Corfu

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High angle view of luxury hotel and sea, Greece
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©Denis Rusu/500px

Overview

From the writings of Gerald and Lawrence Durrell to the place where the shipwrecked Odysseus was soothed and sent on his way home, Corfu has been portrayed as an idyll for centuries. Today this reputation has led to parts of the island being defiled by mass tourism, but despite this, the Corfu of literature does still exist. All you need to do is sail around the corner, walk over the next headland or potter about the rugged interior and a place of bountiful produce, cypress-studded hills, vertiginous villages, and sandy coves lapped by cobalt-blue waters awaits.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Palaio Frourio

Corfu Town

The rocky headland that juts east from Corfu Town is topped by the Venetian-built 14th-century Palaio Frourio. Before that, already enclosed within…
Achilleion Palace

Corfu Town

Set atop a steep coastal hill 12km south of Corfu Town, the Achilleion Palace was built during the 1890s as the summer palace of Austria's empress…
Corfu Museum of Asian Art

Corfu Town

Home to stunning artefacts ranging from prehistoric bronzes to works in onyx and ivory, this excellent museum occupies the central portions of the Palace…
Myrtiotissa Beach

Corfu

Writer Lawrence Durrell hailed Myrtiotissa as arguably the best beach in the world. Now dominated by nudists, it remains relatively pristine because it’s…
Palace of St Michael & St George

Corfu Town

Beyond the northern end of the Spianada, the smart Regency-style Palace of St Michael and St George was built by the British from 1819 onwards, to house…
Liston

Corfu Town

Corfu Town owes the elegant, photogenic Liston, the arcade that lines the northern half of the Spianada, to neither the Venetians nor the British but to…
Vidos Island

Corfu Town

Hourly boats from the Old Port make the 10-minute crossing to tiny, thickly wooded Vidos Island (€4 return), immediately offshore. The island is the final…
Church of Agios Spyridon

Corfu Town

Pilgrims and day-trippers alike throng this Old Town landmark. As well as magnificent frescoes, the small 16th-century basilica holds the remains of Corfu…