10 Corfu Beaches You Have to Walk To
A handful of Corfu's beaches have no road. You leave the car, or get off the bus, and walk: ten minutes through a park in one case, forty minutes down a rocky headland in another. We've put ten of them in order from the easiest walk to the hardest, so this is not a ranking.
Times are one way at a normal pace. Most of these beaches have nothing to buy, so carry water (a litre and a half each in summer) and wear trainers, not flip-flops. Nearly every walk back is uphill. Start early, because the paths have little shade and the day-trip boats reach the popular coves from about 11:00.
1. Kardaki (Mon Repos)
East Corfu · 4.4 Google (274 reviews)
Kardaki is the only beach on this list you can reach from Corfu Town without a car. It lies below the woods of the Mon Repos estate, 2 to 3 km south of the centre, and the walk down from the park gate takes 10 to 15 minutes on a shaded path.
On the way you pass the Kardaki spring, where the water runs out of a stone lion's mouth. The saying goes that a stranger who drinks from it never goes home, and for centuries ships filled their barrels here. The beach itself is small and rocky, with a concrete jetty to swim from.
Good to know: The park gates close in the evening and the hours change with the season, so check them on your way in. Blue bus 2A stops at the gate.
Kardaki (Mon Repos): crowds, parking & wind today →2. Bataria (Kassiopi)
Northeast Corfu · 4.7 Google (1,586 reviews)
From Kassiopi harbour a footpath runs round the headland below the ruined castle. Bataria is the first cove on it, about 650 m and under ten minutes from the waterfront, with trees over most of the way.
The beach is large white pebbles and the water is very clear. Its name is usually traced to a gun battery that once covered the harbour. The path carries on round the headland if you want a longer walk.
Good to know: Bring water shoes for the big pebbles, and climb up to the castle walls on the way back for the view over the bay.
Bataria (Kassiopi): crowds, parking & wind today →3. Antinioti West
North Corfu · 4.5 Google (166 reviews)
This is the flat one. From Agios Spyridon beach on the north coast you walk west past the Antinioti lagoon, either on the dirt road or along the shore by way of Gialiskari beach, and reach Antinioti West in 20 to 30 minutes. It's about 1.5 km.
The lagoon sits inside a 188-hectare Natura 2000 reserve of reeds and dunes. It was once a malarial swamp, and its name is said to mean 'enemy of youth'. Gerald Durrell, who came here as a boy in the 1930s, called it the Lake of Lilies after the sand lilies on the dunes.
Good to know: There's nothing to buy at the far end, and the beach is popular with naturists. Keep dogs on a lead near the lagoon.
Antinioti West: crowds, parking & wind today →4. Rovinia
West Corfu · 4.6 Google (3,164 reviews)
Rovinia is a white-pebble cove under cliffs just south of Liapades. The path is about 700 m and takes 15 minutes through olive groves and woodland. It's easy until the last stretch, which is steep and uneven.
The water gets deep quickly, and there are sea caves along the right-hand side. It's the best known of the walk-in beaches around Liapades, and boats come round from the main beach too, so in July and August it's full by late morning.
Good to know: Parking near the start of the path goes early in high summer; aim to be there before 10:00. In season a canteen boat sometimes anchors in the bay, but bring water anyway.
Rovinia: crowds, parking & wind today →5. Klimatia
West Corfu · 4.8 Google (414 reviews)
Klimatia is a little further down the same coast and much smaller. You leave the car on the narrow road south of Liapades and walk down a track and then a forest path with steps, 10 to 20 minutes in all.
There's room for very few people on the pebbles, and the rocks at both ends are full of fish. Limni, further down this list, is the next beach south, about 100 m away over the rocks.
Good to know: Bring a mask, and come early or late in the day: at midday there may be nowhere left to put a towel.
Klimatia: crowds, parking & wind today →6. Myrtiotissa
West Corfu · 4.5 Google (1,605 reviews)
Lawrence Durrell called Myrtiotissa perhaps the loveliest beach in the world. The way down is a steep lane, partly unpaved and about a kilometre long, past the small monastery of Panagia Myrtiotissa. Two cars can't pass on it, so nearly everyone parks at the top and walks: 15 minutes down, 20 to 25 back up.
At the bottom is a sandy beach under green hills, with no hotels behind it. The far end has been naturist for decades.
Good to know: Hire-car insurance often doesn't cover the unpaved section, which is one more reason to leave the car at the top. There's a snack bar up there for after the climb.
Myrtiotissa: crowds, parking & wind today →7. Akoli
Northeast Corfu · 4.6 Google (407 reviews)
Erimitis is the forested northeast corner of Corfu, facing Albania across a narrow strait, and one of the last parts of this coast with no buildings. A waymarked trail crosses it from Avlaki beach to Agios Stefanos, keeping close to the shore.
Akoli is the cove most walkers stop at, about 1.6 km and 25 minutes from Avlaki, with a steep last stretch down. Behind the pebbles is a small lake. Its name comes from an ancient Greek word for 'bottomless', although the lake is in fact shallow.
Good to know: Carry on along the trail to Vromolimni, the next cove, which has a lake of its own; the name means 'dirty lake'. Boats start arriving at Akoli from about 11:00.
Akoli: crowds, parking & wind today →8. Porto Timoni
Northwest Corfu · 4.4 Google (5,698 reviews)
Porto Timoni is the one in all the photographs: two bays back to back on either side of a narrow neck of land, below the village of Afionas. The path starts in the village and drops down the headland. You reach the viewpoint over both bays after 20 to 25 minutes and the beach after 30 to 40.
The path is rocky, narrow in places and almost entirely in the sun, and the climb back takes at least 45 minutes. There's no shade and nothing to buy at the bottom. By about 10:30 in summer the path and both bays are busy, so it pays to start walking at 8:00.
Good to know: If you'd rather not climb back, boat taxis run between Porto Timoni and Agios Georgios Pagon in summer, so you can walk down and leave by sea.
Porto Timoni: crowds, parking & wind today →9. Limni (Liapades)
West Corfu · 4.6 Google (891 reviews)
Limni is a smaller version of the same thing: a strip of pebbles joining a wooded hill to the coast south of Liapades, with a bay on each side. Whichever way the wind blows, one side is usually calm.
Most people come by boat. On foot it's a rough dirt trail through olive groves, 45 minutes or more each way from Liapades village, steep and loose near the end. The paths south of Liapades are not all signposted, so save an offline map before you set out.
Good to know: There are no facilities and the phone signal on the beach is weak. Tell someone where you're going, and take more water than you think you'll need.
Limni (Liapades): crowds, parking & wind today →10. Vrachli
Northeast Corfu · 4.7 Google (80 reviews)
Vrachli is in Erimitis too, but it's a different kind of walk from Akoli. A side path of about 600 m leaves the main trail towards Cape Psaromyta, and the final drop to the cove is close to vertical, often muddy, and has a fixed rope to hold on to.
At the bottom is an east-facing pebble cove looking across to Albania. It's not a walk for children or for anyone unsteady on their feet. Small boats rented in Kassiopi or Agios Stefanos get there far more easily, and that's how most visitors arrive, usually around midday.
Good to know: Wear shoes with grip, keep both hands free for the rope, and don't try it after rain.
Vrachli: crowds, parking & wind today →