Day Trips from Corfu: Paxos, Parga, Nicopolis and Mount Pantokrator

A boat engine idles at the old port while the first coffee is poured on the waterfront, and the day’s destination is already out there on the horizon. Corfu sits at the northern end of the Ionian Islands, so the places worth a day away are small islands to the south, a resort town on the mainland coast and an ancient city in Epirus.

What are the best day trips from Corfu?

The best day trips from Corfu go south to Paxos and Antipaxos, across the water to Parga on the mainland, inland to the ruins of Nicopolis, and up to the summit of Mount Pantokrator without leaving the island. Each one gives a different Greece: olive groves and coves, a bay with a castle, a Roman-era city and a mountain view over the whole island.

• Paxos: a small island just south of Corfu, with the main town of Gaios, olive groves, beaches and underwater caves.
• Antipaxos: the neighbor of Paxos, which Parga boats also include, for swimming stops and a change of scenery.
• Parga: a resort town on the mainland coast, built in a curve around its bay and guarded by a Venetian castle.
• Nicopolis: an ancient city near Preveza in Epirus, for travelers who like ruins in open country.
• Mount Pantokrator: the highest point on Corfu, a day that stays on the island.
• Corfu Old Town: the UNESCO-listed center of stone alleys, squares and churches, right where you are staying.

The last two cost nothing in travel and fit around a late start, a rainy morning or a day when you would rather stay on land.

The best day trips from Corfu

Paxos and Antipaxos

Paxos lies just south of Corfu, and it is small enough that its character comes through quickly. Gaios is the main town and the seat of the municipality, a harbor settlement where boats tie up and café tables face the water. Beyond it the island is green with olive groves that date back to the Venetian era, small vineyards and hills covered in vegetation, with roughly 450 plant species, some of them found nowhere else.

What you do here is wander rather than tick off sights. Follow a lane between old olive trees, look for the small coves and the beaches shaped like lace along the coast, and read the names on the menus of the harbor tavernas, where grilled fish, olive oil and local wine are the natural order. The island is known for underwater caves, which are the reason visitors come by boat.

Antipaxos, the smaller neighbor, appears in the same boat itineraries and is a place for swimming stops. A tip: the day suits anyone who likes slow villages and sea views more than monuments, and it pairs well with a lunch that has no schedule.

Parga on the mainland coast

Parga sits on the Ionian coast of mainland Greece, in Epirus, between the cities of Igoumenitsa and Preveza. In summer, visitors reach it by boat from Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos, so a day out here begins on the water and lands you in a town built amphitheatrically around its bay. The green islet of Panagia sits in the bay, and a Venetian castle watches over the houses, standing on the site of a first fortress the Normans built in the 14th century.

The town is a resort known for its natural surroundings, and the day divides naturally. Walk up toward the castle for the view over the bay and the islet, then come back down to the harbor front for lunch. Beaches nearby include Valtos, Kryoneri, Piso Kryoneri, Lichnos, Sarakiniko and Ai Giannaki, and Krioneri is close to the town center, so a swim fits easily into the same visit.

Because the boats run in summer, Parga is a trip for the warm months. Outside that season, the same stretch of coast belongs to a different kind of itinerary.

Nicopolis near Preveza

Nicopolis, also called Actia Nicopolis, is an ancient city near Preveza in Epirus. It is the one trip on this list built entirely around ruins, spread over open ground rather than packed into a single enclosure. The site is managed by the 33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, the regional body that looks after the antiquities of the area.

It also combines naturally with Parga, since the two lie on the same stretch of Epirus coast and Preveza sits at one end of it. Plan a meal in a mainland town afterward, where the menu leans on grilled meat, fresh salads and local cheese.

Mount Pantokrator

Mount Pantokrator is the highest point on Corfu, and its summit gives you a sense of how the island is laid out, with the sea on one side and olive-covered slopes on the other. On a clear day the view stretches across the water toward the mainland. This is the outing for people who want the island itself rather than a crossing, and it needs no ferry ticket or mainland connection.

The villages on the slopes make a good reason to go slowly. Stop for a coffee in a mountain square, look at the stone houses, and taste local products such as honey, olive oil and the kumquat liqueur Corfu is known for. Bring a layer for the summit, because mountain air differs from the shoreline.

Corfu Old Town on foot

The Old Town of Corfu was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007, and it fills a large area of stone-paved alleys, squares, palaces and churches. You walk, stop in a square for a coffee, and let the lanes lead you.

Look for the arcades, the narrow passages that open onto small squares, and the church bell towers that give the skyline its shape. Lunch can be a plate of pastitsada or sofrito, two Corfiot dishes of meat or veal in a rich sauce, followed by something sweet with a glass of local ginger beer.

Day trips from Corfu compared

To choose, start with what you want the day to feel like. If it is the sea, Paxos and Parga both begin with a boat and end with a swim and a long lunch, and Parga adds a castle and a town to walk through. If it is history, Nicopolis gives you ancient ruins, while the Old Town gives you streets that are lived in today.

If you want to stay on the island, Mount Pantokrator and the Old Town ask for no crossing at all. A trip can also be doubled: Parga and Nicopolis share the same part of Epirus, so a mainland day can hold both a bay and an ancient city.

Tour or on your own?

The answer depends on where the day goes. Paxos, Antipaxos and Parga lie across the water, so the day is built around a boat, and in summer boats arrive in Parga from Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos. Mount Pantokrator and the Old Town are on Corfu itself, so their day is built around the road or your feet.

A tour packages the pieces for you: transport, a route and a set of stops, which suits a day with a mainland site such as Nicopolis, where the ruins are managed by an Ephorate and are laid out across open ground.

Before settling on either, look at what the day actually contains. Ask which islands or beaches a boat visits, whether Antipaxos is part of the loop, and whether a mainland day covers Parga, Nicopolis or both. Look at where you land, because a trip that reaches Parga by sea and one that reaches Nicopolis by land are different days, even if both sit in Epirus.

For the island outings, the question is simpler. Pantokrator and the Old Town reward a slow pace, so the choice is whether you want to see them on a plan or let the day wander. Whichever route you take, leave a gap for a long lunch, because meals are a large part of what these places offer.

Good to know before you go

Greece uses the euro, and small harbor tavernas and village cafés are where you will spend most of it on these trips. Carry a little for a coffee or a bottle of local olive oil, since the smaller the place, the more likely it is that a small purchase is easier in coins and notes.