Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
favourite, especially with nudists, and gets so busy in summer that it supports three
kantínas
, meaning it's at its best well out of high season. Above the north end of the beach
is the tiny, whitewashed
Myrtiótissa monastery
, dedicated to Our Lady of the Myrtles.
Pélekas and around
PÉLEKAS
, inland and 5km southeast of Érmones, has long been popular for its views
- the
Kaiser's Throne
viewing tower, just above the town, was Wilhelm II's favourite
spot on the island. On the small square the
Odhiyítria church
, renovated in 1884, is
worth a peek. Pélekas's sandy
beach
is reached down a short path, though sadly it's
been rather spoilt by the monstrous
Pelekas Beach
hotel that now looms over it.
The inland area around Pélekas holds some of Corfu's most traditional villages. This
atmosphere of days gone by is best reflected in
SINARÁDHES
, around 4km away, which
has the
Folk Museum of Central Corfu
(Tues-Sun 9.30am-2.30pm; €2). he museum
comprises an authentic village house, complete with original furniture, fittings and
decoration and full of articles and utensils that formed an intrinsic part of daily rural life.
11
Áï Górdhis and around
Around 7km south of Pélekas,
ÁÏ GÓRDHIS
is one of the major party beaches on the
island, largely because of the activities organized by the startling
Pink Palace
complex
(see p.722), which dominates the resort.
Inland from the resort is the south's largest prominence, the humpback of
Áyii Dhéka
(576m), reached by path from the hamlet of Áno Garoúna; it is the island's second-
largest mountain after Pandokrátor. The lower slopes are wooded, and it's possible to
glimpse buzzards wheeling on thermals over the higher slopes. The monks at the tiny
monastery just below the summit lovingly tend a bountiful orchard.
Áyios Matthéos
The town of
ÁYIOS MATTHÉOS
, 3km inland, is still chiefly an agricultural centre,
although a number of
kafenía
and tavernas offer a warm welcome to passers-by. On the
other side of Mount Prasoúdhi, 2km by road, is the
Gardhíki Pýrgos
, the ruins of a
thirteenth-century castle built in this unlikely lowland setting by the despots of Epirus.
Benítses
South of Corfu Town on the east coast, there's nothing to recommend before
BENÍTSES
,
a once-notorious bonking-and-boozing resort, whose old centre at the north end has
long since reverted to a quiet bougainvillea-splashed Greek village. There are a couple
of minor attractions, namely the modest ruins of a
Roman bathhouse
at the back of the
village
and
the small but impressive
shell museum
(March-May & Oct daily 10am-
6pm, June-Sept 9am-8pm; €4;
T
26610 72227,
W
corfushellmuseum.com).
ACCOMMODATION, EATING AND DRINKING
CENTRAL CORFU
which serves tasty home-style cooking an
d of
ers a few
simple but clean and cosy rooms. May-Oct.
€40
ÉRMONES
Nafsica
T
26610 94911.
Perched just above the southern
end of the beach, with a huge terrace,
Nafsica
provides
good, filling mezédhes and main courses of both meat and
fish.
April-Oct 11am-1am.
Philoxenia
T
26610 94091,
W
hotelphiloxenia.gr.
Far
better value than the
Ermones Beach
, this spacious modern
hotel on the south side of the creek has two
pool
s, a bar and
all the rooms face the sea. May to mid-Oct.
€60
PÉLEKAS AND AROUND
Alexandros
Pélekas
T
26610 94215,
W
alexandros
pelekas.com.
Lots of the usual Greek favourites, plus pizza
and pasta dishes, can be sampled here and the studios
above are
reas
onably sized and comfortably furnished.
April-Oct.
€50
Pension Paradise
Pélekas
T
26610 94530,
W
paradisepelekas.com.
On the road in from Vátos, this
ochre-tinted year-round
pension
run by a frie
ndly
old
couple has simple homely rooms at bargain rates.
€30
MYRTIÓTISSA
Ì
Myrtia
T
26610 94113,
E
sks_mirtia@hotmail
.com.
Delightful taverna with an olive-shaded garden,
