Where to stay in Corfu

The town is a real option

Corfu Town is a reason to come in its own right — a dense Venetian old town of tall shuttered houses and lanes too narrow for cars, two fortresses guarding either end of it, an arcaded terrace facing an esplanade where cricket is still played, and enough evening to fill a week without repeating yourself. The airport sits close enough that arrival costs almost nothing in time.

What you give up is water. Town beaches are thin, so swimming means a bus, a boat or a short drive, and the summer cruise arrivals make the middle of the day busier than the rest of it.

The two coasts, and who each one suits

The north-east is the quiet, expensive half: a steep olive-covered shore dropping into small pebble coves, the Albanian mountains close across the channel, and Pantokrator rising behind. Villas outnumber hotels. Harbours are small, roads are narrow and slow, and the appeal is privacy rather than facilities.

The west coast is the opposite proposition — long sandy bays under cliffs, proper surf when the wind gets up, and the sunsets the east side never sees. It is livelier, more hotel-shaped and cheaper, and it suits anyone who wants to walk to a beach rather than plan an outing to one.

Where to stay

Splurge

Angsana Corfu Resort & Spa — a five-star resort stepped down a wooded hillside above the water on the east coast, with an infinity pool, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa with hammam and steam room, and a private beach area at the foot of the terraces. This is the version of Corfu where the resort is the holiday and the island is the view. Right for travellers who intend to arrive, unpack and stay put, with a day under sail as an excursion worth making.

Mid-range

Divani Corfu Palace — a four-star hotel on the quieter southern side of Corfu Town, built around mature gardens with a seasonal pool, a terrace and a restaurant. It resolves a weakness of the town: you get grounds and a pool without giving up the old town, which lies along the shore. A sensible base for anyone who wants both halves of Corfu in one stay.

Good value

Apartment Annunziata — a quiet, soundproofed and air-conditioned apartment on a Venetian street inside the old town. Plain, and placed exactly where the evening happens rather than a drive away from it. You trade a pool and a view for that position and the money left over to spend on the water. Comparing current stay and experience options early is worth doing here, because the town's small addresses go early.

Getting between them

Nothing on Corfu is far in kilometres and most of it is slow in practice — the north-east road in particular winds hard and takes longer than a map suggests. A car makes sense for a west-coast or channel stay and is a liability in the town, where parking is scarce and the old quarter is closed to it. Buses reach the main resorts and the town reliably; the coves between them are a different matter.