The island's patron saint, Spiridon, is entombed in a silver-covered coffin in his own church on Vouthrotou street, and four times a year, to the accompaniment of much celebration and feasting, the relics are paraded through the streets. Finally, five kilometers south of town lies one of Greece's most popular excursion targets, the postcard-picturesque Vlaherna island . Here, a narrow causeway leads across the water to the Monastery of Vlaherna and from there one can take a caique to visit delightful Pondikonissi and its 13th century church. Gastouri , a picturesque hill village, is the site of the Achillion , the summer palace of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria and the last Kaiser, now a casino in the summer and a part of it a museum. Its gardens are well worth a stroll.
Mopeds are also available nearby, and at most other main resorts.
T he coast north of the port has been remorselessly developed as far as Pyrgi , and much of it is best written off. A little way on you'll see a sign to Almiros beach , start of the continuous strand that sweeps around to Roda - once a small village but now taken over by British travel companies. O n the west coast, Paleokastritsa has gone the way of all package locations, though its coves are on a beautiful stretch of coast. Expensive villas and hotels are present in abundance, plus a few campsites, which are, however, some distance from the town. If you just want a room, look uphill in the villages of Lakones and Makrades , three to four miles away.