A Corfu day trip is a one-day outing on Corfu, the Greek island in the Ionian Sea, to a town, a fortress or a stretch of coast. It is one of the Greece tours that join old fortresses, green hills and a long shoreline.
What is a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip is a visit of one day to the island of Corfu in Greece. The earliest reference to Corfu is a word in Linear B, an old script, from around 1300 BC. That date gives the island a long written record of its past.
Any Corfu day trip rests on a long history at sea. Settlers from Corinth, a Greek city, peopled the island around 730 BC. In 665 BC, the fleets of Corfu and Corinth fought Greece’s first recorded naval battle. A naval battle is a fight between warships on the open water.
The writer Thucydides names Korkyra, the old name for Corfu, among Greece’s three great naval powers. The other two are Athens and Corinth. In 480 BC, during the Persian invasion of Greece, Corfu crewed 60 ships, the second-largest Greek fleet. A naval power is a state with a strong fleet of warships.
Greek myth gives a Corfu day trip a second layer of stories. Myth says the island got the name of the nymph Korkyra from Poseidon, the sea god of Greece. A nymph is a female nature spirit in Greek myth. Myth also says Jason and Medea were married in Medea’s Cave on Corfu.
- Theatre and opera: Modern Greece’s first Greek theatre and its first opera house began on this island.
- Temple ruins: Ruins of Greek temples from the ancient city of Korkyra lie in Palaiopolis.
- Capital: Two castles enclose the capital of Corfu, making it the only Greek city surrounded that way.
Corfu is not only a place of ships, ruins and myth. Records since the 19th century list around 300 bird species on the island. A Corfu day trip, however short, rests on a long record of people, sea and nature.
What does Mon Repos add to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip can add Mon Repos, a villa with a royal past. The word villa means a big house in the countryside. This one stands in the Palaeopolis forest, south of Corfu City. The name Mon Repos is French for My Rest.
Colonel George Whitmore designed the villa and the St. Michael and St. George Palace. In 1833, the School of Fine Arts moved to the estate, under Pavlos Prosalentis, a sculptor from Corfu. An estate is land held with a large house. The estate links a Corfu day trip to art teaching.
King George the First of the Hellenes received the villa and gardens. This followed the union with Greece in 1864. Hellenes is the Greek word for Greeks, and the union joined Corfu to the Greek state. George then renamed the villa Mon Repos, and it still carries that name today.
The Greek royal family used the villa as a summer residence until 1967. After 1967, the villa became derelict, which means left empty and falling into ruin. Work to restore it, or repair it, took place in the 1990s. This royal past gives a Corfu day trip a clear tie to Greek history.
- Royal birth: The villa saw the birth of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 10 June 1921.
- Ground floor: The ground floor holds portraits, furniture and a dress that belonged to Diamantina-Nina Palatianou, the first resident.
- First floor: The first floor displays archaeological finds, meaning old objects dug up in the Palaiopolis area.
Since 2001, the villa has housed the Museum of Palaiopolis, a role it still holds. A museum is where old objects are kept and shown. A Corfu day trip that adds Mon Repos suits readers who enjoy royal history, art and old objects.
What does Pontikonisi add to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip gains a family story from Pontikonisi. Pontikonisi is an islet, which is the plain word for a very small island. As children, the Durrells lived on Corfu and used to swim out to the islet.
The Durrell family moved to Corfu in 1935. Gerald Durrell fell in love with Corfu as soon as the family left the town. That love for the island gives a Corfu day trip a human side. A place with a family story feels closer to readers than a place with only a name.
One Corfu film scene shows Melina being greeted by Bond on Pontikonisi island. Film shooting on Corfu started at the Villa Sylva at Kanoni, above Corfu Town. A villa is a large house set in its own grounds or garden. Movie links of this kind add a second story to a Corfu day trip.
Chersoupolis was the early city of Corfu. It lay between Garitsa Bay and Kanoni. A bay is a curved piece of shore where the sea pushes in toward the land. That site has its own name today. In 551 the Ostrogoths, a people from that time, destroyed the city of Corfu, then known as Chersoupolis.
- Old city: The former site of Chersoupolis is now known as Palaiopolis.
- Painter: From 1880 to 1886, Arnold Böcklin painted Island of the Dead in different versions.
- Painting: One idea links the painting’s rocky islet to Pontikonisi and to Strombolicchio near Stromboli.
Pontikonisi gives a Corfu day trip stories from family life, film, early city history and art. Each story has its own name or date. Together, they turn a small islet into a place with a past that is easy to remember.
What does Angelokastro bring to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip gains a fortress with a deep past when Angelokastro joins the plan. A fortress is a strong castle built for defence. Venetian documents of the 17th century call the castle Castel or Castello Sant’ Angelo. Venetian means from Venice, a city in Italy.
Michael II Angelos is mentioned as the builder of the fortress. He also fortified the castle area further, which means he strengthened its defences against attack. Any Corfu day trip that includes Angelokastro therefore reaches a place linked to a named builder. That name gives the old walls a human story.
In 1386, power passed to the Venetians with virtually no loss of life. Virtually means almost, so the handover was nearly free of deaths. That date marks a change of power in the story of Angelokastro. Anyone planning a Corfu day trip can use this date to place the fortress in the island’s timeline.
An invading army attacked Angelokastro and was repulsed four times by the Corfiote garrison. Repulsed means driven back. Soldiers who hold a fortress form its garrison, and Corfiote means from Corfu. The army failed to breach, or break through, the castle’s defences, so the walls held.
- Governor: The castle governor, called the castellan, was chosen from the island’s noblemen.
- Defence: The garrison rolled boulders at the Ottoman army, soldiers of the Ottoman Empire, passing through the mountains.
- Praise: Paolo Giovio’s History, published in 1555, singles out Angelokastro and praises the bravery of its defenders.
Steeply sloping terrain, meaning ground that drops sharply, protects the castle’s west, northwest and south sides. The land therefore acted as a natural wall on those sides. A Corfu day trip with Angelokastro adds a castle that relied on the land for defence.
What does Mount Pantokrator bring to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip can add Mount Pantokrator. Its name is rendered in English as ‘The Almighty’. The name is also spelled Pantocrator, and in Greek it is written Παντοκράτωρ. Each of these written forms names the same mountain on Corfu.
Roads shape the way travellers meet Mount Pantokrator. Visitors can drive to the summit along a series of winding roads from the coast. The mountain suits travellers who move around Corfu by road instead of on foot. A Corfu day trip can therefore treat the summit as one planned stop on the island.
The base of the mountain has a story of its own. Old Perithia is Corfu’s oldest village, and it lies at the foot of Mount Pantokrator. A village is a small settlement of homes grouped around its own centre. So the mountain gives the oldest village on the island its natural setting.
Walkers have a second way to meet the mountain itself. The walk to Pantokrator from Spartilas forms part of the Corfu Trail. That trail is an established long-distance walking route running from south to north Corfu. A Corfu day trip and the Corfu Trail give two different ways to know one mountain.
- Local communities: An official count in the 2021 census put Spartylas, with Barbati and Pyrgi, at 762 inhabitants.
- Village trees: A field elm tree in the village square of Strinylas, Corfu, is 360 years old.
- Empty settlements: Sinies, an abandoned village, is in view from the top of Pantokrator.
An Angevin foundation, set up by the Angevins, was the first monastery on the summit. Monks who live a religious life make their home in a monastery. That religious past gives a Corfu day trip a lasting reason to stop at the mountain.
What does Kassiopi bring to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip to Kassiopi adds a castle, and the castle’s interior covers 35,177 square metres. That interior is filled with olive trees. The walls of Kassiopi Castle run 1.073 kilometres around a quadrilateral, a shape with four sides.
The fortifications, or defensive works, of Kassiopi Castle are mainly Byzantine, linked to the eastern Roman Empire. Excavations, or digs, at the gate towers found bronze coins of the Byzantine emperors Maurice and Basil II. These finds give a Corfu day trip to the castle a firm link with the Byzantine past.
Queen Cassiopeia, punished by the sea god Poseidon for her vanity, is one possible source of Kassiopi’s name. The Kassiopi on Corfu has been confused with Cassope in Epirus, a region on the Greek mainland. That mix-up matters for a Corfu day trip, since Cassope lies on the mainland, not on Corfu.
Luxury villas, meaning large private holiday homes, have been built across the land around the village of Kassiopi. Traffic around the harbour eases because the village has a car and coach park uphill. For a Corfu day trip, the village offers a harbour, a castle and these villas in one place.
- Spellings: The village name is also spelled Kassiope, Kassope and Kassopi.
- Buses: Buses stop at the village square, which lies about 229 metres from the harbour.
- Towers: The castle walls also carry 19 towers, which are defensive structures.
Folk tales, which are old stories told aloud, add a darker note. Fire-breathing dragons were said to have destroyed the castle and poisoned the villagers. Such tales are folklore, so a Corfu day trip to Kassiopi can treat them as stories.
What does Sidari bring to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip that includes Sidari adds a beach place to the plan. Sidari is one of the Corfu places with a beach, alongside Kassiopi and Palaiokastritsa. Those two other names share the same beach description on the island of Corfu.
In north-western Corfu, Peroulades is a village. A Corfu day trip in that corner meets a village of 685 people, counted in the year 2021. The Peroulades community, meaning the local area that carries that name, covers two villages in total. The two villages are Peroulades itself and the village of Mega Ydri.
Avliotes is a mountain settlement in the northwest part of Corfu. It stands 120 metres above sea level, meaning 120 metres higher than the surface of the sea. Green hills form the background that stands behind the settlement. A mountain settlement is a village built on higher ground.
Roda lies at the centre of the north coast of Corfu, about 2 kilometres from Acharavi. Roda is a village that was designed mainly for summertime tourism. Summertime tourism means visitors who come to the village in the summer months. A Corfu day trip around Roda meets a village with a clear summer focus.
- Avliotes: In 2021, Avliotes had a population of 1,299 people.
- Agios Stefanos Avliotes: In 2021, this village had a population of 260 people.
- Old church: The village of Agios Stefanos still has the old church that gave it its name.
A Corfu day trip can mix beach places, hill settlements and villages of different sizes. Each place named here has its own setting, so each one gives the plan a different shape. No single place covers the whole of the island of Corfu.
What does Benitses add to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip gains historical depth from Benitses, a coastal village on the island of Corfu. Written historical records first mention Benitses in the year 1469. A record here means an old written document that names a place, such as this village.
The name Benitses comes from Pinio, an ancient Greek word meaning a meeting of streams. The village lies along a sheltered bay with calm, clear water. A sheltered bay is a curve of coast protected from strong waves. These two details describe the place that a Corfu day trip to Benitses reaches.
In the First World War, Benitses hosted the Serbian army and the Serbian government in exile. A government in exile is one that works away from its own country. A temporary hospital for wounded soldiers was set up in the San Stefano area. These wartime events form part of the village’s history.
The first tourists reached Benitses in the 1960s. Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and Paul McCartney are named among the celebrities who came. A celebrity is a person known to the public. Tourism therefore forms part of the village’s history, and a Corfu day trip to Benitses joins that story.
- Beaches: Benitses has pebbly and sandy beaches edged with tamarisk trees, which have fine, feathery leaves.
- Olive oil: By the early 19th century, water-powered millstones, heavy crushing stones, helped the village make olive oil.
- Vandoros building: Tall and neoclassical (a style copying ancient Greek design), it stands at the old port’s entrance.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, over-commercialization lowered the village’s tourist appeal. That word means too much focus on selling goods and services to tourists and visitors. Its full story, from old written records to recent change, frames every Corfu day trip to Benitses.
What does Pelekas add to a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip can take in Pelekas, a village and community in central Corfu. Here, a community means a small local area made up of villages. Pelekas is the name of both the village and the area around it.
Pelekas belongs to the municipal unit of Parelioi. The term municipal unit means a district of local government. Parelioi is the district that holds the village of Pelekas. For a Corfu day trip, that name helps place the village on the island’s map of local areas. The district name and the village name belong together.
The village lies southwest of the city of Corfu. On a map, that is the direction to look in. A Corfu day trip planned around the city can use this clue to find Pelekas. Southwest is the lower left of a standard map, where north points up. The clue is short but exact and simple.
The community of Pelekas is made up of six villages. Each of the six is a small settlement with its own name. Together they form one local area. That matters for any plan of the area. The name Pelekas points to a group of villages, not to a single settlement.
- Agios Onoufrios and Avramis: These two villages both belong to the community of Pelekas.
- Glyfada and Kokkinogeia: These two villages are also part of the same community.
- Plakoto and Pelekas: Plakoto sits in the same community as the village of Pelekas itself.
Agios Gordios has a link to rock music. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the band Queen, visited a hotel and hostel there in his youth. A hostel is a budget place to stay. A Corfu day trip can mention that story.
Which questions arise about a Corfu day trip?
A Corfu day trip prompts four plain questions on place, weather and history. Each of these four topics, airport, season, regional unit and strait, has a clear answer. Facts on codes, dates, rainfall, population and naval history give those answers.
Which airport serves a Corfu day trip?
Corfu International Airport carries two short labels: the IATA code CFU and the ICAO code LGKR. The first commercial flight to the airport came from Athens on 19 April 1949. A runway extension to 1,260 metres took place at the airport by the end of 1951.
Which season suits a Corfu day trip?
At the Corfu HNMS station, April highs average 19.1 °C. July highs average 31.2 °C and October highs 23.2 °C. It averages 65.2 millimetres of rain in April, 8.7 in July and 140.4 in October. Its full-year rainfall averages 1,111.3 millimetres.
Which regional unit holds a Corfu day trip?
An official area of Greece goes by the name regional unit. The Corfu regional unit had a population of 111,081 in 2001. The Corfu regional unit had 104,371 people in 2011. In 2021 the Corfu regional unit had a density of 158.5 people per square kilometre.
Which strait lies beside a Corfu day trip?
The Corfu Channel is a narrow stretch of sea. The Royal Navy swept the channel for mines in 1944 and 1945. Seven Royal Navy ships crossed the channel when the 1946 incidents started. The destroyer Saumarez, a warship, struck a mine and was heavily damaged near Saranda bay.