Green hills, bluer water.
Blue Caves boat days off Paxos, Venetian lanes in the Old Town, olive-mill tables up in the hills, sunset sails on the west coast. What each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
The seven that anchor a week.
First visit or fifth, these carry a Corfu week: the big Blue Caves cruise off Paxos, a guided walk through the Old Town’s Venetian lanes, and a long tasting table at the Governor’s olive mill.
From Corfu: Day Cruise to Paxos, Antipaxos, and Blue Caves
Cruise from Corfu to Paxos, Antipaxos, and the Blue Caves with cave photos, swimming time, and a Gaios village break.
From $53 per person
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★ 4.5Safe betFull-Day Boat Tour of Paxos Antipaxos Blue Caves from CorfuFrom $541,567 reviews
★ 4.2Books out fastDay Trip to Saranda and Butrint National Park from CorfuFrom $68847 reviews
★ 4.5Island favouritePaxos Antipaxos Blue Caves (Lakka Village) from CorfuFrom $54777 reviews
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★ 4.7Easy winParga, Sivota and Blue Lagoon Full-Day Boat CruiseFrom $67560 reviews
★ 5.0Most bookedThe Governor’s Olive Mill Tour with Olive Oil TastingFrom $82502 reviews
The best of Corfu is offshore.
Board early at Corfu Town, Benitses or Lefkimmi, then cross to Antipaxos for water so clear the boat throws a shadow on the seabed, and on to the Blue Caves off Paxos. Swim stops, a long lunch, back by evening. This is the day most people plan the trip around.
Which boat gets your day?
Everyone leaves Corfu on a boat at least once; the right one depends on your group. Three ways to spend the day on the water, each already reviewed and priced. Pick the one that sounds like you.
The big cruise
The Blue Caves run
from $61 · 2,963 reviews
The classic: a full day south to Antipaxos and the Blue Caves off Paxos, on a big comfortable boat with a bar, sun deck and set swim stops. Little Lakka village for a wander, plenty of water time, and a fixed price per seat. The easy, sociable way to see the islands.
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The mainland side
The mainland day
10 - 12 hours · from $67 · 560 reviews
Cross the other way, to the mainland: the harbour town of Parga under its Venetian castle, the Sivota islets, and the shallow, swimming-pool-clear Blue Lagoon. More scenery per hour than any other day out, and a proper stop ashore in Parga for lunch.
See the Parga & Sivota days →
Your own boat
The boat you skipper
7 hours · from $53 · 431 reviews
Skip the crowded day-boat and take the wheel yourself: a small motorboat you can drive without a licence, or a skippered one if you would rather not. Your own coves, your own timing, no set route. The pick for couples and small groups who want the day to themselves.
See the boat-hire options →
Corfu’s best hour is the last one.
The west coast holds the light longest, so the day ends on the water: a wooden boat, a cocktail, the sky going copper over the Ionian. Later, the Old Town lanes fill up, and a ghost walk traces the dark stories along the fortress walls.
Corfu eats its own way.
Corfu cooks unlike the rest of Greece: sofrito and pastitsada, kumquat and tsintila wine, everything built on the local olive oil. Walk the Old Town markets or sit down to cook it yourself.
The interior runs on oil and wine.
Behind the coast, four million Venetian-planted olive trees feed working mills like the Governor’s, and small family wineries pour Corfu’s own grapes. A green, unhurried half-day away from the beaches.
Four Venetian centuries, still standing.
Corfu Town never fell to the Ottomans, so its Italianate heart survived whole: two fortresses guarding the harbour, the arcaded Liston built for Paris, and a maze of tall Venetian lanes. A guide turns the backstreets from pretty into readable.
Every coast, a different day.
The island splits into a handful of days. Paleokastritsa for the green coves. The Old Town for Venetian lanes. Paxos for the Blue Caves. North Corfu for the beaches, the hills for oil and wine.
Sort the island by the day.
Twelve ways into the same island. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
A day trip and back by dark.
Corfu makes a good base for a wider Ionian. The Blue Caves off Paxos, Parga and the Blue Lagoon on the mainland, and a ferry across to Albania for the ruins at Butrint are all a single day away.
Three days, done right.
You can’t see all of Corfu in one trip, but you can do the right three days. This is the order we’d give a friend flying in tomorrow: the town, the water, then the green interior.
Day 1
Land in the Old Town
Ease in with the Venetian lanes: a walk between the two fortresses, coffee under the Liston arcade, a first Corfiot dinner of sofrito and local wine.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The big boat day
Out early for Antipaxos and the Blue Caves off Paxos: clear water, set swim stops, a wander round Lakka village, and back to Corfu by evening.
Plan day two →
Day 3
West coast & the hills
Paleokastritsa’s green coves and the Lakones viewpoint in the morning, an olive mill and a hill village in the afternoon. The quiet, unhurried Corfu.
Plan day three →
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