Mark & Jen's 'Around the World' Travel & Photography Blog

Travel Recommendations for Greece

• Want to hike the Corfu Trail independently? — see below.
• Thessaloniki: Stayed at the Hotel Rex. Seedy district, smelled like smoke, average hotel, but the price was right (breakfast is extra, but Thessaloniki is expensive); took the overnight sleeper train to here from Istanbul (buy in advance) and then scored a sale on Olympic Airway tickets to Corfu (there is also a bus).
• Athens: Stayed at Athens Easy Hostel (book in advance for most accommodation here), newly renovated, smart and clean, with breakfast and free wireless; came on the overnight bus from Corfu and arrived at the station at 4:30 in the morning, waited until 5 to take the bus to Omonia Square and then walked to the hostel, arriving at 5:30 a.m.; visited the Acropolis and Agora one day, then Lykavittos Hill, the Byzantine Museum, and the National Archeology Museum the next.

How to Hike / Trek / Walk the Corfu Trail Independently

• Can I walk the Corfu Trail independently? This is a tough one. If you have done any research, you have probably exhausted yourself, and arrived here hoping that I can give you the green light you’ve been hoping for. Alas, it isn’t so easy. That said, we did it. With a bit of planning and some luck, you can trek the Corfu Trail independently.
• Where can I buy the guidebook? The Corfu Trail guidebook really is out of print (at least as of May, 2008). This presents a real problem, as it would be almost impossible to try and walk without the guidebook (even if the last addition is now years old — 2004, I believe). UPDATE 8/26/2009: The Companion Guide to the Corfu Trail is now available for download in an electronic format.
• Why isn’t the guidebook being published? I can’t say. Suffice it to say that it isn’t, and that’s a problem to the independent trekker trying to walk the Corfu Trail.
• So what is the easiest option? There is one travel agency on Corfu that will set you up with an “all inclusive” package to walk the Corfu Trail. This includes setting up your lodging (i.e., making hotel reservations for you), transferring your bags via taxi between hotels (so you only carry a day pack), and then also includes a few taxis between towns when there is no hotel in the town you end at for a day. When I contacted them, with a request to spend eight days on the trail (Paramonas in the south, to Agio Spryidon in the north), I received a quote for 373E/person without luggage transfer, and 443E/person with luggage transfer. Using the quote without luggage transfer, it comes to about 93E/night. We were able to do it for ~45E/night, staying in very reasonable (and in one instance, the exact same) accommodation. Competition would seem to bode well, here…. BUT — here’s the catch. The travel agent has the author’s permission to distribute a photocopy of the Corfu Trail guide book to their clients (and they will not give you a photocopy if you’re not a client). The easiest thing to do is pay the money to the travel agent. If you’re interested, their website is here. To my knowledge, they are a respected travel operator, albeit overpriced.
• But, easy isn’t my thing! If you want to try and do what we did, start scouring the Internet forums on Corfu (see links below); hopefully you can find someone that is holding on to an old guidebook and will lend it to you for a week. We met a wonderful couple that met us in Corfu Town when we arrived, and they offered us their guidebook for the week. For fear they get deluged by e-mails of people seeking to do something similar, I’m not going to post their contact information. Sorry.
• When is the best time to hike the Corfu Trail? We went in early May, and it was perfect. Everything starts to open at the end of April, and beginning of May, so we were there before most tourists, enjoyed beautiful hiking weather, and felt as if we had the island all to ourselves. I can’t imagine what Corfu must look like in July or August. Regardless, I don’t think I’d want to be hiking 7-8 hours a day in the heat of the summer!
• Is it hard hiking? Yes and no. Keep in mind that the Corfu Trail doesn’t take the easiest or most direct route between places. It takes (supposedly ) the most scenic; thus, you have many days where you miss the easy valley, and instead hike straight up, straight down, etc. But, that’s the fun of it all, right? It is a beautiful, and amazing walk. I wouldn’t want to see Corfu any other way. You can see our post here, if you haven’t already.
• Do I need to reserve places before I go? Depends. On one hand, it was nice to know exactly where we were going, and what we’d be paying. After hiking 6-8 hours, you don’t necessarily want to show up and wander around aimlessly looking for accommodation. That said, if you’re hiking in April/May, the worry would be that nothing would be open, as opposed to everything being booked out. Any later than that, and the opposite is probably true. True, you lose some flexibility…. but, hey, it was nice to show up, and throw our stuff into a room.
• What about a sample itinerary? Here was our Corfu Trail itinerary:
  • Day 1 - arrive Corfu Town (Kerkyra)
    • Check for cheap flights on Olympic Airlines… better than the bus! (Listed as Kerkyra, not Corfu.)
    • Stay at the newly remodeled Hotel Bretagne (70E, breakfast). You can walk here in 5 minutes from the airport. (The island is small enough the noise isn’t a concern — at least in early May before tourist season picks up.) For reservations, email ‘brhotel AT otenet DOT gr’.
    • Note that your night in Corfu Town will probably be the most expensive of your nights on Corfu. Good news is it just gets cheaper from here…
  • Day 2 - local bus to Vouniatades, hike to Agii Deka, by road to Benitses, night at Benitses
    • Note that since we were doing just 8 days (the whole trail will take ~10-11), we chose to start from halfway between Paramonas and Benitses. Take the local bus #55 (from the “long distance bus station), and get off at Vouniatades (north of Ag. Matheos). Cost is 1.60E/person. There’s probably an early bus, but since we chose to take advantage of our free breakfast, we didn’t make that bus. The next bus left at 11:45am. We walked from Hotel Bretagne to the long distance bus station, stowed our bags with the nice gentleman at the mail center (free), and then explored the old part of Corfu Town for a few hours. Time well spent.
    • Once we arrived in Vouniatades (maybe 50 minutes on bus, 20 of which is to get out of Corfu Town), it took us 5-6 hours to get to Benitses. Best way is to stay on the Corfu Trail until Agii Deka, and then make your way down, down, down to Benitses. If you’re on the 11:45am bus, you will get in before dark… but it’s a good walk.
    • We stayed at Hotel Benitses Arches. Reserve via email at ‘b DOT arches AT gmail DOT com’. Or, call at +30 26610-72-113. They get some of the trekking groups coming through here, so they’re pretty used to it. Super friendly, as well. 45E/night, including breakfast. To get here, walk along the beach as you come into town, keeping the ocean on your left, pass the Yacht Marina, Hotel Potamaki, and Fung Shui restaurant (on your left). You’ll see a sign on your right.
  • Day 3 - Benitses via road back to the Corfu Trail at Agii Deka, then to Pelekas for the night
    • Enjoy the up, up, up to get back to the Corfu Trail. No need for coffee this morning…
    • We stayed in Pelekas at the Sun Rock Resort (backpackers haunt, but if you’re off season, it will be dead and relaxed). Reservations available online. 48E (24/person), includes breakfast and dinner. Just follow signs as you walk down, down, down into Palekas. (Get the trend of daily up’s and down’s?)
  • Day 4 - Pelekas to Liapades
    • Up, up, up (this is the best one yet) to get back to the Corfu Trail, and on your way to Liapades.
    • Good map of Liapades
    • We stayed at Villa Katerina, which you will pass (you’ll see signs) on the Corfu Trail as you descend toward the beach. At 35E (with kitchen, but no breakfast), it’s about what you’d expect for the price. Clean, albeit a bit outdated, but it was fun to cook for a change. There’s a market maybe 300m up the road. Online at www.villakaterina.net. Or, email at ‘info AT villakaterina DOT net’.
  • Day 5 - Liapades to Agio Georgios Pagi (North)
    • WARNING! There are many towns on Corfu that sounds similar, so be careful before making reservations. They differ in spelling depending on the map, as well. You do NOT want Agio Gordios, or Agio Georgios South.
    • We didn’t have any luck confirming a reservation before arriving. Early in the season, our only two options (everyone else was sprucing up, but not open) were Costas Golden Beach Hotel and Theo’s Hotel. We ended up at the former, as it was along the beach, and ithe first we stopped at. Total was 45E/night, including breakfast. (It might have included dinner, but no one told us… there was rapid Greek discussion that included the word ‘dinner’ when we checked out, after which they knocked 5E off the original bill of 45E.) Oh well… — if it doesn’t include dinner, there was an amazing taverna on the beach as you take a right out of the hotel, but it was more than 5E! ) Overall, a nice place and great views from the balcony over the ocean.
  • Day 6 - Agio Georgios Pagi (North) to Spartilas and then via road to Barbati
    • WARNING! This is a long day if you’re going all the way to Barbati. The sample itinerary (links below) takes a short day from Agio Georgios Pagi to Rekini, and then the next day to Spartilas/Barbati. It’s a 7-8 hour walk from Agio Georgios Pagi (North) to Spartilas, where you’ll need to leave the Corfu Trail to walk to Barbati on the road (similar to what you did on Day 2 to get to Benitses), which adds another hour. So, 8-9 hours in total. I probably take too many photos along the way, so you might be faster… but consider yourself forewarned. There is no transport from Spartilas to Barbati, so you’re on your own. (Short of ordering up a taxi from Corfu Town, which would set you back 30-40E…)
    • There is no accommodation in Spartilas, so you’ll need to hike down to Barbati on the ocean. We stayed at the Pantokrator Hotel. Reservations online, 43E including breakfast and dinner. The room was reasonable. Dinner is buffet style, and as long as your hopes aren’t set exceedingly high, the price is certainly right (a room without dinner is 38E — so for 5E extra we ended up with two dinners — don’t think you can beat that!).
  • Day 7 - A vertical hike back up to Spartilas, and then to Kaminaki (or Kalami, via road, see below) for the night
    • Another longer day, mostly due to the hike up from Barbati… but you’re in shape now, right?
    • When we made reservations, I confused Kaminaki (where you want to stay ideally) for Kalami. Oops. So, if you need a place to stay in Kalami, we can highly recommend Dmitris Studios at 50E/night with kitchen. It’s certainly walkable from Kaminaki (between 60-90 minutes — just stay along the coastal path from Kaminaki, and you’ll end up in Kalami), but definitely off the trail. The Corfu Trail guidebook suggests you spend the night at the Nissaki Beach Hotel, but reservations I checked out were 140E/night for a double. (And how much time will you have to enjoy it?) Maybe you’ll end up in Kalami like we did…. please leave a comment below if you find a better way to do this!
    • We stayed for 2 nights in Kalami.
  • Day 8 - Kaminaki to Agios Spiridon, or…. rest day?
    • Ideally, you’d make your way from Kaminaki up to the end of the trail at Agios Spiridon. The issue is that it’s a full day hike to get there, and then you appear to be stuck without (cheap) transport to get back. It was pouring down rain the entire day we were supposed to do this, so it made the decision easy. We rested.
    • Realizing that doesn’t help you, I’d suggest you (a) hike halfway, and then back to your hotel in Kaminaki (or, if you’re like us, Kalami), or (b) start hiking early to Agios Spiridon, and make sure you’re back to Cassiope (Kassiope) in time to catch the 4:30pm (current as of May 2008) bus toward Kalami/Kaminaki/Corfu Town. (If you miss it, you’re in for a long hike, a hopeful hitch, or an expensive taxi ride.)
    • If you’ve found a (better) way to do this, leave a comment below, and I’ll fill in the gaps.
  • Day 9 - Back to Corfu Town
    • We hiked up to the main coastal road from Kalami (15 minutes), and caught the 1:45pm bus back into Corfu Town (2.50E/each). From there, we relaxed the afternoon away until take a no-sleeper of an overnight bus to Athens. (If you’re sick like us, and do take this bus, make sure you book your tickets before you leave for your trek. They can be purchased from the long distance bus station.)
• Useful links?
  • Corfu Forums
    
  • Sample Corfu Trail Itinerary (click ‘Download trip dossier’)
  • ‘Official’ Corfu Trail website (not sure as to how unbiased this is — request for information is forwarded to a travel agent whose financial interest is getting you to sign up with them….)
  • Collection of Corfu Maps

Please, please, leave comments below if you have found anything above inaccurate! Or, if you have something to add, please leave a comment. For any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. Otherwise, happy trekking on the Corfu Trail!

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