Corfu Beaches and Food: Agios Georgios South, Arillas North Beach, Bianco Fish Stew, Kumquat Liqueur, and the Full Island Day Circuit
The complete Corfu beach and food guide covers the Agios Georgios south and Arillas north remote beaches, the Bianco and Sofrito Venetian-inspired cuisine, and the full island day circuit.
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Agios Georgios South: The Remote West Coast
Agios Georgios South, the remote beach on the southwestern corner of Corfu accessible by the mountain road from Sinarades or the coastal path, is the most peaceful long beach in Corfu for the combination of the fine sand, the lack of resort development, and the dramatic coastal scenery of the Corfu southwest corner. The beach is most beautiful in the late afternoon when the west-facing coast receives the direct setting sun.
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Arillas: The Alternative Northern Beach
Arillas in the northwest, the long sandy beach backed by the olive grove village that has maintained a more organic tourism development than the north Corfu resort strip, is the primary destination for the independent traveler who wants the Corfu beach experience without the package holiday resort infrastructure. The Arillas beach tavernas serve the fresh fish of the Ionian fishing boats in the most authentic beach dining setting in the north Corfu coast.
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Bianco and Sofrito: The Venetian Table
The Bianco fish stew of Corfu, the whole fresh fish poached in the white wine and garlic broth with the potatoes that is the most distinctive Corfu seafood dish, and the Sofrito of veal in the white wine and garlic sauce, are the two dishes that most clearly demonstrate the Venetian culinary inheritance that separates Corfu food from the olive oil and lemon kitchen of the rest of Greece. The Corfu tavernas of the old town lanes serve these dishes in the most atmospheric settings in the Ionian island restaurants.
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Kumquat Liqueur: The Unique Corfu Product
Kumquat, the small oval citrus fruit introduced to Corfu by the British commissioner in the 19th century from China and the only kumquat cultivation in Europe, is processed by the Mavromatis distillery into the kumquat liqueur and the kumquat preserve that are the most distinctive Corfu souvenir products. The kumquat trees in the Corfu gardens, particularly in the northern villages, are the most unusual cultivated citrus in Greece.
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Corfu Beer: Fix and the Craft Scene
Fix Beer, the Greek pilsner brewed in Athens that is the most consumed beer in the Ionian Islands, is complemented in Corfu by the growing craft beer scene of the Corfu Brewing Company that produces the Ionian Lager and the Liquid Island pale ale in the Corfu tradition of the British colonial ginger beer that was the unique Corfu beverage before the modern resort infrastructure. The British colonial tradition of the Corfu pub, expressed in the Britannia and the Falstaff bars of the old town, is the most authentic British colonial hospitality survival in the Ionian Islands.
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Corfu Art Scene: The Museum Circuit
The Corfu museum circuit encompasses the Museum of Asian Art in the British Palace, the Byzantine Museum in the Antivouniotissa church, the Archaeological Museum with the Gorgon pediment from the Temple of Artemis (585 BC), the Solomos Museum of the national poet Dionysios Solomos who wrote the Greek national anthem in Corfu, and the Kanoni Paper Money Museum. The combination creates the most complete small island museum circuit in Greece outside Crete.