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Welcome to Corfu!
Corfu could be called the Paradise Island
of Greece.
Corfu was not given the name of the "Emerald Island" for no reason.
The greenest of all the Greek islands, Corfu¹s natural beauty is hidden
beneath a cloak of emerald green, with a mountainous skyline plunging
into the bluest of blue waters.
Corfu is a pleasure-seekers paradise but it also has a colorful history
that has been molded by its position in the Mediterranean Sea and the
fertility of its fields. That is why its history has been checkered
one under a long succession of foreign rulers from Antiquity to 1884,
when all the Ionian Islands were united with Greece. Romans, Venetians,
French and British came rulers of Corfu during the centuries.
The marks of all that different people and their cultures and architecture
can still be found today on the island. That is why visiting Corfu is
like taking a trip back to the history and culture of Europe.
Arrival and Orientation
Corfu is in the Ionian Islands which makes its location easy accessible
from all directions, but it's no quick hop to or from the Cyclades.
Most travelers arrive through the southern Italian ports of Bari
or Brindisi. The 8-hour ferry ride costs about 30 Euro per person and
only 6 Euro with a Eurail pass.
That route is the most popular to Corfu and the rest of Greece. But
you can also get to Corfu with the Pink Palace bus from Athens, by boat
from Patras or by plane from Athens or other destinations.
PubClubbing in Corfu
The toga parties
at the Pink Palace are legendary.
The
Pink Palace is legendary and with it, the rest of Corfu need
not exist. It's run by a pair of characters, "Dr." George and his sister
Magda. The stories that come out of a few nights in this place are retold
for decades. Rates are 24 to 26 Euros per person.
Located right on beach of Agios Gordios, arguably Corfu's most
spectacular beach, gives the Pink Palace a unique location.
The Pink Palace is the original Club Med – complete with weekly
toga parties – at Greek Island prices (from 20 Europer night,
which includes full cooked breakfast, private room and a three-course
buffet dinner). It has Internet access, laundry, a Jacuzzi, inner-tubing,
cliff-diving, bungy jumping, jet skiing, parasailing, basketball and
volleyball. Mostly, though, people just crash out on the beach and recover
from the night before.
Foam and fire –
a crazy combination.
The Palladium Night Club is like a spring break party every
night.
The place is so wild that people come here intending to stay for only
a couple of days but wind up crashing for a week or more. Some of the
ferries depart in the morning and the action is so furious, the mingling
opportunities so plentiful and the rooms and alcohol so cheap, some
never make it to the boat in time to leave and stay for yet another
day. About the only way some people make it off the island is to stay
up all night and stagger out at daybreak.
It is self-contained with private beach and hill rooms, private bathrooms,
air- conditioning, telephones and seaview balconies. But few people
come here for the telephones. It's the on-site entertainment that make
it a palace for its young and revel-seeking visitors.
Technically, the Pink Palace never sells out. Arrivals are greeted
by a pink bus (what else?) with free transportation. Then it's up to
the visitors to carve out their own piece of Greek history on Corfu.
Activities
The booze cruise and visiting caves are two Corful daytime pastimes.
Beside toga parties, there are several daytime activities to stir the
travelers' souls. There's the beach, cliff-jumping, and cave exploring.
Oh, and a booze cruise.
 Next
stop on the Party Bus: Post Party
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