Corfu 🇬🇷
Quick holiday facts
Duration: 7 nights
Flights: Jet2.com return from London Stansted (£576)
Accommodation:
1) Fotiadis Family Luxury Suites, located in Corfu Town, self-catering apartment for 3 nights - booked via Booking.com (£490)
2) Sidari Beach Hotel, located in Sidari, bed and breakfast for 4 nights - booked via Expedia (£499)
Hire Car: Goldcar booked through Expedia.com (£111)
Excursions: Olive Oil Tasting in Corfu Town £23, Food & Walking Tour of Corfu Town £151, Dinos Boat Rentals full day hire plus fuel £150
Spending Money: About £750 covering lunch, food shops, evening meals, drinks.
APPROX TOTAL SPEND = £2,750
Corfu: some stunning beaches and fantastic scenery. BUT, we’ve been spoiled by other places that, in our humble opinion beat Corfu hands down (we’re looking at you, Croatia!) It’s a good job the food and drink was good……
Image: Amy in the sea at Porto Timoni beach.
After following loads of Corfu digital creators and content on Instagram and YouTube, we hatched a plan for our Corfiot itinerary to look like this:
3 nights in Corfu Town: taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the island capital. We explored the Old Fortress, took a Walking Food tour, went to many cafes & bars, and did an Olive Oil tasting (see below!).
4 nights in Sidari: taking in the North coast, including a stop off on the way in Kassiopi (closest point to Albania), a hike to Porto Timoni beach and a day setting sail off the coast of Palaiokastritsa.
As part of this planning we decided we wanted to make the most of the time of year, soak up the sun, relax abit and make sure we returned to work fresh. That is why, in comparison to our other previous tips, this holiday looks light on what we did (just about!)! Strap in, grab a cuppa and read on…
Image: us both at 7th Heaven cafe at Peroulades.
Days 1 to 3 - Corfu Town
After being treated to some stunning views of the island from the air, we landed about 6pm local time - and it was really quick and smooth through the airport. Bags collected, we ordered an Uber to pick us up which cost €38. Whilst waiting BEWARE! We got lots of mosquito bites, the area around the airport is a lagoon and bug central! Take lots of bug spray! However, this is just around the airport and wasn’t too much bother elsewhere on the island.
We drove the short distance from the airport to our apartment in the Old Town. After an easy self check-in, we unpacked, took a shower and headed out for a walk and evening meal. First stop: the Old Town Taverna, as recommended to us for the vibe and authentic food. We weren’t disappointed! We opted for chicken gyros, with local wine and Corfu Beer.
The best gyros all holiday at the Old Town Taverna. Delish.
On Day 2 we had a leisurely morning coffee looking out our apartment to the Vido Islet (see pic below) and made a plan for our first day looking around the Old Town. First stop was brunch at Cafe Kohlias on the Spianada (there are lots to choose from and the atmosphere is great!) which is a beautiful street and the main square in the town. Great for people watching and retreating from the heat. Speaking of which, is HOT. Corfu is very humid and it wasn’t necessarily too hot temperature wise, but the humidity remained very high, all the time. What does that equal? Sweating. Lots of sweating! Lol.
Anyway, back to Day 2. We sampled traditional Greek coffee with brunch and it was served with a local delicacy, kumquat sweets. They are like mini oranges, bitter and sweet and a nice accompaniment. After brunch visited to the Old Fortress, which cost €12 to enter. We walked up to the very top (watch out slippy rocks! - wear trainers) and took in some fab panoramas of the town and looking out to Albania. After a quick drink in the fortress cafe (needed as it’s sweaty!) we went into the Old Town to do some shopping and have a look around the quaint streets. For lunch we headed back to the Spianada - and we tried kumquat liquor for the first time in a yummy cocktail and had great Greek meze. After that we went for a swim at the city-beach overlooking the Old Fortress as the sun went down. In the evening, because we weren’t over the Greek food yet (!) we went to Pan e Souvlaki for souvlaki (of course!). Unfortunately we didn’t have a great dining experience here, and as such didn't take any pics. If you go, opt to sit outside as the service is terrible inside.
On Day 3 we decided to have a more relaxed day. Kicked off with a morning swim in the sea on Faliraki Beach and then brunch back in apartment, with the same beautiful view. After that we headed into town for an Olive Oil tasting experience at a place called The Olive House.
Well, what a FANTASTIC experience. In 90 minutes, we learned loads about Olive Oil and tasted their brand called ‘The Governor’ - Corfu has an ancient species of olive tree famed for its health benefits. Delicious! We bought two bottles after a really informative time & tasting experience featuring bread, feta, salad and greek yogurt (try it - olive oil & yogurt = yum!) with our guide called Eleftheria. We highly recommend doing this if you’re in Corfu Town.
After that, it was time for more shopping! Always time for that right?! We wondered around looking for some nice things to take home, including a greek herb set (because recreating Greek Salad at home is just not the same), new cotton beach towels (all the Greeks have them) and and other souvenirs.
In the evening we went on a food themed walking tour with Athina, who runs local tour company Corfuting. She introduced us to local cafes, tavernas and restaurants where we tried local honey, jam, yogurt, ginger beer, cappuccino Freddo (IYKYK), gelato and of course, more pita gyros. A great way to round off our time in the Old Town as Athina explained more about its history and local stories. She was great and we highly recommend booking a tour with her.
Days 4 to 7 - Sidari and North Corfu
As the middle of the trip soon came around, Day 4 meant we checked out of our apartment and picked up our hire car ready for the second leg - adventures in a hire car were back on and we started out on the road.
Driving around Corfu...
Firstly, we decided to head towards the airport viewing area at Mouse Island. After breakfast at Cafe Kanoni and some plane spotting, we had a wander around the monastery, looked at a few more planes landed and then we were properly on the road heading towards the north-east of the island. First stop after many winding roads (if you get car sick, think carefully about doing this route!!) was Avlaki Beach on the way to the very lovely Kassiopi. Avlaki Beach is very nice, pebbles so make sure you take water shoes, but it was beautiful to swim in the warm, clear sea. Onwards we go and next stop was a little fishing village and now tourist resort located on the nearest point to Albania, Kassiopi. In fact we were so close our phones thought we were actually in Albania! You could probably swim across… Anyway, lunch and pit stop complete, we were back on the road.
The view over the bay from Avlaki Beach.
30 mins later, we arrived in Sidari and drove along the beach road to go and check in to our hotel - the family-run and well positioned, right on the sea front - Sidari Beach Hotel. This hotel was probably the best hotel we’ve ever stayed at - based on the fantastic service. All the staff were incredibly warm and couldn’t do enough for us. We really felt like valued guests, it felt like the staff actually cared for the experience of the guests and nothing was too much trouble. We really recommend this hotel. It’s in a great location, overlooks the sea which is calm, clear and beautiful. They served a wonderful Greek breakfast every morning, the pool area was clean and overall, it was peaceful. What’s not to love?
Following a little tour of the hotel, unpacking and freshening up, we spent a few hours relaxing by the pool and then got ready for the evening. We took a stroll down the beach road towards the centre of Sidari for food at The Hive Sidari. This is a laid back place with a modern vibe - great DJ and even better cocktails! We had great food here and were glad to have something that wasn’t Greek on the menu! You can take the Brits out of Britain and all that: we went for a burger and fish & chips!
Day 5 saw us chill out by the pool (for once) for the first half of the day, and then we spent a little time on the beach in front of the hotel before walking down into Sidari to spend sunset at Canal d’Amour. When we arrived we saw loads of folks cliff diving and swimming in the shallow water - famed apparently for its romance. It’s basically a narrow channel of sea with nice cliffs: but we didn’t think this area was anything special and it gets very busy. Be warned.
Image: Canal d’Amour
Go because it’s unique and a nice sight at sunset, but it’s busy and a little dirty round the edges. Gave us the ick! (imagine too many fag butts and generally litter everywhere)
So, after a short dip (and the ick!) we decided to get out of there and go straight for a sunset cocktail, a quickchnage into clothes for dinner and then we headed to a famed taverna nearby for yet more Greek food…… Had to be done, right? This night we opted for traditional Corfiot dishes at Katerina’s Taverna, instead of gyros or souvlakia which is Greek street food. We opted for two dishes:
Pastitsada; tender roast rib beef served with tomato spaghetti and,
Sofrito; beef with a parsley, garlic and white wine sauce served with chips & rice. Yummy and a great atmosphere in this hotspot! We recommend.
Image: Beef Sofrito - a Corfiot speciality (and very tasty!)
The next morning Day 6 was the day we went hiking! After a 20 min drive, we arrived in the village of Afion, ready to take the 30 minute walk down the mountain towards Porto Timoni beach. Now, when we researched this, we thought we’d follow the advice of other travellers and wear proper footwear for the hike. Which, by the way, is a proper hike. The descent down to the beach is rocky, dusty and steep in places. In the humidity and heat, we saw a few people struggling and there is high chances of rolling an ankle, tripping over etc especially if you wear flip flops. Don’t do that!
The trail down to Porto Timoni - great views but watch your step!
Despite all that said, IT IS WORTH IT! The only downside is that it does get busy down there and there are now facilities, so if you’re okay with a quick sea wee then you’ll be fine. We noticed that water taxis can drop you to/from the beach direct from Agios Georgios, which you could do if you don’t want to hike. We spent most of the day relaxing at Porto Timoni and the hike back up is HARD WORK. Take a lot of water, eat something, don’t do it without someone else! However, we made it and decided to go straight to a cafe to get rehydrated and recover! We stopped at a lovely spot called Anafoufou which had great views and a nice vibe.
After that, it was time to head back to the hotel to chill, drink wine on the balcony whilst the sun set and then have dinner in the restaurant next door, run by the same family as our hotel; called The Wave. Fantastic food and live music, we had a lovely evening here and yet more delicious greek food. Matt indulged in a ‘tomapork’ (lol) and Amy had king prawns all with a large helping of tzatziki, salad and homemade bread. Yum!
And now onto Day 7: a day at sea in a hire boat around the coast of Palaiokastritsa. We hired a boat from Dinos Boat Rentals and after a quick practice for Captain Matt around the harbour, we set sail with our picnic onboard, looking for secluded beaches and stunning caves. We found them! this day was probably the best day of the whole trip as we explore the west coast of Corfu. It was great (even with a little hiccup where we abandoned anchor at one point because it got stuck on a rock!), we went to some amazing beaches (paradise included), saw some amazing caves and rock formations and generally enjoyed the views from the boat! This type of excursion is not for the sea sick or the faint hearted, also, you need to be a good swimmer. Choppy currents and big waves at times as the coast is exposed and depending on the wind, you could get caught - like we did a few times! However, it was so worth it. A great day out, peace and quiet away from the major crowds and unlike other boat trips we’ve done (guided), no one else’s schedule! Amazing! Do this if you want a sense of adventure…
Corfu final thoughts: overall didn’t quite meet our expectations, despite the fact that it is lovely in some areas. We just think other places we’ve been to are better, like Sardinia. It’s still nice though and at the risk of sounding snobby, it’s at the lower end of what we would call nice. We had a good week, relaxing and seeing sights, but we won’t be heading back anytime soon.
