni

Vathy and its sheltered bay, the coves of Kioni and Frikes best reached by boat, and the debate reopened in 2026 over Odysseus' real island: the guide to renting a boat in Ithaca, the quietest of the Ionian Islands.

Quieter than Corfu, less crowded than Zante and its Navagio, Ithaca is often the great absentee of boat rental itineraries — the whole island has just one rental operator. Most sailors only ever see it on a day trip, from a boat rented in Fiskardo on neighbouring Kefalonia or from Lefkada a little further north. The detour is worth it: one of the safest natural anchorages in the entire Ionian Sea, two postcard villages best reached by water, and an island that still lends its name to the legendary kingdom of Odysseus.

Vathy, the most sheltered bay in the Ionian

Vathy, Ithaca's capital, sits at the head of a bay so enclosed it ranks among the safest natural anchorages in the whole Ionian Sea — a refuge of choice the moment a blow is forecast. The small, almost car-free town lines its calm waterfront with red-roofed houses, with just enough tavernas and provisioning to head back out toward the island's north. Vathy is also home to Ithaca's only rental operator, making it the obvious starting point for anyone wanting to embark directly rather than reach the island from a neighbour.

Kioni and Frikes, the anchorages of the north

In the island's north-east, Kioni rivals plenty of Greek villages for the title of prettiest spot on Ithaca: its colourful houses climb a green hillside around a tiny cove, with just enough depth for a handful of boats at anchor or alongside. A little further west, Frikes offers around thirty free berths, no booking possible, in a small former fishing harbour now turned yachting stopover, ringed by simple tavernas right at the water's edge. Nearby, the village of Stavros holds to the tradition that Odysseus' palace once stood on the hills above — a local legend that colours the visit more than it's backed by archaeology.

On the trail of Odysseus: a debate science has just reopened

Ithaca owes its fame to a single text: Homer's Odyssey, which makes it the kingdom and homeland of Odysseus. For two centuries, scholars have wondered whether the island visited today truly matches the one Homer described, or whether the poem was really describing a different geography altogether — notably the Paliki peninsula on Kefalonia's west coast, once said to have been cut off from the rest of the island by a now-vanished sea channel. A study published in July 2026 by professors James Diggle (Cambridge) and John Underhill (Aberdeen) has reopened exactly that debate: cross-referencing the original Greek text with geological fieldwork, the two researchers argue that Homer's poem never actually states outright that Ithaca was an island, opening the door to a different reading of the geography it describes (Diggle, J. & Underhill, J., Was Homer's Ithaca an Island?, Antigone, 2026, see the study on Google Scholar). Whether or not today's Ithaca is Homer's Ithaca, sailing between Kefalonia and Ithaca lets you weigh both geographies in person — no bad thing for the pleasure of the passage itself.

Beaches you can only really reach by sea

Many of Ithaca's finest beaches are almost entirely cut off from the road network. Gidaki, a cove wrapped around turquoise water and thick greenery, can only be reached on foot via a steep path from Vathy — most visitors simply arrive by boat. Closer to the capital, Filiatro draws a younger crowd around its handful of beach bars, while in the north of the island, the broad bay of Afales unrolls a wild stretch of pebble and sand, far from any road a car could reach.

From Kefalonia or Lefkada: planning the trip

With only one operator based in Vathy, most boat visits to Ithaca actually start elsewhere. Our guide on renting a boat in Kefalonia covers the crossing from Fiskardo, a little over an hour from Vathy — the most direct option. Our guide on Lefkada covers the other classic starting point for a wider Ionian tour taking in Meganisi and Kefalonia. Boat-Comparator queries Boataround, SamBoat and Click&Boat live across the whole area: our boat rental in Greece page brings together the available bases, and our guide on the Ionian Islands for beginner sailors places Ithaca within a broader itinerary.

When to sail around Ithaca

Like the rest of the Ionian, Ithaca escapes the meltemi that sweeps the Cyclades in summer: the prevailing wind, the maistros, a north-westerly thermal breeze, stays noticeably milder than in the Aegean — see our Mediterranean winds guide. The season runs from May to October. A data-analysis study of Mediterranean island tourism seasonality between 2008 and 2018 found that the Ionian Islands show a notably more even spread of visitor numbers across the year than the Mediterranean average, far from the crushing July-August peak seen elsewhere in the region (Ruggieri, G. & Platania, M., Islands' Tourism Seasonality: A Data Analysis of Mediterranean Islands' Tourism Comparing Seasonality Indicators (2008–2018), Sustainability, 2024, see the study on Google Scholar) — one more reason to aim for May-June or September, when the anchorages at Kioni and Frikes free up. Our guide on renting off-season covers the savings to expect outside peak summer.

An island worth earning

With no airport and no large marina, Ithaca has to be earned: you get there by ferry from Kefalonia or Lefkada, or by rental boat from either of those neighbouring islands. That's exactly what keeps its anchorages free of mass tourism, and what makes the bay of Vathy or the coves of Kioni such quiet stops for anyone willing to take the time to reach them by sea.

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