3 NIGHTS IN CORFU, GREECE

I am currently writing this through my tears from holiday blues. OK, I'm not really crying but I am NOT happy about being back from my holiday. If you follow my Instagram, you can probably tell because all I'm posting are holiday pictures, and I don't plan to stop any time soon.

I recently went to Corfu with five of my friends from uni and had the best time! Not only was it just an amazing time anyway, but my last summer holiday abroad was in 2019, and because of Covid I haven't been able to go on another one until now, which made it even more special and I feel like I appreciated it so much more. It really is a privilege to be able to travel and I can't wait to travel more whenever I can - it's my favourite thing to do.

Traveling to Corfu

We traveled to Corfu on a Thursday morning from Gatwick Airport and our flight was at 8:25am. In true Lauren Kenny style, we got to the airport 3 hours early but there have been so many staff shortages at the moment you never know how long it's going to take! And we wanted to sit down and have breakfast (and a beveragini). Luckily, there weren't any major queues, just a short delay to our flight which was fine.

The flight time on the way out was about 2 hours and 30 minutes, and on the way back it was around 3 hours and 5 minutes. I may be wrong but I feel like Corfu is the closest Greek Island to travel to from the UK? If not, one of the closest.

We landed in Corfu after 3pm I think because of the 2-hour time difference there, but our transfer to the airport was quite short so we still had some pool and sun time when we got there.

The hotel

The hotel we stayed in was called Aeolos Beach Resort, which I would really recommend. It is a 4-star, all-inclusive hotel with a main buffet restaurant, and 2 a la carte restaurants. From pretty much every part of the hotel, you can see the sea too, I could never get tired of the stunning views. The rooms were good, the staff were really nice and I couldn't fault anything.

It was about a 20-minute bus or taxi journey to Corfu Town too, so definitely worth visiting if you stay there.

Related: 10 European cities you need to visit

Day 1

So I have already told you about traveling there and getting some pool time on Day 1. After that, we all got ready in our rooms and went for dinner in the a la carte restaurant on the beach which we had booked prior to our stay.

The menu is quite small but had really great options. As there were 6 of us, they pretty much brought out all of the starters for us to share which included tomato and mozzarella, prawn risotto and octopus, maybe some bread too. Weirdly, the octopus was so nice even though I don't normally like it. I think it's because there were no tentacles on it and they are what makes me cringe.

For the mains you could choose between a range of dishes including lamb, beef, chicken, etc, it was mainly meat dishes. I had the beef which fell apart. Then for dessert, you could either choose cheesecake or fruit salad so I had the fruit.

After dinner, we went for some drinks at the main bar and they had some live music in the entertainment area. Because it was our first night with "free" all-inclusive drinks, we may have got a bit carried away, some of us more than others but no naming names ;).

Day 2

On day 2 we got up and had our first buffet breakfast which was really nice. I get a bit apprehensive about the buffet food at all-inclusive hotels, depending on where you go it can be hit and miss, but all the food we had was great.

After that, we had a chilled day by the pool, then got ready to go to Corfu town in the evening when it was a bit cooler.

Corfu town is really pretty and reminded me a lot of Italy with the architecture and the various gelato stalls dotted about. There is a harbour there too where we went at sunset and got some really stunning pictures.

We had our dinner in the town at a restaurant we kind of picked at random because we were getting a bit angry (mainly me) and it was close to where we were. Sadly I can't remember what the restaurant is called but it was on the square close to the harbour and next to a big red church. 

This restaurant is everything you want when you eat in Greece. They gave us lots of starters to share again, which included 2 huge loaves of bread, tzatziki (my fave), saganaki, and greek salad. It was literally so much food I can't even tell you but it was so nice and I couldn't stop eating it.

For the main (which I really struggled to eat after all the starters) I had chicken souvlaki which was really simple but so nice! Some of the other girls had gyros and moussaka too.

For all that food and a couple of bottles of wine, we paid about 35 euros each which was so good for the amount we got and the excellent service.

Day 3

On day 3, AKA the best day, we went on our boat trip. The 6 of us booked a private yacht which was about £55 each and so worth it! It was a 4-hour trip, and they do have longer ones in Corfu for cheaper, but as we only had 4 days we didn't want to use a whole day up on the boat.

As part of the trip, you get 2 swim stops at various points around the island and they give you snorkels too, there were some fish but not loads. On our second swim stop, we did see an abandoned boat at the bottom of the sea which was pretty cool.

You also get a sandwich, crisps, and salad platter around lunchtime and as many drinks as you want. They had white wine, beer, water, and then soft drinks like coke.

It was literally like being in a film it was just so nice I can't even explain it to you!

Then we got back in the afternoon and went to lie by the pool again, and in the evening we went for our first dinner in the main buffet. Again, I found the buffet food so nice. I think it was a Chinese-themed night, so I had the crispy duck which was amazing, and pretty much had tzatziki with every meal.

After that, we sat down at the entertainment bit again and made the most of the all-inclusive drinks. One thing I will say about the drinks is that the wine wasn't very nice, but there were some good cocktails, especially the frozen ones.

Day 4

Day 4 was traveling home day which was very sad, but our flight wasn't until 22:45 so we pretty much had the whole day before we had to leave the hotel.

Check-out was at 11am so we all just put some money into paying for one of the rooms to be extended so we could use it and shower before leaving which was 60 euros (10 euros each).

I feel like this was the day I went full ham on the buffet making the most out of the all-inclusiveness before leaving. The dinner that night at the buffet was Italian themed which was also good.

We got picked up at 8 to go to the airport which didn't take long at all because we were quite close. Sitting by the pool, you could see the planes taking off and landing really low which I thought was pretty cool.

Our flight going home was delayed by about an hour again, the reason for both delays was just shortages of staff on the ground at both airports, so bear that in mind if you are traveling soon.

I am in two minds about flying home that late because I didn't get home until 4am, so I was really tired and needed the next day off work to recover, but also we got 4 pretty much full days instead of 3 so it has pros and cons.

Related: A week in Sorrento

Overall

We definitely had a 10/10 time and I can't fault anything about the hotel, except maybe the all-inclusive wine but that's just me being picky and there are plenty of other nice drinks. The food, views, weather and location were all great.

Incidentally, we actually saw Arrdee the rapper at our hotel and he was staying there. Famous people go there, you heard it here first. Although now I am telling everyone at home none of them know who he is so aren't finding it that exciting. I am not sure how I know, to be honest, I don't listen to his music but seeing a famous person who has been on Radio 1 added to the excitement.

Have you been to any Greek Islands, where would you recommend for me next?