Our original visit to the main city of Corfu Town on the Greek Ionian Island of Corfu was by taxi rather than by boat. While our yacht was safely moored at Gouvia Marina, about 10 miles north, we packed our backpacks and headed into the city. Read my article entitled, ‘Sailing Around The Greek Ionian Islands’ to hear more about Gouvia Marina and our first thoughts about entering Greek waters.
- DK Travel (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 128 Pages – 07/19/2022 (Publication Date) – DK Eyewitness Travel (Publisher)
Being new to the area, we didn’t know if we could moor at Corfu Town, so we took a nice little taxi ride to the city center.
It might sound surprising, but going in a car has become a novelty for us. We are almost always sailing or walking, so having a car journey is fun.
Several people have told me that Corfu Town is ‘nice,’ but that doesn’t do it justice.
Corfu Town is beautiful, magical, colorful, enchanting, and down-right special!
After the taxi driver dropped us off, my family and I wandered through the narrow streets, which were lined with restaurants, bakeries, butchers, and tourist shops.
Corfu Town is a tourist destination, so the shops all sell the same made-in-China goods you find at any other tourist place. However, the shopfronts are at least in keeping with the style of the old city.
However, I did discover quite a few one-off shops selling clothing, art, jewelry, and various knickknacks. I enjoy looking at those shops!
Our first port of call was a small café for lunch—the picture above shows me and hubby waiting for our food. While walking along the main street, we peered up a side street towards a square filled with restaurants, a church, an official building, and beautifully laid tables and chairs.
We stopped at the first café we found and pulled up a pew.
The colors of the trees and shrubs drew me in—I immediately saw deep fuchsia, yellow, and pink amongst a beautifully laid-out piazza. And there stood the most fantastic palm tree ever!
After a bit of discussion, we ordered a meat platter containing chicken and pork souvlaki, turkey burgers, and lamb, as well as a Greek salad and some fries. While waiting for our food, a wedding finished at the church next door, and we were able to admire a beautiful bride and groom.
Even though I had no clue who the newlyweds were, my heart filled with love, and I silently wished them an incredible life together.
Our food came and went quickly. We devoured it with our usual moo’ing sounds. Mmmmmmmm. It was outstanding. How do we always get such amazing meals? Perhaps we’re easily pleased, or…we’re so grateful for the food that our gratitude creates more opportunities for good food. Like attracts like – doesn’t it?
My family and I played around, taking photos of each other. We were all smiles. Our next stop was the seafront and the old fort. We looked out over a beautiful blue bay and saw several sailboats moored at the foot of the old fort.
The old fort in Corfu town was built by the Venetians and used by the British as a military hospital when Britain ruled Corfu.
After seeing the sailboats anchored, I turned to my husband and said, ‘Can we anchor there?! Can we? Can we?’ Of course, his response was a ‘yes.’
We took some photos and made our way to the fort. We had a ball walking along the walls, enjoying the views, and absorbing the history. The breeze was nice and the walk up to the top wasn’t too difficult. Once we got to the end, we enjoyed a panoramic view of the Ionian Sea and Corfu Town.
My eyes smiled with delight.
Thereafter, we made our way through the town again, thinking that we must spend another day or two taking a slower browse in the cute little shops. We went back to the boat, and the next day, we were anchored next to the Old Fort. It was great to be anchored—I no longer enjoy the marinas.
They’re expensive, crowded, noisy, and impersonal.
We anchored next to Corfu Town for a couple of days.
While anchored, we took the tender out and pulled our daughter and my cousin around in a tube. Then, we all jumped off the back of the boat and enjoyed swimming over to our lovely neighbors.
I can’t explain how amazing it feels to wake up, open our door at the top of our stairs, and look up to a historical fort alongside the bluest waters I’ve seen.
Every morning, I had to pinch myself and express my gratitude for being able to sleep under the stars next to the incredible Corfu Town.
Needing a SIM card, printer, USB stick, and wireless keyboard, my husband took my cousin and me to the town by ourselves.
We were like two little kids let out alone for the first time.
We got our chores done—a quick visit to Vodafone to sort out our Wi-Fi and then a visit to Publix, a computer store, and we were done.
After we had our goods, we decided to get lost in the backstreets of Corfu Town.
We walked down the backstreets, enjoying the sights and smells of Corfu Town. Of course, we looked over the made-in-China items and handmade offerings.
Being without my daughter for the first time in months allowed me to dawdle, spend time looking at what I wanted to look at, and stop off for a nice glass of wine! My cousin and I wandered around laughing and chatting about all sorts – it was a nice little girly break.
We tried to find a non-touristy place to eat lunch and settled on ‘Slouvaki King.’
Hehehehehe. It was probably the most touristy place, but the wine, food, and service were great. It was another perfect day.
- Reevis, Taylor (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 40 Pages – 06/26/2022 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
A few things to note about Corfu Town…
There’s a high street with many British stores. I found an M&S in addition to other British stores. If you want to spend some time shopping, there are quite a few boutique stores. The food seemed reasonable—we avoided the places that had really nice table clothes, as the prices seemed higher.
We decided where to eat based on how well the tables were laid out!
One thing that was a bit bothersome was the cruise ships, but that can be said about any destination. When a cruise ship came in, the town was flooded with people wearing stickers with numbers on them. I imagine it was their identification badge for the ship and wondered if it caused the locals to instantly add 30% to the price of things, too!
If you see a cruise ship, wait until it’s gone, and then enjoy the city!
Overall, I loved Corfu Town.
Visiting the city would make a great weekend break, and if you’re holidaying in Corfu for a week or two, it’s a must-see. We found the food, people, history, and sights excellent!
So…Corfu Town is not ‘nice’ it’s far better than that. My family and I had a brilliant time and highly recommend a visit.
Check Out Some Other Areas In Greece & The Mediterranian
For all our destinations in Greek Ionian, read Sailing The Greek Ionian Islands. If you’d like a breakdown of all the places we’ve visited while sailing the Mediterranean, please read our destination overview: Sailing The Mediterranean. Otherwise, check out more posts about our time spent in Greece.
wander not wonder, and several other errors 🙂
They say people who point out grammatical errors have personal issues.
I hope doing that made you feel better, at least 🙂
Thanks for your lovely personal review. I went to Corfu twice in the 80s when I was a much younger man. I went with two friends and it was an experience I’ll never forget. Being the 80s it was very cheap and the nightlife was fab but everything ended at 2am. Different times . I’m bringing my family there this October to celebrate my 60th birthday. We’ll visit the town based on your blog. Thank you.
Great feedback. And happy b-day for your 60th in October! Smiles, Kim