Free Corfu Walking Tour 🎧 Landmarks and hidden gems of Corfu Old Town

This free audio walking tour of Corfu Old Town introduces you to many of Corfu’s most important cultural landmarks, including historical influences from the Byzantines, Normans, Venetians, French and British. It takes you through Corfu Old Town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and includes monuments and museums that you can visit during the tour or return to later. It also highlights Corfu’s colour and creativity, with stories about the Ionian island’s Philharmonic Society (with no fewer than 16 active orchestras) and visits a traditional bakery and dairy shop and a ceramics workshop.

In Annunziata Square, you witness the bell tower of the Venetians’ Evangelistrias Monastery (originally built in the 14th century) and in Dimarchiou Squuare you admire the historic Old Town Hall (once the San Giacomo Theatre). Dominating the skyline on the rocky promontory on the eastern edge of the Old Town is the Old Fortress, the 15^th-century stronghold that was a vital defence against the Ottomans and, below that, Spianada Square was the largest square in the Balkans and another legacy of the Venetians. Meanwhile, the Grand Palace of St Michael and St George reflects Corfu’s British era, while the Parisian flair of Liston radiates French elegance.

In the heart of the Old Town, the Church of St Spyridon honours Corfu’s patron saint, while the Ionian Parliament and Ionian Academy represent the island’s role as a centre of education and governance in modern Greece. Next to the Ionian Academy, the statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias is a fitting tribute to Greece’s first prime minister and a native of Corfu. And the Dionysios Solomos Museum introduces you to the national poet of Greece, whose works resonate with Corfiot identity.

Other highlights of this free audio guide of Corfu Old Town include the New Fortress (built by the Byzantines and extensively fortified by the Venetians in the 16^th century) and Antivouniotissa Museum (which has exquisite examples of Byzantine iconography), as well as the island’s historic Synagogue and the Serbian Museum, commemorating the journey of some 150,000 Serbian soldiers and their government to Corfu during World War 1.

Audio tour highlights of Corfu Old Town

• Old & New Fortress
• Spianada Square & Liston
• Ionian Parliament & Ionian Academy
• The Palace of St Michael & St George
• Philharmonic Society of Corfu
• Jewish synagogue
• Food & craft shops

Corfu through the centuries

• 8^th-7^th century BC: Corfu in mythology (Homer’s Odyssey)
• 6^th-century BC – 2^nd century AD: Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods
• 1081-1084: Medieval period (the Normans)
• 1084-1204: Byzantine Empire
• 1204-1214: First Venetian period
• 1214-1267: The Despotate of Epirus
• 1267-1386: The Angevins of Naples
• 1386-1797: Second Venetian period
• 1797-1799: Republican French
• 1800-1807: The Septinsular (Ionian) Republic (under Russian and Ottoman sovereignty)
• 1807-1814: The imperial French
• 1815-1864: British Protectorate – United States of the Ionian Islands
• 1864: Union with the Kingdom of Greece

Note: Corfu’s Old Town is full of very small roads (especially in the Venetian Campiello district) that do not always have road signs. This audio tour contains directions for how to get between the stops but it is highly recommended to have GPS coverage for your phone during your walk.