3 Day Corfu Itinerary: For First Timers
Planning a trip to Corfu but you're not quite sure what to do during your trip? Here's a couple of my highlights from our trip to the South of Corfu in June.
Corfu is an island located off of Greece’s northwest coast in the Ionian Sea. This July, my sister and I flew over to Corfu for a week of exploring, tanning and chilling. Neither of us had been to Greece before so we were a little in the dark and unsure of what to expect. Normally I do my research before heading abroad, however due to the short time between a trip to Ibiza, the Isles of Scilly and this one, I had very little time to sit down and do some planning.
We stayed in the south of Corfu and unfortunately we were both unhappy with the resort so we made a pact to make the most out of a bad situation and explore the rest of what the island had to offer - as an island, Corfu is truly beautiful!
1) Exploring the Neighbouring Islands - Paxos and Antipaxos
Exploring the neighbouring islands is an absolute must when visiting Greece. Paxos and Antipaxos are two of the less commercialised islands in the Ionian Sea and only 14km away from Corfu so for us it was a no brainer but to jump on a speed boat and head over to them.
The islands are only reachable by boat so they have been able to protect themselves from modern tourism (to a certain extent). We jumped on a boat from Kavos and made the 2 hour journey over to the islands, stopping at a few caves for a snorkel. The colour of the water could have been mistaken for swimming pool water - it was insanely clear even though it was a pretty cloudy day!
We only had three hours on Paxos so we were only able to explore Gais, which is the largest town on the island. It was refreshing to get away from a built up brit town and actually see some real, traditional Greece.
We found a cute Greek restaurant with a relaxed vibe by the water and tucked into greek salad and a bottle of wine (of course) whilst watching the people wander by. After, we strolled through the charming port town before climbing back onto the boat for more fun on the water (and presecco).
Book it: This trip was with Party Abroad - book here.
2) Explore Corfu by Quad Bike
As mentioned before, Nikita and I were desperate to get out of Kavos and explore the rest of the island. I can barely drive in the UK (well) so hiring a car wasn't an option - a quad bike however was something that I thought I might be able to master without crashing.
Turns out, everyone in Corfu drives a quad bike or a scooter (I ended up on a scooter on the first night but that's a different story) and the roads are ridiculously wide, so fortunately there weren't any dramas!
Neither of us had internet, so we had to settle for a paper map that was written in Greek. Throwing the map aside, we just drove following random signs until we found across something interesting.
We came across Lefkimmi, a very traditional greek town and the second biggest on the island. Lefkimmi hasn't been developed for tourists, so it was refreshing to explore without coming across British fast food chains. Niki and I parked our little 50cc and went to look for a restaurant by the river.
Driving further north up the coast we came across some beaches (below Arkoudilas), again that were left for the locals.
I highly recommend getting out there and exploring the island because it is beautiful and there are many places to check out. We didn't have too much faith in our little 50cc quad, bit in the end, we drove 50 miles around the island!
3) Wander through the Old Streets of Corfu Town
I was super excited about visiting the old Corfu Town! With the Venetian architecture I knew that it would be my kind of thing (I like pretty buildings). Now this is where you can see the real difference between my sister and I. As soon as our feet touched the ground, Niki was off on a mission to find a Sephora, whereas I was getting lost down little back streets trying to find the coolest rooftop to snap that perfect picture.
Corfu Town was packed with timeless back streets with washing lines stretched from balcony to balcony and traditional greek eateries. Majestic architecture including the Liston Arcade, Old Fortress and high class museums could also be found when wondering the streets.
The coach also stops at Kanoni, which is where you can find the best view over to Mouse Island which is one of the most photographed locations in Corfu. It's also the closest you can get to the flight path, so if you stand on the walkway you can plane watch and it feels like the planes come insanely close to you. It's pretty amazing!
From the South of Corfu, the Old Town is about an hour drive. We jumped on a coach for about £10 which drove us there and picked us up four hours later.
Book it:This trip was booked with Party Abroad - book here.
So there you have it! How to spend a GOOD three days in South Corfu. I know us millennials are always keen for a party holiday - but guys, get exploring, the world needs to be seen!
Have you ever been to Corfu befrore? I'd love to hear what you got up to!