Visiting Corfu – When and why
Corfu
The island of Corfu, also known as Kerkyra, is part of the Ionian Islands in Greece and has had a very active history having been controlled by many foreign powers throughout the centuries, powers that have had major maritime fleets, most notably the Venetians and the British.
Nowadays the island is an interesting mixture of modern, traditional thanks to tourist development being quarantined to certain areas of coast, and once you go inland you’ll be seeing and getting a totally different island, a different experience, some may say even a different era.
Corfu is an interesting piece of Greek island real estate because it is one of the greenest of the islands. The months from September to May see a lot of torrential, although intermittent, rains which nourish the thousands of olive trees and many other plants that virtually carpet the landscape.
One of the best times to visit Corfu is starting with April until October, but it should be noted that quite a few resort hotels will only be open from May to September. Those looking to visit Corfu on a budget may want to consider visiting the place starting with mid-May to late June, as well as the last two-thirds of September. During this period the weather will be moderate and the taverna services and room rates will be better.
The island’s main town is Corfu Town and for those staying here, or even nearby, visiting it’s old quarter is a definite must-do. The quarter is awash in ancient multi-storied dwellings covered in pastel colors, arcades which face the Spianada and peaceful squares with Venetian-style shutters. Any amount of time that you’ll sped here just walking around will be richly rewarded by what you’ll see.
Of course you shouldn’t miss the local archaeological museum nor should you miss the rather excellent and maybe unexpected presence of the Asian Art Museum which features artifacts from China, Japan and Tibet just to name a few places from the Asian region that are featured.
The town also has two forts which protected it in times long past, but of the two, the more architecturally interesting one is the Neo Frurio, built by the Venetians, which also offers some wonderful views over the tiled roods of the old town.
Obviously there are many more things to see while in Corfu Town, and way more things to see and do while on the island of Corfu, so keep it in mind for the next time you want to visit a warm island during your vacation.
