Corfu Town is the island’s elegant capital, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of pastel Venetian lanes, two great fortresses, the arcaded Liston and the church of Agios Spyridon. Shaped by Venetian, French and British rule, its Old Town is one of the loveliest in Greece. This guide covers what to see and do, the fortresses, the Old Town and how to explore it. Plan the whole trip with Greece Tours.
The capital is the cultural heart of the island, a highlight in the wider Corfu tours and travel guide. It sits on the east coast facing the mainland. The sections below cover the visit.
What is the Old Town like?
The Old Town is a UNESCO-listed maze of cobbled, pedestrianised lanes lined with tall, pastel Venetian buildings full of shops, cafés and apartments. Its oldest quarter, the Campiello, is a warren of narrow alleys, carved wells and balconied houses.
The Old Town is the capital’s enchanting core. A labyrinth of cobbled, traffic-free lanes winds between elegant shuttered houses painted in faded pastels, opening onto small squares and churches and lined with shops, tavernas and bars. The tall Venetian tenements, four and five storeys high, press so close that laundry lines cross the alleys overhead, and shafts of light fall onto worn flagstones. Wandering here without a destination is one of the island’s greatest joys, set out in the wider things to do in Corfu.
The layout owes its density to centuries of Venetian rule, when the town was squeezed inside its walls for defence. Builders went upward rather than outward, producing the narrow cantounia and the Italianate skyline that survive intact today. This compact plan is why the UNESCO listing praises Corfu Town as an outstanding example of a fortified Mediterranean port, and why two fortresses guard the town.
What is the Campiello quarter?
The Campiello is the oldest and most atmospheric quarter of the Old Town, a dense knot of narrow alleys, hidden squares, stone wells and tall balconied houses on the slope between the two fortresses, largely as the Venetians left it.
The Campiello is where Corfu Town feels most timeless. Its cantounia, the local word for the slim alleys, twist and climb without logic, opening abruptly onto tiny plateias where a carved wellhead or a shrine marks the centre. Balconies almost touch overhead, and stone staircases lead to doorways set at odd angles into the hillside. Residents still live here, so the quarter carries the sounds of daily life rather than the polish of a museum.
The architecture records the town’s long Venetian centuries directly. Coats of arms, iron balcony rails and Venetian-Gothic window frames survive on facades that have never been rebuilt on a grand scale. The Jewish quarter, or Evraiki, sits at the northern edge of the Campiello, its synagogue a reminder of the community that shaped this part of town. Exploring the Campiello rewards the traveller who leaves the main lanes behind and simply climbs.
What are the two fortresses?
The two fortresses are the fifteenth-century Old Fortress on a promontory by the Esplanade and the sixteenth-century New Fortress on a hill above the port. Both were built by the Venetians against Ottoman attack and reward the climb with sweeping views.
The fortresses frame the town’s skyline and history. The Old Fortress, on a rocky headland just beyond the Esplanade, was raised by the Venetians atop earlier Byzantine defences and helped repel repeated Ottoman sieges. A sea moat, the Contrafossa, cuts it off from the mainland, so a bridge carries visitors across to gates, ramparts, a British-era church and a summit lighthouse. From that highest point the panorama stretches across the whole town, the Ionian Sea and the mountains of the mainland opposite.
The New Fortress, begun during the late sixteenth century on the hill of San Marco above the port, completes the defensive pair. Its tiered bastions, vaulted tunnels and gunports form a maze that visitors climb through to reach terraces looking down over the rooftops. Together the two strongholds tell the story of Venetian Corfu, set within the wider Corfu tours and a guided walk. The Liston and Esplanade are the town’s social heart.
What are the Liston and the Esplanade?
The Liston is an elegant nineteenth-century arcade of cafés modelled on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, fronting the Esplanade, one of Europe’s largest squares. Built by the French, its tables and the green Spianada draw crowds for coffee and people-watching.
The Liston and the Esplanade form the town’s grand social space. The Liston, a graceful colonnade of arches built under French rule and inspired by Paris, shelters rows of café tables looking out over the green, the ideal place to linger over a coffee or an evening drink. Its name comes from the historic list of noble families once permitted to promenade beneath the arcade, a memory of the town’s aristocratic past that still colours its unhurried mood.
It fronts the Spianada, or Esplanade, a vast open square the Venetians cleared for a field of fire in front of the Old Fortress. Today that military ground is a leafy park with a bandstand, a Victorian rotunda honouring the first British governor, monuments and wide gravel paths. Brass bands play here on feast days, and the space fills with families at dusk. Strolling and sitting on the Spianada is part of the rhythm of the town, set out alongside the guide to Corfu food and wine.
Why is Saint Spyridon church important?
The church of Saint Spyridon holds the mummified relics of the island’s patron saint, credited with saving Corfu from siege, famine and plague. Its red-domed bell tower is the tallest in the Ionian and the town’s chief landmark.
Saint Spyridon is woven into the identity of Corfu Town. A fourth-century bishop from Cyprus, his body was brought to the island during the fifteenth century and now rests in a silver casket inside the single-nave basilica off the main shopping lane. Islanders carry the reliquary through the streets in four grand litanies each year, each marking a deliverance the saint is believed to have secured, and local boys are still named Spyros in his honour.
The church itself repays a quiet visit. Its interior glows with hanging silver lamps, votive offerings and a painted ceiling, while the campanile outside, echoing the bell tower of San Giorgio dei Greci in Venice, rises above the rooftops as a landmark visible from the fortresses and the sea. Reaching the church threads visitors through the busiest lanes of the Old Town, where shops and tavernas cluster most thickly.
What are the main museums and palaces?
The main cultural sights are the British-built Palace of St Michael and St George, home to the Museum of Asian Art, plus the Byzantine and archaeological museums and the neoclassical villa of Mon Repos. Together they span Asian art, icons and antiquity.
The town’s museums reflect its layered rulers. The Museum of Asian Art, set in the Regency palace the British raised at the north end of the Esplanade, holds a collection of Chinese, Japanese and Indian pieces unique in Greece, gathered by Corfiot diplomats. The Byzantine Museum, housed in the Antivouniotissa church, displays icons of the Cretan and Ionian schools, and the Archaeological Museum guards the massive Gorgon pediment from the ancient Temple of Artemis.
Beyond the walls, the villa of Mon Repos stands in wooded grounds on the Kanoni peninsula, the birthplace of Prince Philip and now a museum of the town’s ancient past. These sights give the capital its cultural depth, set out alongside a guide to things to do in Corfu. Exploring them fills a rewarding half-day between walks through the lanes.
What are Kanoni and Mouse Island?
Kanoni is a viewpoint peninsula just south of Corfu Town, famous for the postcard scene of Mouse Island and the tiny monastery islet of Vlacherna, linked to the shore by a slim causeway below the airport approach.
Kanoni turns the edge of town into a viewpoint. From the terrace at its tip the eye takes in two islets set in a turquoise lagoon: Vlacherna, crowned by a whitewashed convent and reached on foot along a narrow jetty, and Mouse Island, or Pontikonisi, a green rock topped by a Byzantine chapel that boats shuttle across to. The scene ranks among the most photographed in Greece.
The peninsula rewards a slow afternoon. A footbridge crosses the mouth of the lagoon to the suburb of Perama, planes drop low over the water toward the runway, and cafés along the ridge serve the view with a cold drink. Kanoni sits close enough for a taxi hop or a coastal walk from the centre, making it a natural pairing with a morning in the Old Town.
Is cricket really played in Corfu Town?
Cricket is played on the Spianada, a legacy of British rule over the Ionian Islands during the nineteenth century. Corfu keeps active clubs, and matches on the green in front of the Liston remain a distinctive local tradition found nowhere else in Greece.
The sport is one of the town’s quirks. The British, who governed the island for half a century, laid out a pitch on the Esplanade, and the game took root among Corfiots long after the flag came down. Local clubs still turn out in whites on summer weekends, and a run of Greek cricketing vocabulary, borrowed and reshaped from English, survives on the island alone. The scene of Corfu cricket in front of Venetian arcades captures the town’s mix of rulers in a single glance.
British rule left more than a bat and ball. Ginger beer, sold locally as tsitsibira, is still brewed to a recipe carried over during the same decades, and the Regency palace, the Doric rotunda and the road network all date from the same governors. Watching a match with a ginger beer on the Liston pulls three of the town’s foreign chapters together at once.
Where do you eat and shop in the Old Town?
You eat in the tavernas of the back lanes and squares, where Corfiot dishes such as sofrito, pastitsada and bourdeto dominate menus. Shopping centres on kumquat liqueur, olive-wood carvings and the covered market, with the main lane packed with local produce.
The kitchen of Corfu Town stands apart from the rest of Greece. Venetian and Italian influence shows in sofrito, veal in a garlic and wine sauce, in pastitsada, rooster or beef with thick pasta and spice, and in bourdeto, fish stewed in red pepper and tomato. Family tavernas tucked into the cantounia and the leafy Dimarchio square serve these dishes with local wine, and the full range appears in the guide to Corfu food and wine.
Shopping leans local rather than generic. The island’s kumquat, a small citrus grown near Corfu, becomes a bright liqueur and preserve sold across the town, while shops along the main lanes stack olive-wood bowls, ginger beer and herbs from the Corfiot hills. The covered central market near the New Fortress supplies fish, cheese and vegetables to residents each morning, and browsing it shows the working side of the capital behind the postcard views.
How do you explore the town?
You explore Corfu Town on foot, since the Old Town is pedestrianised and compact, ideally on a guided walking tour to bring the history alive. Allow at least half a day, or a full day with the fortresses and a museum.
The town is made for walking. Its pedestrianised Old Town is small enough to cross on foot in an hour, though its lanes invite getting lost, and a guided walking tour reveals the Venetian, French and British history behind the facades. Allowing at least half a day, or a full day to add the fortresses, a museum and a long lunch, does the capital justice. Cars stay outside the historic core, so a stout pair of shoes matters more than any map.
Basing in or near the town suits a first visit and travellers without a car, set out in the guides to where to stay in Corfu and how to get to Corfu. The capital also makes a strong base for day trips: the Achilleion Palace lies a short drive south, and the sea caves of Paleokastritsa sit on the west coast, while beaches ring the island within easy reach. The questions below cover the points travellers ask most.
Where is Corfu Town and how is it laid out?
Corfu Town sits on the island’s east coast, facing the Greek and Albanian mainland across a narrow channel. It is laid out around the Old Fortress headland, with the Old Town, the port and the Spianada square filling the ground between the two fortresses.
The town’s plan is easy to read once the anchors are clear. The Old Fortress juts east into the sea on its own rocky spur, and the Spianada square spreads inland from it, backed by the Liston arcade. The dense Old Town fills the slope north and west of the square, running down to the New Fortress and the ferry port, while the seafront curves south around Garitsa Bay toward Kanoni.
This compact triangle keeps the capital walkable. The main sights all sit within a short stroll of the Spianada, and the pedestrian lanes fan out from three or four shopping streets, so getting lost never lasts long before a fortress, the sea or the green square reappears. Ferries dock at the northern port, and the airport lies just south near Kanoni, framing the town between arrivals by sea and by air.
What is Corfu Town like at night?
Corfu Town at night moves from candlelit tavernas in the lanes to the café-bars of the Liston and the seafront. The Old Town stays lively without the club scene of the resorts, favouring long dinners, evening strolls and drinks under the arcades.
The evening rhythm belongs to the streets. As the heat drops, families and visitors join the volta, the traditional stroll, along the Liston and the Spianada, and the café tables under the French arches fill with coffee, wine and cocktails. Musicians play on the square during the season, and the floodlit Old Fortress glows above the water as a backdrop to the whole scene.
Dinner runs late in the cantounia. Tavernas set tables across the narrow lanes and around Dimarchio square, serving Corfiot cooking until well after dark, while a scatter of bars near the Old Port keeps going for those who want a later drink. The mood stays that of a historic town rather than a party strip, and the fuller after-dark picture appears in the guide to Corfu nightlife.
Who ruled Corfu Town through history?
Corfu Town was ruled by Venice for four centuries, then briefly by France, and by Britain for half a century before union with Greece in the eighteen-sixties. Each power left its mark on the streets, and no Ottoman conqueror ever took the town.
The town’s look is a ledger of its rulers. Venice held Corfu from the late fourteenth century, ringing the town in walls, raising the fortresses and building the tall Italianate houses that still define the Old Town. The Venetians also planted the vast olive groves that cloak the island, paying farmers a bounty for every tree, so the countryside beyond the capital is another Venetian legacy.
France took the island after Venice fell, laying out the Liston and the arcaded promenade during a short but stylish tenure. Britain followed, governing the United States of the Ionian Islands from the palace on the Esplanade, building roads, the rotunda and the aqueduct, and leaving cricket and ginger beer behind. Union with Greece came during the eighteen-sixties, and the layers of all four eras now sit side by side in the streets.
What is the Corfu Town waterfront walk?
The waterfront walk runs south from the Old Fortress along Garitsa Bay, following a broad seafront promenade past neoclassical mansions, the Faliraki bathing terrace and the Rotunda toward Mon Repos and the Kanoni peninsula.
The seafront gives the town its calmer face. Below the Old Fortress a small harbour and the Faliraki terrace open onto the water, once the town’s bathing spot and now a café perch above the sea. From here a wide promenade curves around Garitsa Bay, lined with tall Venetian and British-era houses and shaded benches, drawing walkers and joggers at dawn and dusk.
The path threads sights together as it goes. The Doric rotunda and the Garitsa gardens sit near the start, the tomb of a British High Commissioner marks the middle, and the road runs on toward Mon Repos and the viewpoint at Kanoni. Following the whole curve on foot takes under an hour and links the packed Old Town to the quiet green edge of the capital by the sea.
When is the best time to visit Corfu Town?
Late spring and early autumn are the best times to visit Corfu Town, with warm days, thinner crowds and open sights. High summer brings heat and cruise-ship groups, while the Orthodox Easter, with its unique Corfiot rituals, draws travellers in April.
The shoulder seasons suit the town best. During May, June, September and October the lanes stay comfortable to walk, the fortresses and museums keep full hours, and tavernas serve without the midsummer wait. July and August turn hot at midday and busy whenever a cruise ship docks, so early mornings and evenings become the pleasant windows for the Old Town.
Easter is Corfu Town’s great set piece. On Holy Saturday morning residents hurl large clay pots, the botides, from balconies to shatter on the streets below, a rite unique to the island, followed by candlelit processions and brass bands through the night. Booking well ahead pays off around Easter, when Greeks and foreign visitors alike fill the capital for the most theatrical festival in the Ionian.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Corfu Town known for?
Corfu Town is known for its UNESCO-listed Venetian Old Town, its two fortresses, the arcaded Liston and Esplanade, and the church of Saint Spyridon. Its pastel lanes blend Venetian, French and British heritage in one of Greece’s loveliest towns.
What should you do in Corfu Town?
The highlights are wandering the Old Town and the Campiello quarter, climbing the Old and New Fortresses, relaxing on the Liston by the Esplanade, visiting Saint Spyridon church and the Museum of Asian Art, and dining in the lanes on Corfiot dishes.
How long do you need in Corfu Town?
You need at least half a day for the Old Town, or a full day to add the fortresses, a museum and a long lunch. A stay of one or two nights suits a first visit or a trip without a car.
Is Corfu Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Yes. The Old Town of Corfu was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List during the mid-two-thousands as an outstanding example of a fortified Mediterranean port, praised for its Venetian defences and its intact urban fabric.
Why is cricket played in Corfu Town?
Cricket reached Corfu during British rule over the Ionian Islands in the nineteenth century and outlasted it. Matches are still played on the Spianada in front of the Liston, making Corfu the historic home of the sport in Greece.
What food is Corfu Town famous for?
Corfu Town is famous for Venetian-influenced dishes: sofrito, veal in garlic and wine; pastitsada, meat with spiced pasta; and bourdeto, fish in red-pepper sauce. Kumquat liqueur and locally brewed ginger beer are its signature souvenirs.
How do you get around Corfu Town?
You get around Corfu Town on foot, as the Old Town is fully pedestrianised. Cars park outside the historic core, and taxis or short coastal walks reach the fringe sights of Kanoni, Mon Repos and Mouse Island.
What are the best day trips from Corfu Town?
The best day trips from Corfu Town are the Achilleion Palace a short drive south, the sea caves and clifftop monastery of Paleokastritsa on the west coast, and the island’s hillside villages. Boat excursions from the port reach quiet coves and the neighbouring island of Paxos.
Is Corfu Town worth visiting?
Corfu Town is worth visiting for its rare mix of Venetian, French and British heritage, two fortresses, arcaded cafés and a living Old Town. It ranks among the most distinctive island capitals in Greece and anchors any trip to the island.