Exploring North Western Corfu

Liapades

is one of the biggest villages on Corfu, still very much alive, with some thousand residents. Unlike the southern Ionian Islands, Corfu has not lost its traditional architecture to a succession of earthquakes. Liapades gives a good flavour of the traditional stone-built houses of Corfu with their pitched, tiled roves and wooden shutters so park up your Corfu car hire and get out for a wander around.

Paleokastritsa

Returning to your car hire, continue along the now sign-posted route to Paleokastritsa, or Paleo as it is affectionately known. Paleokastritsa is one of Corfu's great beauty spots, endowed with five horseshoe bays, crystal clear waters and a backdrop of pine and olive clad mountains. The resort is best viewed from the cliffs above and there are good viewpoints at the monastery, Angelokastro and the clifftop villages. The main part of the resort is pedestrianised so if you want a closer look you’ll have to get out of your Corfu car hire.

Lakones and Doukathes

At the top of the cliffs above Paleokastritsa, Lakones and Doukathes are two of the prettiest villages on Corfu. With their narrow backstreets and old stone houses, both villages are a pleasure to explore. They are both centred around village squares with cafes and tavernas that make for a cool and quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle down below on the coast on Corfu. Unless you have very sturdy legs, you will need a car hire or a taxi to get you up from Paleo.

Agios Georgios

Returning to your Corfu car hire, follow the road back towards the central north of Corfu, before it swings back out towards the west coast once more. Agios Georgios on the north west coast is one of two resorts on Corfu of the same name. Set in a great sweeping bay of golden sand and backed by a valley of lush agricultural land and the green mountainous slopes of north Corfu, the resort has an undeniably dramatic setting. The beach stretches some two kilometres along the coast of northwest Corfu, with a large headland at either end of the bay. Walk up to the tiny nearby village of Pagi for the best panoramic view across the bay,.

Agios Stephanos

Returning to your Corfu car hire, head towards the resort of Agios Stephanos on the north west coast, one of two resorts on Corfu of the same name. This Agios Stephanos is a small to mid-sized resort set around a sweeping bay with agricultural land leading down to the beachfront. At 45 km from Corfu Town, on the far westerly tip of Corfu, San Stephanos is a little out of the way and the windy route down to the resort has somewhat saved it from the holiday crowds.

Sidari

Heading further north, you will soon come to the modern, purpose-built resort of Sidari. With the exception of its superb gently-shelving sandy beach and an interesting, if somewhat over-rated, rock formation at the western end (known on Corfu as the Canal d'Amour), there is little to recommend Sidari in aesthetic terms. There are actually two tiny original villages in this part of Corfu. You will find a small church and pretty park at one end of the Sidari.

Passing through Sidari, stay in your Corfu car hire and follow the coastal road eastwards. You will pass through some of Corfu’s impressive olive groves. They do not pick the olives on Corfu but let them fall onto nets on the ground so the olive trees are left to grow to their natural height so that the groves on Corfu are some of the most impressive in the world.

Rhoda

You will soon come to another of Corfu’s big resorts on the north coast, Rhoda. Recent tourist development has to some extent swamped this resort especially towards the main road but Rhoda has a sandy beach and a beach road with some charm. There are even Roman ruins, the remains of an ancient temple. As you reach Rhoda, you will take the right hand turning, heading straight through the impressive balk of central north Corfu for the dramatic drive back towards Corfu Town in your hire car.

North West Corfu Excursion Suggestion

Pick up your Corfu car hire in Corfu Town or at Corfu airport and head out of town towards the west coast of Corfu.

Passing through the villages of Alepou and Agios Yianis and the great green swathe of the Ropa valley, you will soon come to the village of Liapathes.

Liapades is a traditional village turned resort about 20km from Corfu Town with a car hire. The original village of stone buildings climbs the slopes of the hillside a short distance inland. Centred around a wide plateia, or square, Liapades gives a good flavour of Corfiot village life.

N West Corfu - A Corfu Car Hire Guide

The northern tip of Corfu near Sidari

Photos from around North Western Corfu

North West Corfu route map for your Corfu car hire

The coastline near Paleokastritsa

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Planning to hire a car on Corfu, check out the gallery for more photos from around the south