There isn’t all that much to recommend the town of Sami, the island’s busiest port. Mainland ferries dock here and at the similarly anonymous Poros, but connecting buses and taxis swiftly shepherd foot passengers to Argostoli, so most barely set foot on its waterfront. They're not missing much. It's telling that when large parts of the film version of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin were shot here, the set was constructed over the existing buildings.
Go back 2,000 or 3,000 years, however, and Sami was a major power on the island, as both an independent Kefalonian state and then as a Roman port of great renown. Ruins of its old acropolis show a whole other side to the port and are well worth visiting. These days, the main town is best treated as a waterfront coffee stop in between visits to nearby caves, beaches, and the prettier fishing village of Agia Efimia, to the north, whose sheltered marina is the departure point for many scenic boat and dive trips along the east coast.
