Corfu Self-Guided Walking Tour Three Empire Audio Quiz

Corfu's old town is a layered mosaic of empires: four centuries of Venice, a brief burst of Napoleonic France and half a century of Britain, all in one walkable UNESCO town the Ottomans never took. This self-guided walking tour traces those layers across ten stops, from the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and the church of Saint Spyridon to the grand British palace, the arcaded Liston and the monuments of the Spianada, ending out on the promontory at the Venetian Old Fortress. Everything runs from your own smartphone. There is no app to download and no physical guide to follow: at each stop you get a short audio story and an interactive quiz, plus a clear map and directions to the next point of interest. Start whenever you like, pause for a coffee, take a detour and pick the route back up. No groups, no fixed departure times. Audio and written text are available in seven languages.

1. 1

   Holocaust Memorial of Corfu

   Pass by

   A bronze memorial standing on the square beside the New Fortress, at the edge of Corfu's historic Jewish quarter. Unveiled in 2001 and sculpted by Georgios Karahalios, it commemorates the roughly 1,800 Corfiot Jews deported from the island in June 1944.

2. 2

   Holy Church Of Saint Spyridon

   Pass by

   The single-nave basilica that holds the relics of Saint Spyridon, Corfu's patron saint. Its red-domed bell tower, completed in 1620, is the tallest in the Ionian Islands, and the interior is lined with silver oil lamps and baroque woodwork.

3. 3

   Corfu Museum of Asian Art

   Pass by

   Housed in the Palace of St Michael and St George, the British Regency building of Maltese limestone built between 1819 and 1824 for the Lord High Commissioner. It is the only museum in Greece devoted entirely to Asian art, founded on Gregorios Manos's donated collection.

4. 4

   The Liston

   Pass by

   An arcaded promenade along the western edge of the Spianada, begun under French rule after 1807 and modelled on the neoclassical arcades of the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. The British later added the upper storeys; the cafes beneath the arches are the town's main social hub.

5. 5

   Spianada Square

   Pass by

   The great esplanade the Venetians kept clear for artillery fire, now Corfu's main green square. At its southern end stands the Pentophanaro, the five-lamp post that gives the crossroads its name and marks the boundary between the Upper and Lower Spianada.

6. 6

   Catholic Cathedral of Saints Jacob and Christopher

   Pass by

   Corfu's Roman Catholic cathedral, dedicated to Saints James and Christopher, with a late Venetian facade on Town Hall Square. Gutted by bombing in 1943 and rebuilt by 1970, it is where the island's Catholics keep Easter on the Orthodox date, a custom dating to 1583.

7. 7

   Maitland Rotunda

   Pass by

   A circular Ionic monopteros of imported Maltese limestone, raised in 1821 to Sir Thomas Maitland, the first British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. It sits directly on top of a Venetian water cistern built in 1781.

8. 8

   Kapodistrias Statue

   Pass by

   A Pentelic marble statue on the southern Spianada, unveiled in 1887, of Count Ioannis Kapodistrias. Born in Corfu in 1776, he served as joint foreign minister of the Russian Empire before becoming the first head of state of independent Greece in 1827.

9. 9

   Ionian Parliament Building

   Pass by

   A neoclassical hall with a Doric portico, designed by Ioannis Chronis in 1854 for the assembly that governed the islands under the British protectorate. Here in 1863 the deputies voted to dissolve the protectorate and unite with the Kingdom of Greece.

10. 10

    Old Fortress Corfu

    Pass by

    The Venetian citadel on a twin-peaked promontory, cut off from the town by the Contrafossa, an artificial seawater moat. Inside stands the Church of Saint George, built in 1840 as an Anglican garrison chapel in the form of a Doric temple.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.