A Tour of Corfu - The Katy Way. (Corfu (Greece))

Member Name: katygriff

Product:	Corfu (Greece)
Date:	21/07/06 (217 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful Island.

Disadvantages: You Really Need a Car.

It has now been quite a few weeks since I went to Corfu for my holidays but last night I was showing my holiday photos for the umpteenth time and remembering just how nice the island is. Now as I like to spend my holidays exploring and not necessarily sunbathing all week I have seen a lot of Corfu so I decided that I would give you all a very quick tour of the island of Corfu and then if you do have any questions then you can ask me. So here I go.

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A Little Bit of Information:

Corfu is a Greek island or Ionian island as it is known over there. It has the nickname of the Emerald Island because it is just so green and is known for having good weather. Corfu town is its main capital with Kavos probably being the place that most people will have heard of.

To get to Corfu it is just over 3 hours on a plane from Britain and the only airport is in Corfu town but everywhere on the island is within an hours drive away from Corfu town.

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Sidari:

This is an absolutely stunning area on the North coast mainly due to the small resort of Canal D’amour which has amazing sandy cliffs to look at and at sunset I can guarantee you will just want to spend all night staring out at the scenery. Sidari has one main strip of shops, bars and restaurants and has one long beach and then several smaller ones. The beach itself is not great as motorists use it as a bypass and there is lots of rubbish and sewage you can see in the sea and on the sand. Sidari is like being in Britain though as most of the people who work there are British and it is not like a proper holiday resort.

I recommend staying here for an evening so spend about three hours and watch the sunset but no more.

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Roda:

It is quite nice here on the North coast but it is very small so I would only spend a couple of hours to have a wonder around. They have a nice beach but it is not sandy and they have very few shops with only really the normal holiday souvenirs such as frames available to buy.

I recommend going for two hours as there is really not much here.

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Acharavi:

I found Acharavi on the North coast quite sweet although the one thing I did not like is how spread out it is. Like Roda there is not much here but some of the things were on a main road which is dangerous as the driving is quite mad in Corfu so crossing a main road is not fun. There are some nice bars on the main road though but not many shops at all to browse. There is a beach which is not very sandy but is quite nice but it is away from the main bit and a bit hard to get to but I liked it there.

I recommend going for a couple of hours to have a look.

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Kassiopi:

Kassiopi is ever such a nice place on the North coast and boasts some impressive beaches not because of how they are as they are all pebbly but because the scenery is stunning with the mountains of Albania in clear view. The actual place has a small marina like area which has some great bars and restaurants and some nice jewellery and lace shops too. At Kassiopi you can go on boat rides and even have a walk around an old fortress which we did and it was quite creepy up there but enjoyable. I loved it here because it was so Greek and such a nice looking place with no litter anywhere or even loud music so it was nice and quiet.

I recommend staying here for your holiday as it is lovely or at least spend an entire day here.

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Gouvia:

On the East coast Gouvia is the main marina in Corfu and I loved it here. Everything is big here so a lot of the hotels are five star and massive and there is lots to do in terms of golf, tennis and other sports. The beaches in Gouvia are great as they are sandy and it was great to just look out to sea from the beach. The thing I liked about Gouvia is that there are hidden parts so go down side streets as we came across a great music bar on the beach and a nice souvenir shop by doing this. The marina is stunning and there are so many restaurants to choose from and they all smelled delicious. We ate in Vergina and if you stay I really do recommend it.

I recommend spending at least a day here or staying in this resort for your holiday.

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Corfu Town:

This is the main city of Corfu situated on the East coast and it is absolutely amazing. It is the cultural capital of the island so here you can find many museums and fortresses to have a look around. I recommend going to the old fortress and having a walk as it is only €4 to get in and it was great and we could have spent hours there. Corfu town is stunning and we stumbled across the park which had people eating and people playing football and it was so nice. Of course being the capital it means there are loads of shops so for those of you who love to spend your holidays shopping then I would come here. The only bad thing about Corfu town is that the traffic is bad but as the capital you kind of expect it. This is where the airport and port is.

I recommend coming here for a couple of days as we spent one day here and I don’t think that was enough and I would have loved to have returned.

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Arillas:

This was a place we were told to go and visit on the West coast as we wanted to find a nice sandy beach to spend the day. We got here and it is a nice long beach and yes it is sandy with cliffs surrounding it so you kind of feel caved in which is quite nice. It gets a lot of sun here and there is a bar so you can get a drink and some food while you are there. If you need a beach then come here.

I recommend staying for a few hours or however long you enjoy sunbathing for.

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Angelokastro:

This was a great find on the West coast as it is an old fortress. You get there and the sights are truly stunning and then you can climb steps to get to the top which when you do is just worth the climb for the pictures you can get. We just sat there for about an hour as it was that nice. There is a café at the bottom of the castle where you can get ice-creams and drinks and it is nice in there. The only bad thing is there is not much space for parking as we were lucky to get a space out of season.

I recommend making a stop here for a couple of hours at least.

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Paleokastritsa:

Where-ever we were on the island people told us that this was a huge tourist spot on the West coast so we decided to go and take a look. The two beaches we went to were not amazing as they were pebbly but the actual place was lovely. It is nice and clean here and I did not see any litter and everybody is extremely friendly. The best thing is that you can take boat trips out into the sea from here so go exploring caves which would be quite fun. There are some nice restaurants here but the place is surprisingly small but the drive there through the mountains is fantastic.

I would spend a day here and do some of the trips if you can.

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Agios Georgios:

We were told to go here for the beach and what an amazing beach it is. I can honestly say it is the best on the island and the only one I would go back to. You can do the usual sunbathing but you can also rent pedalos and jet skis if you fancy it. The sea is crystal clear and the beach is so huge and sandy it is just so comfortable. There is a lovely restaurant which does some great main meals and snacks which is useful and I honestly cannot fault the beach. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon here.

I recommend going if you want to go to a beach be it one day or every day.

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Glyfada:

This is another place we were told to go for a nice sandy beach. When we got there yes it was sandy but I would not say very nice. The sea was very clear but the beach was littered in rubbish and there were stray dogs everywhere. The bar by the beach was graphitised and just looked nasty so that put us off but the actual beach was massive.

I would not recommend coming here but go to some of the other beaches mentioned instead.

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Skripero:

We only drove through here but I am mentioning it because there are small winding roads all around which spiral high on the island and you can get some amazing pictures.

I do recommend driving around.

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So there you have it, my general snapshot of what to do in Corfu. The island itself is amazing and is one of the nicest looking islands I have ever been to. They call it the emerald island because it is so green and it doesn’t matter where you are as you will always be amazed by the scenery. While we were driving around Corfu we had to stop the car so many times so Dave who was driving could soak it all in.

The only area I did not go or want go exploring was the very south of the island where Kavos was as we knew it wasn’t going to be our sort of place. We went on a boat trip one day and passed Kavos and the beaches looked like they were covered in seaweed and you could hear the people as there were so many so no not for me.

I would recommend Corfu to everyone as it is a great island with lots to see and do and I think in a week if you are like us you can visit most places. The only thing I would say about Corfu is that apart from Corfu town everywhere is not exactly huge so I would rent a car or bike or even quad so that you can explore. The Quads are so much fun and can go anywhere on the island and they were only €9 a day so they are really worth it as long as you are careful.

I am definitely going to give Corfu five stars as we loved it there and although we stayed in Sidari which I would not recommend I think the whole island is wonderful and I probably would visit again.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

Summary: I Would Return.