Corfu

Corfu is a beautiful and popular Greek island located in the Ionian Sea. It's the second largest of the Ionian islands behind Kefalonia and is often known as Kérkyra in Greek.

Corfu is renowned for its stunning landscapes, characterised by lush greenery, olive groves, and vineyards. The island features a diverse coastline with both sandy and pebble beaches, as well as rugged cliffs.

The island has a rich history influenced by various civilizations, including the Venetians, French, and British. This is reflected in the architecture of Corfu Town (Kerkyra) the old part of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Corfu boasts a delicious culinary scene influenced by Greek, Italian, and Venetian flavours. You can enjoy local specialities such as pastitsada, bourdeto, and sofrito. Additionally, Corfu is famous for its olive oil and kumquat liqueur.

The Venetian influence is clear in the architecture of Corfu, especially in the Liston Promenade, and the Spianada Square. The two fortresses, the Old and New Fortresses, are significant historical landmarks.

Apart from its beaches, Corfu offers opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, exploring mountain villages, and visiting the scenic Angelokastro, an ancient castle perched on a mountain.

Corfu is an Ionian island so it's found in the Ionian sea, that's the part between the Greek mainland and Italy. It's the most northerly of the Ionian islands and lies just off the coast where Albania meets Greece.

As Corfu is the closest island to the UK it’s also a very popular one so expect to find an abundance of flights from your nearest international airport, we found 16 airports in the UK flying direct to Corfu so you should find it easy to get a flight to suit you. Flight time is around 3 hours so by the time you’ve taken off, had an overpriced drink, played a couple of games on your phone and queued for the toilet it’ll probably be time to land again.

If you're coming from somewhere else in Greece then you'll find regular ferries from Igoumenitsa on the mainland where the crossing takes 70-90 minutes. Ferries to the other Ionian islands would take significantly longer, Lefkada is over 7 hours away and Kefalonia is nearly 10 hours on the boat.

Corfu has a wealth of historical sites, particularly Venetian style architecture and castles. There’s also some fantastic beaches and gorgeous scenery so it’s easy to see why Corfu is so popular with all sorts of people.

There’s tons of all inclusive resort style hotels as well as lots of Greek family run hotels in the less well known towns and villages so no matter what you are looking for in your Greek island holiday, Corfu can probably cater to your needs.

The nightlife in Corfu varies depending on where you choose to stay. Kavos offers a lively night with music, dance clubs, cocktails and a lot of drinking into the early hours where as in Agios Stefanos, Kalami, Petriti and places like that the nightlife will consist of a nice evening meal and a few drinks in the restaurant after.

The majority of the popular tourist resorts on the island will have a good selection of restaurants and will offer some late night bars with cocktails and maybe some venues with entertainment too.

The capital Kerkyra has a vast amount of night life with a good variety of places from lively to laid back so there's something for everyone there.

The best time to visit Corfu is from late April to early September, it rains more in Corfu as it’s more northern than the other Greek islands that are hotter and dryer.

June to August offers the highest temperatures and minimal rain so if you like it hot that’s the time for you. Just remember that these months are also the busiest and most expensive times to go to Corfu.