Central Market in Corfu is a bustling market located under the shadow of the New Venetian Fortress on a sunken street. Its arcade runs along the length of the street, and it is an excellent place to immerse oneself in the island's culture.

The market is filled with all kinds of goods, including fresh fish and other seafood, fruits and vegetables, as well as locally produced sweets and herbs. Many of the herbs are grown in small market gardens, adding to the market's authentic atmosphere.

Visitors to the market can sample the local produce, gaining a taste of the island's unique flavors. The market is also an excellent place to observe the locals' way of life, as they gather here to shop and socialize.

After a morning of exploring the market's stalls, visitors can take a break at one of the two cafes on-site. These cafes offer a chance to rest weary legs and soak up the bustling atmosphere of the market.

The Central Market in Corfu is a vibrant and lively marketplace where visitors can experience the island's culture, sample its delicious produce, and see how locals live.

High above the old harbor, the New Fortress of Corfu looms like a stony reminder that Venice never did anything halfway when it came to defense. After the Ottomans came knocking in 1537, it became clear that the Old Fortress wasn’t enough. So in 1577, the Venetians rolled up their sleeves, flattened entire neighborhoods, and raised this new citadel on the hill of Saint Mark. By 1645, the work was largely done, and what emerged was a masterclass in military engineering-bastions, moats, and underground passages all stitched into the fabric of Corfu’s skyline.

The fortress is built on two levels, each with its own perks. The lower level holds a three-story building and a pentagonal bastion, strung together with arched halls, staircases, and labyrinth-like ramps. Baroque gates and a long, dry moat added extra muscle. Higher up, the bastions of Skarponas and Epta Anemoi command the town and sea, reached by way of the aptly named Bell Castle. Later centuries left their fingerprints too-the 18th-century Venetians fortified the western hills, the French shored up Vidos Islet, and the British, practical as ever, added their barracks.

For adventurers, the payoff is layered. You can wander through its shadowy tunnels, touch the thick stone walls, and read the Venetian lion carved in relief since 1728, all while imagining the fortress as the shield it once was. Or, climb to the higher bastions and let the view unfold-the tiled rooftops of Corfu Town, the sweep of the sea, and the Old Fortress standing watch in the distance.

Today, the former barracks host art exhibitions and cultural events. The New Fortress, in its mix of grit, history, and unexpected beauty, shows how Corfu has always been more crossroads than outpost.

Saint Spyridon Church in Corfu isn’t just a building you pass by-it’s a 16th-century heavyweight in both history and faith. Raised in 1589, it honours Corfu’s patron saint, Spyridon, a 4th-century figure celebrated for his miracles and steadfast belief. After his death, his relics were safeguarded in Constantinople until the city fell, then ferried to Corfu, where they eventually found a permanent home in this church within the old city walls.

Its Venetian stamp is hard to miss. The red-domed bell tower-tall enough to make its presence known across the Ionian Islands-dominates Corfu Town’s skyline. Inside, it’s all about detail and devotion: golden flourishes, a painted ceiling narrating episodes from the saint’s life, and at the heart, the silver casket holding his relics. These remains are central to Corfu’s identity, carried through the streets in processions that mark the island’s brushes with sieges, plagues, and survival against the odds.

The crypt adds its own intrigue, with a double sarcophagus encasing the saint’s body, surrounded by 53 incense burners-18 fashioned in gold, the rest in silver. Even the Romanov coat of arms above the west door tells a story of connections that looks hard to believe at first glance.

Step inside today, and you’ll find a place where Orthodox devotion meets Venetian elegance, where pilgrims kneel in reverence and curious visitors look upward in awe. The church and island are in good hands, as Saint Spyridon had centuries to master his craft. Even though not always in physical form.

Imagine stepping into a 19th-century Corfiot mansion where the walls quite literally have something to say-that’s Casa Parlante. This Venetian-style house museum sits in the Old Town, not far from Liston and Spianada Square, and it whisks you straight into the refined world of Corfu’s aristocracy during the British protectorate. Furniture, portraits, and heirlooms set the scene, but the twist is how the place “talks.” With animatronics, sounds, and even scents, the mansion feels less like a static exhibit and more like a home mid-conversation.

As you move through the rooms, you’ll cross paths with the count and countess, their children, and the staff, all frozen in moments of daily routine yet curiously alive. You might hear a waltz seeping through the walls, smell dishes simmering in the kitchen, or find yourself in the middle of an afternoon tea that looks convincingly underway. Every chamber doubles as a slice of noble life, complete with rocking chairs that creak, music that lingers, and details that give the sense you’ve caught the household by surprise.

The Talking House doesn’t feel like a typical museum; it’s closer to walking through a living play where history is staged with a wink. It turns the aristocratic past into something tangible, not only to observe but to experience, making a centuries-old lifestyle both memorable and oddly familiar.

Liston's name is up for debate. Depends who you ask. Scholars will point to the Venetian lista-a term for a grand promenade. Locals with a taste for legend prefer the tale of a literal “list” of aristocrats who alone were allowed to strut along here before Corfu joined Greece in 1864. Whichever story you choose, the walkway has been Corfu’s living room ever since.

The French put their stamp on the place between 1807 and 1814, shaping the arcades to mirror Paris’s Rivoli street. With its neoclassical arches stretched along the edge of the Spianada, the Liston gave Corfu a dose of cosmopolitan flair. Today, those same arches frame cafés that never seem to empty, their terraces packed with conversations and clinking cups.

Geography keeps the Liston at the heart of it all. It links Spianada Square to the Old Town, just steps from the Old Fortress, the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George, and Saint Spyridon’s Church. At Easter, the arcades glow purple with lanterns, processions wind past, and locals toss clay pots from balconies in a thunderous ritual that rattles the air. On quieter days, you might hear folk music, watch a cricket match on the lawn, or stumble into a street exhibition.

And then there’s the simple pleasure: sipping coffee under the shade, nibbling kumquat sweets, or raising an eyebrow at the polished chaos of traffic and cricket sharing the same square. The Liston is a performance that never ends, starring whoever happens to be passing through, which today, happens to include you.

A jagged rock rising from the sea, crowned with walls that have seen more as many cannons as boats floating in the sea. That’s Corfu’s Old Fortress, first fortified back in the 6th century AD when locals, tired of getting knocked around by Ostrogoth raids, hauled themselves onto this peninsula for safety. The Byzantines took over the project in the 12th century, adding towers on two peaks and giving the place its dual identity as Old Castle and New Castle.

Then came the Venetians, and with them, big ideas. From 1386 to 1797, they carved the Contrafossa canal, severing the fortress from the town and turning it into a floating citadel. They stacked on bastions, underground passages, and towers robust enough to stare down three separate Ottoman sieges. The last, in 1716, dragged on for seven weeks until Count von der Schulenburg and his defenders forced the Ottomans packing. But the fortress wasn’t invincible-two years later, a lightning strike hit the powder magazine and blew the place sky-high, Venetian commander included.

Roll forward to the British in the 19th century, who added their own flair with a lighthouse and military barracks. Later chapters got grim: Italian bombs in 1923, and under Nazi occupation, the fortress became a holding prison for Corfu’s Jews before deportation-a story that ended in tragedy for most.

And yet, the fortress endures. Today it’s home to the Public Library of Corfu and the Ionian University’s Music Research Lab, and its courtyards double as stages for concerts and exhibitions. Wander the bastions, slip through shadowy tunnels, or just climb high for sweeping views over Corfu Town’s terracotta rooftops, the Ionian shimmer, and Albania’s distant peaks. Part monument, part cultural playground, the Old Fortress is history with a pulse.

Since 2001, the villa and estate of Mon Repos (My Rest), located in the forest of Palaiopolis, has been used to house the Museum of Palaiopolis-Mon Repos. The name Mon Repos was given to the villa by King George I of the Hellenes. He received the villa as a summer residence from a united Greece in 1864.

The villa was built in 1831 for the British Lord High Commissioner of the United States of the Ionian Islands, Frederick Adam. In 1833 it housed a school of fine arts. The park around the villa was opened to the public in 1834. It was a royal summer residence until 1967, when King Constantine II, the last king of Greece, fled the country.

The villa at the Mon Repos estate is a perfect example of Neoclassicism of the Regency era. The permanent display is spread throughout 14 galleries. The uppermost floor hosts temporary exhibitions and cultural events.

In the galleries are archeological finds, documents, prints, and photos. The mansion contains Regency-style furniture, objects, and a collection of watercolors and botanicals. The estate covers 260 acres of trees, temple ruins, and the botanical gardens of the Ionian Academy.

On the northeastern shore is the ancient well of Kardaki. It is said if a stranger drinks from this well, he will stay in Corfu forever. Overlooking the sea is the cave of Nymphs and an ancient theatre. In the Mon Repos area, one may find the temples of Hera, Artemis, and Apollo.