I visited Greece, or Corfu to be exact, in 2019, with a couple of friends. We stayed in a lovely little Airbnb villa, complete with a balcony, a terrace, and a hot tub, just a 5 minute walk from the beach at Ipsos. When we arrived, the weather was a little stormy, and on the first night we had a thunderstorm to contend with (and to try and sleep through!), however once this cleared up, the rest of the holiday was very much peaceful!

Ipsos & the weather

Since our holiday took place in late September, the vibe was relatively chilled out, and there weren’t many tourists on the beach or in the restaurants and bars. The weather was warm with a chill in the evenings – it was just about warm enough in the daytime to do a spot of sea swimming! Ipsos itself was a picturesque and family friendly beach resort, with some bars, restaurants and shops scattered across the sea front. The beach spans a long distance, and if you look out to sea hard enough on a clear day, you may even be able to see Albania.

Boat trip

By far the biggest highlight of our trip was a boat tour to the much smaller islands of Paxos and Antipaxos. This was a full day trip which consisted of two stop offs – one on the island of Paxos, where we had lunch and a little meander, and one on a beach (in the sea, to be precise!) for some swimming off Antipaxos. The day was glorious and the waters numerous shades of blue and crystal clear. Although the sea was cold, we could not resist a swim – who could blame us? Some of my fondest memories come from this trip, mostly from the swimming at Antipaxos – see my photos of the beach below. It was like a dream, and I would honestly love to return one day!

Cuisine & restaurants

We sampled some of the local cuisine of Corfu, and as hoped for, it was delicious! Moussaka, Stifado, and Sofrito were all favourites, with even the desserts racking up top marks from us all! There were a selection of restaurants still open late in the season for us to be able to choose where to eat in the evenings, and nowhere disappointed us. We dined at perhaps two or three different restaurants along the beachside, which were all fantastic, with good food, service, and a relaxed atmosphere. One restaurant even had a resident dachshund, who was very well behaved and didn’t beg, even once!

Corfu Town

We took a half day trip to Corfu Town on one of our quieter days. The older parts of the town had a rustic charm, with beautiful traditional Corfu style buildings (think a mix of Italian, French and British architectural influences), and greenery aplenty. There were many smaller boutiques and stalls selling all manner of items from clothing to jewellery to furniture, alongside some modern shops and the usual fare that you would expect in any larger town or city. Overall it was a pleasant trip to Corfu Town, and I would recommend this excursion to anyone thinking of visiting Corfu, to get a real taste of the culture and day to day life on the island, away from the tourist beach resorts.

Flights & airport

All good things have to come to an end, and so it was for our holiday. When we arrived at Corfu airport, it was rammed with stressed out tourists in several massive queues, to the point where we started doubting whether we would catch our flight! The mayhem soon dissipated however, much to our relief, and we were back home in the UK in around 3 hours, the usual flight time for this trip. I am led to believe that airport chaos like this is common at Corfu airport – has anyone else experienced this? It hasn’t put me off in the slightest anyway – I would go back there tomorrow if I could!