One of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece, Corfu is an island in the Ionian Sea known for its cosmopolitan Old Town, spectacular sandy beaches and beautiful landscapes

Corfu has a rich history that weaves a bewildering number of influences, with the Venetians, English, French and Russians all flourishing here and leaving their mark on the island.

In the Old Town, you’ll feel like an aristocrat walking along Liston Arcade and Spianada Square and gazing up at the Venetian forts and churches. And you’ll adore the romance of the labyrinth-like alleyways of Campiello (the medieval quarter of the Old Town) as well as the beat of the marching bands, particularly on festival days. 

Holidays on Corfu are also famous for the food – with the many cultural influences expressed in dishes that show off Italian touches and the island’s delicious Mediterranean produce.

And don’t forget the beaches and swimming spots dotted around the island – not least the Canal d'Amour, where legend has it you’ll find your soulmate. Corfu island (or Kerkyra as it’s known in Greek) certainly knows how to seduce you.

Things to do on Corfu

Feel like a classic film star in the Old Town

Unesco has declared Corfu’s Old Town a world heritage site. Who couldn’t be impressed by the stately buildings, with neoclassical influences, or fail to be moved by the likes of the Palace of St Michael and St George, Liston Arcade, Reading Society, the Catholic Cathedral, Maitland Rotunda, Ionian Parliament and the Kapodistrias family’s mansion? In the famous alleyways of Campiello, you will feel like a star in a period movie.

Admire the Venetian forts and towers

On the eastern side of town, the rocky shore crowned by two low peaks gave the name Koryfo (or peak) to the island. You enter the Old Fort (Palio Frourio), built in the 13th century, via a bridge over a seawater moat. It includes the Porta Sopranza, the British barracks, two winged lions of St Mark, the Madonna del Carmine, the Savorgnan Bastion, the Tower of Sea and the Tower of the Land (Castel del Mar, Castel della Terra) and the British-built church of St George resembling a Doric temple.

Corfu’s Old Town is often characterised as an open-air museum and each sight is a journey through time. Towering above the northwest border of the capital, the other guardian, the Neo Frourio (New Fort), is a masterpiece of military architecture built by the Venetians between 1572 and 1645. It is a fortress with planes and angles reminiscent of Picasso and Braque’s Cubist periods.