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Greece GreeceIsland

Ithaca

95.7 km² rising to 800 m out of the Ionian Sea.

When to go

Ithaca seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Itháki
N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

95.7km²

Area

109km

Coastline

800m

Highest point

3,231

People

26°C

Warmest sea

August

22km

To the mainland

When to go to Ithaca

Best for the beach from July to August.

The sea is warmest in August (26 °C) and coolest in March (15 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from June to October.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Greek island in the Ionian Sea

Ithaca is an island in Greece. It covers 95.7 km², with 109 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 800 m. About 3,231 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 22 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Kefallinia Airport (EFL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 36 km in a straight lineCar hire at EFL airport (Kefallinia Island)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • FerriesCephalonia (Sami) - Ithaca (Pisaetos), Ithaca (Pisaetos) - Cephalonia (Poros), Ithaca (Frikes) - Cephalonia (Sami), Ithaca (Frikes) - Ithaca (Kioni)
  • 22 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From July to Augustbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Ithaca.

  • 43beachesLittle Polis Beach, Filiatro, Mnimata and 40 more
  • 5viewpoints
  • 3lighthouses
  • 4ferry terminalsPisaetos, Vathy, Frikes and 1 more
  • 1marinas
  • 4named peaksNiritos, Aetos and 2 more
  • 6ruins and archaeological sitesCyclopean wall, Alalkomenés and 4 more
  • 13waymarked walking routesIthaca Trail 01B, Ithaca Trail 12, Ithaca Trail 01 and 10 more
  • 1campsitesNight free spot camp
  • 35hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 60restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ithaca in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Ithaca, each with its own numbers.

  • 3mountainsPeakyas

3 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

  1. Nirito Oros
  2. Nerovoulo
  3. Merovigla

Open Peakyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 237 m above the sea. 53 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 16 %0–50 m
  • 37 %50–200 m
  • 37 %200–500 m
  • 10 %500–1,000 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Ithaca96 km²
Malta247 km²
Santorini76 km²

10 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Itháki1,843 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)141415172125282926221915
Night low (°C)111112141822242523201613
Sea (°C)161515161922242625232018
Rain (mm)1199376452919121977103129148
Wet days131211853238101315
Sun h/day3.94.96.78.410.412.012.511.38.66.74.73.6
Wind (km/h)202018151312131314161820

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.8+0.9+0.5+0.1+0.4−1.1+0.4+1.0+1.2+0.8+0.7+1.3
2021+1.6+1.1+0.9+0.1+0.2−0.5+1.0+1.4+0.4+0.6+0.6+0.2
2022+0.6+0.4+0.2−0.1+0.3+1.7+1.9+1.2+0.5+0.1+1.0+1.0
2023+1.4+0.6+0.7−0.1−0.6+0.2+1.7+0.6+0.5+1.7+1.4±0.0
2024+0.9+0.9+1.0+1.5+0.4+1.2+2.3+2.8+1.9+0.5+1.4+1.4
2025+1.5+1.6+1.4+0.5+0.3+1.3+1.6+0.2+0.9+0.1+0.3+0.9

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Port Bathy and Capital of Ithaca
Edward Dodwell · Public domain
Deke House (Ithaca NY)
Hlevy2 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stewart Park Ithaca July 2015 001
King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stewart Park Ithaca July 2015 002
King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q187471) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit