Opening Hours and Best Times to Visit Melissani Cave
Deutsch: Melissani-Höhle: Öffnungszeiten und Eintritt auf Deutsch
Melissani Cave and the nearby Drogarati Cave are both run by the Municipality of Sami and share the same timetable. The hours below are the ones in force now, followed by how the 2026 season changed through the year, current ticket prices, and the best time of day to catch the light on the underground lake.
🕐 Current hours (from 13 October 2026)
Both caves are open daily, 10:00–15:00, with last entry at 14:30. Melissani and Drogarati always share the same hours. Opening times are set by short municipal notices rather than a fixed annual timetable, and each notice replaces the one before it, so a later change can take effect at any time — check the current position before you travel.
Melissani Cave Opening Hours 2026
The Municipality of Sami announces each change of hours with a short published notice. There is no single timetable covering the whole year. These are the notices that applied during the 2026 season, earliest first.
| Period | Daily hours | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| 6–20 April 2026 (open on 10 named days: 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 April) | 11:00–13:30 | 13:00 |
| 4 May – 2 July 2026 | 10:00–16:00 | — |
| 21–31 May 2026 (interim notice) | 10:00–17:00 | 16:30 |
| 3 July – 12 October 2026 | 09:00–18:00 | — |
| 6–12 October 2026 (interim notice) | 09:30–16:00 | — |
| From 13 October 2026 | 10:00–15:00 | 14:30 |
Hours are set by the Municipality of Sami and apply to both Melissani and Drogarati. Some periods overlap because a short interim notice temporarily replaced the seasonal hours.
Melissani Cave Ticket Prices 2026
Tickets are sold at the cave desk only — there is no online booking and no timed entry slots. Prices were last set in April 2024, when the Melissani adult ticket rose from €8 to €10 and Drogarati from €5 to €6.
| Ticket | Melissani | Drogarati |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | €10 | €6 |
| Reduced (children 6–18, students, seniors 65+) | €5 | €3 |
| Drogarati, when a Melissani ticket is shown | — | €4 |
| Group of more than 20 (finance office only, working days) | — | €9 |
| Priority entry / queue-jump | €40 | €40 |
| Private tour outside peak hours | €400 | €400 |
Entry is free for children under 6, disabled visitors, unemployed visitors, and residents of the Municipality of Sami.
Visiting both caves costs €16 if you buy two separate full-price adult tickets. Show your Melissani ticket at Drogarati and the second ticket drops from €6 to €4, making the pair €14 — buy the Melissani ticket first to qualify for the €4 Drogarati rate.
See the tickets page for the full price breakdown, and the Drogarati Cave page for that cave.
Additional Tips
- Opening hours may be adjusted for holidays, special events, or weather conditions. It is always wise to check ahead, especially in the off-season.
- Last entry is typically 15–30 minutes before closing time.
- Facilities (café, toilets) are available during opening hours.
- A Melissani ticket earns the €4 adult rate at Drogarati on the same day, so time the two visits within both sites’ opening hours.
Prices per the Municipality of Sami (sami.gov.gr) and its electronic cave-ticket shop; group, priority and private-tour rates are set at the municipality's finance office.
Best Time to Visit: the Light, Not the Clock
Melissani's famous light effect appears when the sun is steep enough to shine straight through the opening in the collapsed roof and onto the water below. It is anchored to solar noon — the moment the sun is highest — and not to 12 o'clock on the clock.
Because Kefalonia keeps summer daylight-saving time, solar noon falls well after midday for most of the season. Around the longest day (21 June) solar noon is about 13:39, so the strongest light lands in the early afternoon; the sun then drops back towards a midday solar noon once the clocks go back on 25 October 2026. The practical rule is to aim for late morning to early afternoon in summer, and for the middle of the day in spring and autumn. Clear skies give the strongest colour, since the effect depends on direct sunlight reaching the water.
Quietest Times and Boat-Tour Timing
On days when cruise ships call at Argostoli, the municipality advises visiting in the early afternoon or the next day; it named 9 July, 13 July and 6 August 2026 as particularly busy dates. Summer midday is the peak, so an early-morning or late-afternoon slot is usually calmer.
The boat ride itself lasts about 10–15 minutes on the water. Allow 30–60 minutes for the whole visit, or 1–2 hours when there is a queue, which is common in July and August.
Winter and the 2027 Season
Hours for November 2026 to March 2027 have not been published, and the 2027 season dates are not yet announced either. There is no fixed winter timetable: the municipality has historically opened on selected days only. In November 2025 that was five dates (6, 9, 11, 14 and 26 November), 11:00–13:00; in April 2025 it was Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 10:00–12:00.
For the current position, call the cave desk on +30 26740 22997 or +30 26740 23302, or the municipality on +30 26740 23446. See also our winter and off-season guide and the winter 2026-27 visitor guide.
Sources: Municipality of Sami (sami.gov.gr), the municipality's cave-hour notices as reported by local press, and timeanddate.com solar tables for Argostoli.