corfu timing conflicts

We are in Corfu from 8-5. We are very interested in doing a boat trip to grottos. Antipaxos and paxos looks like a very nice trip, but they are all 10 hours which we would cut too close. Any ideas if we can do these islands in half day?

I have contacted taxi companies in Corfu also. If we were to do the taxi for a half day we would want to go to paleo and take a boat ride to the grotto. Cost just for transportation to paleo is $120 (once we get there is it easy to negotiate a boat trip?). Cost for 5 hour tour is 200.00. If you were to do a 5 hour tour, how much time would you allow for paleo? What other sites would you want to visit on that part of the island (monestary?)?? Thank you.

Any ideas you have for us would be much appreciated. It seems that I'm running into conflicts with scheduling for cruise ship stops in Corfu.

Thanks so much!

Whenever we are in Corfu we simply rent a car for the day (there are several rental agencies right at the port). A small car generally costs no more than 50€ for the day. We have never taken a boat tour during a port day...but have been to both Paxos and Antipaxos as part of a week long yacht cruise (which is a great way to explore the Ionian Islands.

Hank

Whenever we are in Corfu we simply rent a car for the day (there are several rental agencies right at the port). A small car generally costs no more than 50€ for the day. We have never taken a boat tour during a port day...but have been to both Paxos and Antipaxos as part of a week long yacht cruise (which is a great way to explore the Ionian Islands.

 

Hank

Hank- would you consider driving easy in Corfu? We tentatively have a taxi tour scheduled for 3-5 hours for 200 euro. 50 euro and on our own sounds better but not if getting around is difficult. We'd like to go to a beach and perhaps see some of the island. Saw Corfu town last year -just walked there and back. Also do you have a rental company you would recommend? Thank you. Kim

Hank- would you consider driving easy in Corfu? We tentatively have a taxi tour scheduled for 3-5 hours for 200 euro. 50 euro and on our own sounds better but not if getting around is difficult. We'd like to go to a beach and perhaps see some of the island. Saw Corfu town last year -just walked there and back. Also do you have a rental company you would recommend? Thank you. Kim

Relatively easy. The island is a rural place except for the area in and around Corfu Town. So once away from town you are dealing with 2 lane country roads. A GPS is very helpful (we have our own) and, of course, you would want to have some kind of plan on where you want to explore. We enjoy driving up to the Northern part of the island. But on our recent trip we actually drove down the West side of the island (the roads were not as good as on the eastern side) all the way to the southern end...and it was too much driving for my taste. But we did it because it was the only part of the island we had never driven. My advice for a first-time driver on the island is to just plan on doing the half of the island towards the north of Korfu Town.

However, many first time visitors might be content to just spend their time in Corfu Town where there is plenty of shopping and restaurants. I think when we were on the island in April we rented from Royal (they are one of the agencies at the Port) but we have no real preference. There are several agencies at the port and we generally just look for the best price. In April we rented from Royal (http://www.royalcarsrental.gr) but we have no loyalty to this local company and normally just shop for price.

Keep in mind that most of the rentals are small cars with manual shift (typical of Europe).

Hank

Relatively easy. The island is a rural place except for the area in and around Corfu Town. So once away from town you are dealing with 2 lane country roads. A GPS is very helpful (we have our own) and, of course, you would want to have some kind of plan on where you want to explore. We enjoy driving up to the Northern part of the island. But on our recent trip we actually drove down the West side of the island (the roads were not as good as on the eastern side) all the way to the southern end...and it was too much driving for my taste. But we did it because it was the only part of the island we had never driven. My advice for a first-time driver on the island is to just plan on doing the half of the island towards the north of Korfu Town.

 

However, many first time visitors might be content to just spend their time in Corfu Town where there is plenty of shopping and restaurants. I think when we were on the island in April we rented from Royal (they are one of the agencies at the Port) but we have no real preference. There are several agencies at the port and we generally just look for the best price. In April we rented from Royal (http://www.royalcarsrental.gr) but we have no loyalty to this local company and normally just shop for price.

 

Keep in mind that most of the rentals are small cars with manual shift (typical of Europe).

 

Hank

Thank you! It looks like Royal is right near port. We have rented a car in Italy before and he didn't mind it but we had plenty of time to get lost, find our way ... With no ship to worry about missing. He wondered if it was crazy driving like in Italian cities, which he wasn't sure if he'd be interested in if just in port for a few hours. I told him I didn't remember it being like Italy driving but I didn't drive in Greece. Our tentative plans are to rent a car in Katakolon (with the company you mentioned in another post), Corfu, and one of two days in Santorini. Our first Santorini day is along with about 10k other cruise passengers so thought it best to get a car and get away from the crowds. Reserved one at Tony's car rental. Will save Oia for our second week visit with only our ship in port.

Hi Hank,

What GPS unit do you have (or recommend)? I'm considering renting a car at several international locations and am in the market for an international GPS unit.

Thanks!

Hi Hank,

 

What GPS unit do you have (or recommend)? I'm considering renting a car at several international locations and am in the market for an international GPS unit.

 

Thanks!

I own an old Garmin Nuvi which has both North America and Europe maps. My unit is nearly 10 years old, but since I have lifetime map updates I load the latest maps before we go to Europe. These days just about every rental car company will rent you a GPS for about $10 day. Gamin still sell GPS units with European maps, but you will usually pay around $200. Not sure its worth it these days....especially since Smart Phones can be used as GPS units...it you have local data access.

Hank

Thank you for the replies so far. It appears as though paxos and anti-paxos is not doable on a cruise ship stop :(.

If we wanted to see some blue caves, would Paleo be our best choice?