5 Best Things to do in Corfu Town
When visiting Corfu, we spent most of our time in Corfu town. This cute, picturesque town has a lot to offer, whether a short visit or a long stay- there is plenty to do! Here are some of the best things to do whilst visiting! Be sure to read our blog post A Quick Guide to Corfu for full details about the island of Corfu.
Things to do in Corfu Town:
1. Take a wander around the markets and shops: Although this sounds like an activity you can do anywhere, the charming maze of shops nestled within Corfu town is quite special. There is an abundance of cafes, bars, restaurants, bakeries, and independent shops to peruse- all of them set within traditional buildings. It was very busy to walk around, but this is to be expected of the biggest town on the island. We will be writing a separate blog about specific restaurants to visit!
2. Explore the Old Fort: This striking piece of venetian architecture is located on the edge of the city and provides an insight into Corfu’s history as well as some amazing views across the town, Albania, and mainland Greece. Entry was €6 each for adults, paying at the main entrance gate. In the Fort you can visit various exhibits as well as the 18th century Church of St. George built in a Doric temple style. It takes around 30 minutes to walk up to the very top of the fort, but the views are amazing.
3. Enjoy some food and drink at the water’s edge… even take a dip: We found a beautiful cove where the locals and tourists were taking an afternoon swim to cool off from the heat. There were a handful of restaurants and bars, away from the main town. We had a few cocktails in Imbari- a cool and quirky bar, perched on the edge of the ocean, accompanied with house music- played by an outside DJ if the weather allows.
4. Take a long stroll along the coast: If time allows during your visit, you can spend the best part of an afternoon, walking along the coast, starting in the main town, near the fort, following the coast all the way down to the airport. Along the way are plenty of viewpoints, landmarks, restaurants, and bars. Your journey’s end is met with the Holy Monastery of Panagia Vlacherna, a quaint church, set out at sea. From here you are right next to the airport runway and can get some epic shots of planes coming in to land. The walk takes around an hour, there are buses that can take you from the main town down to this location and back into the town again- if you fancied a faster trip.
5. Visit another country for the day: Looking out at the view from our rooftop, we spent a couple of days thinking that the land in the distance we could see was mainland Greece, we knew that Albania was only a short distance away, but we did not expect it to be just across the water. We researched some local tour companies to see what the best deal we could get was, for a day trip to Albania. We used Ionian Seaways- there are quite a few different companies, but this seemed like the best value for money. We bought our tickets from the office, on the morning of travel, this cost €30 each for a return journey. We left at 12.30pm and came back at 6.30pm in the evening, due to the time difference, this gave us 7 hours in Sarande, Albania. We were able to enjoy calm pebble beaches, whilst dining in the local restaurants.
Albania Day Trip Tips:
You will need to leave plenty of time to go through passport control at either end before departure- this was not as long as airport security
We couldn’t get access to mobile data without paying whilst in Albania (We were able to get an allowance through our phone contracts in Corfu)
We travelled in an enclosed boat which is fast and cheap, if you have extra money and time you can travel in a boat with an open deck, allowing you to enjoy the views. There are a variety of boats that can accommodate for transport as well as passengers.
TOP TIPS:
There are other boat trips such as Paxos/Anti-Paxos (2 beautiful islands off the coast of Corfu) which will take up a whole day of travelling- check online and inside the tour agents’ shops for the best prices.
It would be impossible to do everything on this list in one day, so if you’re planning a day visit whilst in Corfu or Greece in general, then we would suggest picking out a couple of things from the list, staying within the main town would be ideal… and if you’re staying for a couple of days then you would probably be able to complete many of these activities.
Corfu Town is slightly more expensive than elsewhere on the island, which is to be expected as it is a bit like Corfu’s capital, we were able to find some reasonably priced restaurants and bars… be sure to check out our upcoming blog post about specific food & drink ideas for Corfu and Corfu Town.
We hope you enjoyed our short list of some of the best things to do in Corfu town, feel free to get in touch with us if there is anything we have missed: CONTACT PAGE
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