A Quick Guide to Corfu, Greece
We are always looking for more places to travel in Europe- it’s easily accessible to us, the flight prices are not wildly expensive and it’s normally a quick flight too.
Corfu, Greece was recommended to us by some good friends who visit frequently. For Carl’s 30th Birthday we decided a trip to a sunny island would be ideal!
We will be writing posts for more specific topics on all of our travel locations, but for now here’s a quick 5 step guide. Don’t forget to browse our Gallery for pictures of the places mentioned in the blog.
Bear in mind before reading that we were staying in the Corfu Town area therefore prices for various activities may differ depending on your area of stay.
1. Flights: If you are flying from the U.K- good news, the flights are reasonably cheap if you fly with a budget airline and it’s only a 3 hour flight!
Don’t be frightened when landing- The landing strip is located on the edge of sea and the plane looks as though it is going to land in the water! It is an amazing sight and the scenery as you are coming into the island is beautiful. (We would definitely recommend a flight during the day to take in the views)
Corfu Airport (Kerkyra- Corfu in Greek) is a small but busy airport- at least at the time we travelled. The passport control queue was long but we were still through within 30 minutes. The easiest way to get to your accommodation is by pre-booking a private transfer (around €20-30 if you are staying in Corfu Town itself), the taxis are known to be more expensive (we were informed by some of the locals during our stay).
2. Language: A majority of people that we conversed with during our stay spoke fluent English, but it is always useful to learn and use a few Greek phrases and words. Georgia completed a unit of Greek on Duolingo which helped her to understand a few more terms but this is something she enjoys doing whenever we visit somewhere!
The basics:
(Greek spelling-English Spelling- Pronunciation): Yεια σο-Yiasou (pronounced Ya-soo) = Hello or Goodbye (It can be used for both)| Ευχαριστώ Efharisto (pronounced Eff-caree-sto) = Thank you! | Παρακαλώ-Parakalo (pronounced Par-acar-lo) = Please | Kαλημέρα- Kalimera (pronounced Kali-mair-a) = Good Morning | Καλησπέρα- Kalispera (Pronounced Kali-spair-a) = Good Evening
Those phrases should get you through basic greetings and manners.
3. Getting Around: It is fairly affordable to hire a car online before arriving (approx €18 per day) , this can help you explore the island on your own
QUICK FACT: You can travel from the top to the bottom of the island (via car) in about 2 hours!
We personally did not hire a car as we wanted to enjoy an alcoholic beverage (or two!) at various locations. We travelled everywhere via bus! This was fun, cheap and convenient: The buses were regular and you could look up the timetables on atcorfu.com | You pay for the bus line, not the destination- which makes things super affordable. If you are staying in Corfu town there are some kiosks in San Rocco square where you can pre-buy tickets for the bus: it cost us €1.10 (one way) for a Blue Line bus which took us from the east coast to west coast (13km). It cost us €1.90 for a ticket to take us from Corfu Town to Dassia Beach (About 12.8km) which we bought on the bus.
4. Places of Interest: As the blog grows, we will write more in-depth guides about the different places of interest around the island, but for now here is a list of our favourite places that we visited:
Corfu Town: This charming city is a wonderful place to visit or stay in. There are so many intriguing spots to explore- weave in and out of the markets and shops, have a coffee in one of the squares, explore the Old and New Forts, learn some interesting facts in the many museums, watch the planes flying right over the city, enjoy breath taking views across to mainland Greece whilst sipping a cold beer, catch a ferry across to mainland Greece or Albania, or take a long a walk along the waterfront down to Anemomilos Windmill. There’s a lot to pack in, in a such a small town!
Kontogialos Beach, Pelekas: It’s worth noting that most of the sandy beaches are on the north, west and south sides of the Island, the East is mostly pebble beaches, with a few exceptions. Pelekas is situated on the West side of the island and boasts a huge sandy beach with safe swimming, some large waves and a rocky area to explore. There are some restaurants and bars, as well as sun loungers and umbrellas to hire. We paid €7 each for all day sun lounger and umbrella hire.
Dassia Beach, Dassia: We had a wonderful day visiting this little town on the East of the island- around 20 mins bus ride from Corfu Town. There are pebble beaches as well as a sandy one, there are plenty of bars and restaurants with reasonable pricing. We enjoyed a majority of the day relaxing pool side at Malibu Beach Club. Here you can rent a sun lounger and umbrella on the beach itself- we wanted to do this but it was very busy, so instead the friendly staff offered us beds next to the pool and gave us the option to move to beach if beds became available. It cost €9 each for the beds for as long as we wanted, there was no extra charge for the pool and you could order drinks and food to your beds. The pool was extremely clean and they played some chill-out house tracks throughout the day.
Ypsos (Ipsos): We stumbled across this tourist town after walking from Dassia Beach, we arrived at sunset to see the breath taking views across sea towards Albania, paired with the stunning Mount Pantokrator (Tallest mountain in Corfu | 906m). The long strip along the seafront has many restaurants and bars, the whole place seemed very lively and busy- mostly holiday makers. We managed to catch a late bus back to Corfu Town (10.30pm) which was convenient- the buses ran until midnight.
Kavos: We did not get the chance to visit Kavos ourselves, but we have read and heard it is the THE place to go in Corfu if you are wanting a party/late night club experience. There is an abundance of bars and clubs, restaurants and sandy beaches.
5. Food & Drink: Greece in general is known for it’s wonderful food and drink. Corfu has it’s own share of speciality dishes and beverages.
You should definitely try the local Kumquat Liquor (we ended up buying a bottle in the duty free to bring home with us)- you’ll find it at fair prices in small mini markets and it is delicious!
We mentioned in our About page that we both eat a plant-based diet, therefore our food choices were geared towards veganism but the restaurants we ate at catered to everyone! We use Happy Cow to find vegan food wherever we are! Our favourite food to try was vegan shish kebab at Plaza Kafe in Ipsos, and vegan pizza at our favourite restaurant Zymari (just around the corner from our Air BnB).
Now we talk beer & wine- something we are very passionate about! We will be posting a separate blog post detailing the food and drink in Corfu, but for now all you need to know is the wine is CHEAP (€2-3 a bottle in mini markets and around €7-9 for a litre in various restaurants). The beer was priced between €4-6 for 500ml and it was good beer. Our favourite was the Corfu Pilsner- 10/10 would recommend. You can find cocktails priced from €8-13 depending on the establishment.
Important things to note:
TAKE MOSQUITO SPRAY: We didn’t get bitten thankfully (we think it might be due to the amount of garlic in our diets) but Carl’s brother who joined us, was affected by multiple bites.
SUNCREAM: It goes without saying when you’re in a hot country- but take plenty with you if you can, we struggled to find factor 50 in the super/mini-markets (Georgia is very pale with blonde hair and freckles so needs it!) and the pharmacies were charging up to €30 for a medium sized bottle!
TIPPING: Tipping is recommended- we tipped 10% on average.
We hope you found our little guide helpful if you are planning a trip to Corfu, feel free to get in touch with us if there is anything we have missed: CONTACT PAGE- we will be posting a lot more guides and tips!
