ITravelNomad

Sunbathed from March to November, this Greek island is full of international and local tourists.

Corfu is the name give by the Italians to this lovely island. Its original name is Kerkyra and represents the name of the daughter of the water god.

The locals also gather around this island and especially in Corfu town for the Easter celebration which last for about a week and are all show. flowers, fireworks, broken large pottery and plates and egg showers.

Island capital Corfu-Kerkyra is a busy city, with narrow streets and not enough parking places, just like any big city. The Centre is so packed of people walking or driving around on their scooters or in the car.

Ferry

There are two ferry ports on the Corfu island: Lefkimi and Corfu

Closest mainland Greece port is Igoumenitsa. Ferry is around 50 euro one way for both ports. Lefkimi ferry makes the journey in 1h, while the Corfu one takes close to two hours. Making the drive from Lefkimi to Corfu on the island will take the same.

Corfu Castles

New Castle

Free admission access to the city castle with visibility over the Corfu bay, the old city Centre and the Old Corfu castle.

Corfu Market

It is situated just near the new castle area. We found pretty low prices comparing fruit prices to regular small market prices.

Old castle

The area of the old castle is full of people, cars and busses. The busiest is mid day, around lunch.

The old castle of Corfu is a grand display, making the centre of attention in the port area of Corfu.

To get to the castle, you will need to cross a bridge over a nice boat canal that you have to cross to get inside the castle. It should have served as a safety area to get to the castle.

A museum and shop area in one of the buildings inside the plaza. The museum highlights Corfu’s history.

A church and a bar terrace are found in the large open area inside the walls of the castle.

There are also some Catacombs and tunnel connections between several points around the castle, but not all are visitable.

The top deck is the highest point in the castle. The high ground gives you a 360 view of the city and bay area. There are no places of shade right on top.

Busy Old town

The old town is full of people during the day. The castles attract so many tourists that during lunch time, you are rubbing shoulders for walking space.

Streets are small, low number of parking places.

Parking in Corfu town

If you come to Corfu and have decided to bring or rent a car then you should use one of the two big parking places. They are found in the castle’s proximity. We tried the one near the new castle (5Eur/day).

Waze is not that good at showing the way around the pedestrian busy old city centre, so try to point the car directly to the park place before you get blocked.

Liapades

Rural town of west Corfu, close to Paleokastrita and Angelokastro. The hilly small town is sitting at about 150m above sea level.

Beaches Rovinia, Paleokastrita

Eat

A two course dinner or lunch and drinks will set you back at least 25 euro at any of these restaurants. The food is well made and all are getting full around 14.00 and 20.30.

• Village diner – Best pizza
• Michalis Tavern – Best prices for fresh fish, great gyros for take away
• Aria’s grill – Good overall food and prices.

Stay

Our accommodation was in Liapades at Villa Birlis – large rooms, bar and pool. The room is quiet, large balcony to enjoy breakfast and late night cooldown, AC is good; could do with a better mattress on the sofa.

Beaches

– Rovinia, Liapades, Ag gordios, Ag Georgios, Messongi, Glyfada

Weather

Summer is March to November. Rain is more present closer to December and during the winter months. Snow falls one time around every couple of years.

Boat trips

In Greece, small boats can be rented and used to go around the area you are in. You must sail between 30 and 500 meters from shore.

Boats cost 60 EUR for 4 hours or double for the full day. You must be back before sunset.

20 eur deposit for the boat before the rental day.

20 eur deposit for a freeze box to carry some food and drinks to keep cool.

Aliki delta

A lagoon or delta formed near southern part of the island, 5km from Lefkimi. It has been known as an area of passage for Flamingos in their passage searching for warm climates. They usually pass by at the end of summer in greater numbers.

Lefkimi

Quaint little town near the sea. It has a port and docks for ferries coming and going to Igoumenitsa.

Palaiokastritsa/Paleokastritsa Monastery

A year 1225 monastery built on top of a rock on the western shore of Corfu island with amazing view over the ship bay and beaches. Close by are Liapades and Angelokastro.

Car fuel

Petrol prices are the same as mainland. There is no extra charge for being on the island.

Electric car charging

The electric cars will have a hard time here to recharge as chargers are few and far between. Plugshare app is showing around 22 charge points on the island. 95% are type 2 22kw chargers.

There only 3 CCS type chargers indicated by the app, but were all out of order at the time I was doing my research.

Most of the charging points are situated on the East (right) side of the island, near Corfu (Kerkyra), with some present in the far north and far south.