Melissani and Drogarati Ticket Prices: What Both Caves Cost

If you are planning to visit both of Kefalonia's main show caves, the first thing to know is that there is no combined ticket. The Municipality of Sami, which operates both caves, prices them separately in its published ticket table: €10 for an adult at Melissani Cave and €6 for an adult at Drogarati Cave. The only cross-selling discount is at Drogarati, where an adult who shows a Melissani ticket pays €4 instead of €6. This page sets out both price lists, what the €4 rate does and does not cover, and what a two-cave visit actually costs.

The two price lists

Every figure below is from the Municipality of Sami's published ticket table for the two caves.

What both caves cost for one adult

Because there is no combined ticket, the cheapest way to see both is to buy Melissani first and present that ticket at the Drogarati gate:

Route	Melissani	Drogarati
Full price at both caves	€10	€6
Total at full price	€16
With a Melissani ticket (buy Melissani first)	€10	€4
Total, and what you save	€14 — a saving of €2 per adult

Reduced visitors pay €5 at Melissani and €3 at Drogarati, so €8 for both. The €4 Drogarati rate is published as an adult ticket, so it does not apply on top of the reduced rate — a reduced visitor is already paying less than €4. There is no family ticket in the municipal table: a family buys individual tickets like everyone else.

How the €4 Drogarati ticket works

The €4 rate is the municipality's own cross-sell between the two caves. The published table lists it as the adult Drogarati ticket "with presentation of a Melissani ticket", which makes it the one genuine saving available for visiting both.

• Buy Melissani at its own entrance first — that ticket, not a tour voucher, is what earns the discount.
• Keep the ticket stub. Drogarati's ticket office asks to see it; a photograph on your phone is a poor substitute if the booth staff want the physical ticket.
• Payment: both caves accept credit and debit cards, but carry euros as backup in case a terminal is down.
• Ask about timing if you might split the visit. The municipality publishes no time window for the €4 rate, so plan to use it on the same day as your Melissani visit and call +30 26740 22997 if you need certainty.

Doing both on the same day

The two caves are a few minutes apart by car on the road between Sami and Argostoli, so a two-cave visit is an easy half day. Drogarati is the dry stalactite chamber and looks the same whatever the hour; Melissani is the sunlit lake and needs high, clear light to look its best, usually around 11:00 to 14:00. That asymmetry is why most visitors put Drogarati first and Melissani second — but you need to buy Melissani's ticket first to earn the Drogarati discount, so buy at Melissani's booth on the way past, or simply drive to Melissani first and visit it after Drogarati.

For the full order-by-order argument, see our Melissani vs Drogarati comparison.

Who gets in for free?

Free admission categories apply at both caves, on presentation of proof:

• Children under 6 — free entry to both caves
• Disabled visitors — free entry; Melissani has an accessible viewing platform, though the boat requires a short staircase
• Unemployed visitors and permanent residents of the Municipality of Sami — free entry, proof of address required

Reduced-price tickets (€5 for Melissani, €3 for Drogarati) are available for children aged 6–18, students with valid identification, visitors over 65 and multi-child families.

Is doing both caves worth it?

On price alone, yes if you were going to see them both anyway: €14 instead of €16 for an adult. A reduced visitor pays €8 either way — their own tickets are already cheaper than the €4 adult rate, so the presentation rate gains them nothing. The larger point is that these are two completely different underground experiences — a sunlit boat ride across a flooded chamber at Melissani, and a self-guided walk into a stalactite hall with concert acoustics at Drogarati — and they sit five minutes apart, so the second cave costs you very little in time.

The only case against it is the same as it ever was: if you know you will visit one cave only, buy that one ticket and stop. See our tickets and fees page for the full municipal price list, and our Drogarati Cave guide for what the second cave involves, including its roughly 150 steps.