CORFU · GREECE
Venetian streets, blue caves, and a foreign country before lunch.
Day cruises to the Paxos blue caves, walking tours through the only UNESCO town in Greece, hydrofoils to Albania and back in time for dinner on the Liston.
Only on this island
Three reasons Corfu is the trip.
Old towns, boat days and food tours exist on every Greek island. These three don’t. The blue caves offshore, the four-empires Old Town inside the walls, and a UNESCO ruin in another country you can reach before lunch. Plan the rest of the week around them.
On the water
Paxos & Antipaxos Blue Caves
The signature Corfu day trip. A morning boat south to Paxos and Antipaxos, into limestone sea caves where the water reads as electric blue from refracted light. Swim stops at Voutoumi and Vrika, lunch in Gaios village. There is no other day cruise on this stretch of coast that delivers the same colour.
- 1 From Corfu Island: Antipaxos & Paxos Blue Caves Boat Cruise
- 2 From Corfu: Day Cruise to Paxos, Antipaxos, and Blue Caves
- 3 Full-Day Boat Tour of Paxos Antipaxos Blue Caves from Corfu
Inside the walls
The Venetian Old Town
The only UNESCO World Heritage town in Greece, and the only one anywhere with Venetian, French, British and Greek layers stacked into a single square kilometre. The Liston arcade was modelled on the Rue de Rivoli. Spianada square is the largest in the Balkans. Walking it is the trip.
- 1 Corfu Town: Guided Walking Tour and Local Food Tastings
- 2 Best Corfu Tour with Boat Trip & Old Town for Cruise Passengers
- 3 Corfu Old Town Guide Tour with Dog or City with 4 paws
Across the strait
A Day Trip to Albania
Corfu is the only Greek island close enough to make Albania a sensible day out. A 30-minute hydrofoil to Saranda, half a day at the UNESCO Roman ruins of Butrint, back in time for dinner on the Liston. No other Greek island gets you to a foreign country and home for dinner.
- 1 Day Trip to Saranda and Butrint National Park from Corfu
- 2 Albania Cruise from Corfu
- 3 Albanian Adventure Day Trip from Corfu
The cruise everyone books
If you only do one boat day, do this one.
Three of the top five tours on the whole island are the same trip. Day-cruise south to Paxos and the blue caves, swim in turquoise water at Voutoumi, lunch in Gaios village, home before dark.
The classics
Corfu's Most Popular Day Tours
Paxos blue caves, Saranda day trips, Old Town walking, Achilleion Palace and the olive-mill tastings up in the hills. The week most travellers piece together.
By place
Pick where to spend the day.
Old Town for the Venetian streets. Paxos for the blue caves. Paleokastritsa for the west-coast monastery. Albania for the foreign-country lunch. Kassiopi for the quiet north. Glyfada for the beach.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Boat cruise for range. Walking tour for the Old Town. Cooking class for the village kitchens. Olive-mill tasting for the hills, sunset cruise for the gold hour, hydrofoil for Albania.
From Corfu
A second country, and three islands, all within a morning.
Corfu’s position is half the appeal. Albania is closer than Athens. Paxos and Antipaxos are a short cruise south. The Greek mainland beaches at Parga and Sivota are an easy boat day. Here’s the reach.
On the water
The boat days.
Corfu is built for boat days. Half the top tours on the island depart from the harbour by 9am and have you swimming somewhere offshore by 11. Three crossings we’d book first.
The Ionian Coast
Somewhere between Calabria and Corfu the blue really begins.
Lawrence Durrell, Prospero’s Cell
See sunset cruises →Inside the walls
The Old Town days.
Venetian fortresses on both ends of the peninsula, French arcades along the Liston, British cricket on Spianada, Greek tavernas behind every corner. Three guided walks that read the city like a four-empire palimpsest.
In the hills
Olive oil, kitchens, and inland wineries.
Corfu has more than three million olive trees, planted under Venetian bounty four centuries ago. Cooking classes happen in village courtyards. Vineyards work the slopes south of town. Three days off the boat.
Just added