We spent the last week of September 2024 in Corfu.
The weather was surprisingly most accommodating – we had sunny warm days, no rain to talk about (one quick shower), hardly any wind and most of the time excellent visibility. I swam every day in the unheated outdoor pool of the Hotel as well as swimming in the sea too.
Our base was the stunning Akrotiri Beach Resort Hotel in the small picturesque village of Paleokastritsa on the West side of the Island.
Corfu is a relatively large Island on the Ionian Coast and as such offers the supreme ultimate combination of green lush vegetation rolling down into crystal clear turquoise waters.
We rented a car from Budget, picked it up and dropped it off at the Airport. All went smoothly. The roads, especially in the mountains, are narrow and very windy. I thus highly recommend renting a small automatic car.
Paleokastritsa
The village of Paleokastritsa is picturesque, quaint and charming and mostly tourist oriented. There are several tavernas, tourist stores, supermarkets, beaches and a marina. The location is spectacular with stunning views, drives that are breathtaking and surroundings that are beautiful.
The Akrotiri Beach Resort Hotel is an adult-only Hotel built on a peninusula with fabulous views both to the open sea and to the bay and to The Agia Triada Beach. The infinity pool of the Hotel overlooked the sea.
We had dinners at Gran Aladino Taverna, Nausika Taverna and at Spiros which is a bit out of the village but according to the other gallivanting goldie had the best lamb chops (this one is vegetarian!).
One morning was dedicated to a fantastic 2 hour speed boat trip to The Blue Caves, Paradise and Yali Beaches. We did it with Paleo Sea Travel whose office is directly opposite the Hotel so was super convenient. Paradise Beach is surrounded by huge imposing rocks. The Blue Caves are true to their name with amazing blue and tourqoise waters and Yali Beach is simply stunning.
The Monastery of Paleokastritsa which is considered a “must” visit is all about the stunning views. The Monastery sits atop a promontory and offers sweeping views of the sea and bay below. The drive up is windy and steep.
Lakones
The small village of Lakones is situated high in the mountain overlooking Paleokastritsa. It boasts superb views of the Ionian Sea and the bays and beaches of Paleokastritsa. The drive up is steep and windy but so worth it. We did it several times during our stay. The main road (basically the only road) in the village is very narrow and not suitable for two cars to drive through at the same time so there is at each end a traffic light allowing the road to be alternatively a one way for both directions of traffic.
Don’t miss the best baklava ever – Dolce Cafe. Dolce Cafe is famous for the views and its’ pastries and we can vouch for both. In fact we even got to take home a box of their delicious baklava.
On one of our drives through Lakones we continued to Enotis Olive Musuem – it was a short but interesting free guided tour through their small but quiet fascinating museum. Later we bought their oil, which is excellent, in a supermarket in Paleokastritsa – was much cheaper than buying it the Museum Shop.
Corfu Old Town
We spent a day in Corfu Old Town wandering the streets of this fabulous Old Town with its charm, buzz, vibe and very European feel about it.
The hype around Rose’s Bakery is just that – hype. Tasty but extremely expensive and no where to sit. Can definetly skip this. Simply wander around the cobbled streets. We sat at a coffee shop on Liston – great place to watch the world go by.
Paxos & Antipaxos
Paxos & Antipaxos are exquisite.
We did a cruise to these adorable islands with Corfu Cruises which left from Corfu Old Town. It was an expensive, crowded, and very long “taxi” ride to the two islands. The only saving grace was the incredible beauty of the area. Next time, and I hope there will be a next time, would go individually with the ferry.
The cruise which is a full long day visits the amazing Blue Caves of Paxos, one of the beautiful beaches on Antipaxos Island (spoilt by all the cruise ships) and Paxos Island.
The Blue Caves of Paxos
The highlight of the cruise trip was visiting Gaios Port Town, the capital of Paxos. Your typical Greek Island port town.
