Around Acharavi

Around Acharavi

Acharavi is situated on the very Northern tip of Corfu, about 35 km from the airport.

Corfu is a relatively small island and getting around is not difficult, however, there are a number of resorts close to Acharavi that are well worth a visit if you don’t want to go too far.

The North is considered the best part of the island for scenery and natural beauty.  It also has a wide and varied history which we aim to focus on here.

Spartilas/Strinilas/Pantocratora Monastery

Outside Pyrgi is the turning that heads into the interior of the island and up to the mountain villages of Spartilas and Strinilas.  This is a route of breathtaking splendor and the views down the mountainside and out to sea are most impressive.

Even finer views are to be had from the peak of Mount Pantocratora (916m) when the weather permits, the coast of Epirus and Albania can be seen to the East, the little islands of Erikoussa, Othoni and Mathraki are visible to the west, and even Paxi and Lefkada, far to the south can be seen.  The summit is crowned with the Pantocratora monastery, first founded in 1347 and destroyed in the 16th century.  Although it was rebuilt in 1689, almost nothing of the building’s earlier stages has survived.  Inside is a collection of post-Byzantine icons.

Barbati/Nisaki/Kalami/Kouloura/Agios Stefanos

Along the north-east coast of Corfu are numerous little bays by which stand resorts and tavernas where one can enjoy fresh fish and the view across the narrow channel to Albania.  Barbati is a wide bay with a pebbly beach, while Nisaki’s beach is pebbly and there are caique sailings to Corfu Town.

Not far to the north is the picturesque bay of Kalami, where the author Lawrence Durrell lived whilst writing Prospero’s Cave.  His house can still be seen.

Next comes the bay of Kouloura, a most attractive little harbour where there is a fortified Venetian house.  A side-road beyond Kouloura leads to the resort of Agios Stefanos, whose cape is the nearest point on Corfu to the Albanian mainland; the channel is only 1.5 miles wide at this point.

Kassiopi

Kassiopi is a large and attractive village by the sea beneath the lower slopes of Mt. Pantocratora, 37 km to the north of Corfu Town.  It is now a busy tourist resort.  In Roman times, the site was occupied by a flourishing city which we know from the written sources to have had a harbour, a theatre and a temple to Zeus Casios, which is probably the origin of the name Kassiopi.  This city was visited by many eminent figures of the Roman era, including Cicero and Ptolemy, and there is a tradition that the emperor Nero prayed and sang before the altar of Zeus Casios.

A Christian church of  Our Lady ‘Kassiotissa’ was later built on the site once occupied by the temple of Zeus.  This building was destroyed by fire in 1537 and reconstructed in 1590.  Inside is an important icon of Our Lady With Christ, the work of T. Poulakis (seventeenth century).  On 15th August, the church is the scene of a major feast, with services and celebrations lasting all night.

On a hill above the town are the ruins of a castle built by the Angevins in the thirteenth century, which was one of the strongest on the island in it’s day.  For the tourist, there are plenty of bars and tavernas to choose from and a lovely harbour to sit and watch the day go by.

Roda/Karousades/Sidari

Roda is situated about 2 km from Acharavi.  It is a nice 25 minute beach walk overlooking the mainland of Albania or a short drive, turning right at the crossroads.  A slightly younger resort than Acharavi in terms of visitors, it can tend to be slightly noisier.  From Roda, there is a road leading to Karousades.  In the village is the mansion of the Theotokis family, a dynasty which produced many of Corfu’s leading figures in the artistic as well as the political world.  The coast road continues to Sidari, a former fishing village whose beaches are of unrivalled beauty.  There are rock formations of a particularly striking nature which form a huge number of tiny coves and narrow channels.  One of them, of distinctive beauty is called the Canal d’Amour (Channel of Love).  Sidari now is a very lively resort with plenty of bars and restaurants.

Aqualand - Corfu’s largest Waterpark

Wet, wet, wet! Let the young, and young at heart, wear themselves out on the tubes and twisters, the crazy river and the kamikaze slides.

The less energetic can drift on the lazy river.

Toddlers are well catered for too with a special area with a bouncy castle and special pool.