Corfu Old Town
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Old Town Of Corfu (2007) A Venetian Fortified Port Town With British And French Layers · Corfu, Ionian Islands
Corfu Old Town, the heart of Kerkyra, the island's capital in the Ionian Sea, is one of the most elegant old towns in Greece: a tight grid of tall, pastel Venetian houses and narrow lanes (kantounia) squeezed between two fortresses, with arcades and squares laid over it by the French and the British. Venice held the island for about four centuries and its walls kept the Ottomans out, so the town looks more Italian than Greek; the French added the arcaded Liston, and the British, who ruled until 1864, left cricket on the Spianada, ginger beer and the Palace of St Michael and St George. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. People come for the Old Fortress and its sea views, the church and processions of St Spyridon, the famously loud Easter, the museums and the food, and as a base for Kanoni, the Achilleion and Paleokastritsa. The honest caveat: several cruise ships can call on a summer day, and between about 10:00 and 16:00 the Liston and the main shopping lanes are packed.
Old Town of Corfu (Kerkyra) between the Old Fortress and the New Fortress: the Liston, the Spianada and the Campiello, Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece
A living town, open at all hours all year. The Old Fortress and most state museums keep summer hours of roughly 08:00 to 19:00 or 20:00 and much shorter winter hours, often to about 15:00-16:00, and close on the main national holidays (1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday, 25-26 December) - confirm. The New Fortress has had irregular, seasonal opening. St Spyridon church opens daily from early morning to evening, with limits during services. Corfu airport is about 3 km away; the new port, for ferries from Igoumenitsa and Italy and for cruise ships, is about 2 km west of the centre. Book Easter rooms months ahead.