We are planning our summer holidays well in advance this year (primarily since hubby will need a Schengen visa, if we go to Europe), and are thinking about going to Corfu in Greece. As we have a toddler (turning 2 in April), we were thinking of renting a holiday apartment for 10 days in Corfu. We have never been to Greece (either Athens or any of the Greek islands) but liked the sound of Corfu, because hubby likes to gamble a little and there is a casino there, as well as nice beaches and lots of things to see.
What I want to know is where is the best place to stay - the websites I have looked at have so many different options, in different villages scattered all over Corfu, and the prices range from the sublime (EUR600 for 2 weeks) to the ridiculous (EUR5000 for a week - that was a private 5-bed villa with swimming pool and panoramic views of the west coast, mind you). We want to stay within walking distance of a nice, sandy beach, but don’t mind having to hire a car to get around to other places.
It’s very, very popular with British tourists, and this is reflected in a lot of the resorts - full English breakfast, Fish and Chips, Steak Pie etc.
For the most part, the beaches are more pebbly than sandy.
Corfu town itself is a lovely, fascinating place.
Where are the apartments you are looking at? That might be a good starting point for advice. One of the northern resorts like Sidari might suit. Avoid Kavos like the plague.
I was looking at apartments in Pelaka, Perama or Benitses, all of which seem to have good beaches and aren’t too long a drive from Corfu Town or Mon Repo (where the casino is).
Can’t comment on the other two, but the very name “Benitses” provoked a shudder from my memory. A string of tacky bars either side of the main road south of Corfu Town is how I remember it.
To expand on DudleyGarrett’s point - why Corfu in particular out of the Greek islands?
My brother has been there a number of times. I could ask him to email you if you like. He doesn’t post here. He went to Albania on a day trip, said it was really depressing.
I thought the Ionian islands were Corfu, Paxos, Kefalonia, Ithaka, Lefkas, Zante (aka Zakynthos). All one chain in the west of Greece in the Ionian sea.
I spent most of a summer on Corfu in 1991, but I stayed with a friend whose family owned a beach house there, so I don’t know much about having to find my own place.
That said, the family next door ran a guest house, and at the time, those were the only two houses in the immediate area. They were both situated at the top of a seaside cliff, and there was a fairly steep footpath down to the beach (which was sandy and had some interesting tide pool areas).
IIRC, we were about 2-3 km from Benitses, and we visited town a few times. It seemed mostly to be full of drunk Brits, but I do remember being able to get some pretty good local food there. Ironically, my friend (of Greek ancestry) generally didn’t like any of the local food other than souvlaki, but I was eager to sample as much of the local cuisine as I could. This led to the family next door (who had kids around our age who we hung out with most of the summer) happily proclaiming “[Pazu’sFriend] eats nothing, but Pazu eats everything!”
I have generally fond memories of the place, probably at least in part because it was the last true summer vacation I ever had.
Kassiopi in the north east of Corfu is a mere six miles across the water from Albania.
I was there in 1981. At a time when Albania was more of a closed society than it is now, some Albanians would risk the swim in order to get to Corfu. A couple of barmen in the village claimed to have made this successful bid for freedom.
If the OP likes cricket, the game is still played on a hard pitch surrounded by netting in the centre of Corfu town.
I’ve been there. Unfortunately, I fell into the clutches of The Pink Palace and don’t remember much besides ouzo shots, lots and lots of naked people, and a lovely young woman from British Columbia whose name escapes me to this day.
Ummm, probably not a place to take a two-year old.
Why Corfu? Primarily because, as I said, hubby likes to combine our holidays with a little gambling (since there isn’t any where we live), and Corfu is the only Greek island that has a casino. Plus, it looks like a nice place for a family vacation.
I think Perama is a little north of Benitses but [del]Pelaka[/del] sorry, Pelekas is on the west coast (but I could be wrong!). I found this site which looks nice, although a little on the pricy side, but it may be worth the extra money to avoid the chavs!
All I know about Corfu is contained in Gerald Durrell’s book My Family And Other Animals and its sequels. It was very, very popular in England, which probably accounts for Corfu’s high proportion of British tourists. If you’ve never read it, it’d probably be a good read just prior to or during your trip there. As to its accuracy, I couldn’t say - he certainly made it sound like a lovely place.
Perhaps I shouldn’t scoff, though. Apparently you really do see a lot of people reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin on the beaches of Kefallonia, so maybe that book did increase tourism to the island. I for one had not heard of the place until I read the book.
Ah, Pelekas! Makes sense now. Pelekas itself is a village set up on a hill, but looking at that site it seems that it’s now spread to include “Pelekas beach”. You would also be close to gorgeous beaches at Glyfada and Mirtiotissa.
Absolutely no comparison to Benitses or the other package resorts.
Really nice area, and mercifully free from Brit package holiday hordes. Also straight across the island from Corfu town - probably not even too expensive by taxi if you wanted a night out with a little local wine and Metaxa brandy.
I’ve been to Corfu 3 times and I think it’s a lovely island and the natives are extremely friendly.
If you get a chance you must visit Mouse Island which is a teensy little place just a short boat trip from Corfu, it’s actually an island off the island.
There is a tiny monastery on it and you can walk around the island in under 30 minutes.
The island of Corfu has a causeway connecting the north and south parts, at one end (away from the town) there is a small bar and the owner had or did have loads of cats for which Corfu is famous.
In Corfu town they play cricket on a properly laid out pitch, Seems it’s something of a legacy from years gone by and it’s nice to sit there with a glass of beer and listen/watch, all very peaceful.
DO NOT TRY THE RETSINA…it is wine flavoured with wood resin and it tastes bloody awful
My late wife and myself used to buy a small fishing line, catch fish off the causeway and give them to the bar owner for free beer.
Leave the bar and walk up the small hill to catch a bus into where the Royal Hotel is, watch out on the bus, it’s full of chickens/goats and assorted livestock and boy does it smell, at least it once did.
Best you can do is buy a small map when you get to Corfu.
