Port Call – Exploring Kerkira (Corfu), Greece

Kerkeri, on the Ionian Island of Corfu, is the last port of call in Greece for the cruise. The arrival into the port this morning was something else, the scenery was just so beautiful it is hard to describe in words. With the sun rising over the mountains of the Greece mainland.

Achilleion Palace

I organised to be on a tour with the ship today to visit some different places on the island. The first stop was the Achilleium Palace; it was built around 1889 – 1891. The building has had many different uses over the years and originally was the royal palace of the empress. However, in later years it was used as a hospital during World War I and the headquarters of the German Army in World War II. Later on, it was used as a casino before being fully restored, and today it is a museum to showcase the building.

There is another great benefit to this stop, and that is the fantastic view of the Ionian Sea. It ‘s hard to take it all in, let alone capture it in a single image. It was a little difficult to get a panorama shot of the area due to the location of the sun. But below is just one aspect of the view.

Kanoni Peninsula

After departing the Achilleion Palace, the tour headed down the mountain to the eastern coast. It is hard to believe that the scenery could be more beautiful, but it did appear to be the case. The drive had taken around 15 minutes before we arrived at the Kanoni Peninsula.

The drive through the streets of the towns and villages on the Kanoni Peninsula is incredible. There is just so much to see and take in from the beautiful scenery through to the ruins of what used to be. The ruin below dated back to the 4th century and used to be a citadel.

Corfu

The last stop of the tour was a stop in the old town of Corfu. From here the tour guide took us on a short walking tour of the area and pointed out some of the highlights. Following the walking tour, there was some free time to explore on our own.

You could immediately tell that Corfu is a much bigger town than those in the last two ports the ship had visited. Partially due to the amount of traffic, but also the way it more seemed like a city. We were quite fortunate in this port call to arrive early in the morning. As around lunch time, two other cruise ships arrived in the port, and it would have been much busier with so many other people.

Even though the area looks very beautiful and the tour did visit some interesting places, I am not sure if I would return here or now. The town does not seem to have a lot of interest; it is more where the locals do their business. So I am unsure if I will return here one day in the future or not.