Corfu Town owes the elegant, photogenic Liston, the arcade that lines the northern half of the Spianada, to neither the Venetians nor the British but to the French. Designed during the brief Napoleonic occupation of Corfu (1807–14), its harmonious four-storey houses were modelled on Paris’ then-new rue de Rivoli. A procession of grand, see-and-be-seen cafes sprawls under the arcade, open to both the Spianada and to Kapodistriou around the back.
![Liston, a pedestrian street with arcaded terraces and fashionable cafes in the western edge of Spianada Square in the center of the city.](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2023-04/shutterstock_editorial_2164255557.jpg?auto=format&w=1920&h=640&fit=crop&crop=faces,edges&q=75)
© Apostolis Giontzis/Shutterstock
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
9.89 MILES
Early in the morning, before the tourist crowds arrive and when the rocks are still tinged in the yellow dawn light, you might just imagine that the…
0.16 MILES
The rocky headland that juts east from Corfu Town is topped by the Venetian-built 14th-century Palaio Frourio. Before that, already enclosed within…
0.11 MILES
Home to stunning artefacts ranging from prehistoric bronzes to works in onyx and ivory, this excellent museum occupies the central portions of the Palace…
4.39 MILES
Set atop a steep coastal hill 12km south of Corfu Town, the Achilleion Palace was built during the 1890s as the summer palace of Austria's empress…
6.97 MILES
Writer Lawrence Durrell hailed Myrtiotissa as arguably the best beach in the world. Now dominated by nudists, it remains relatively pristine because it’s…
Palace of St Michael & St George
0.11 MILES
Beyond the northern end of the Spianada, the smart Regency-style Palace of St Michael and St George was built by the British from 1819 onwards, to house…
25.13 MILES
The Blue Eye Spring is a magical place: a hypnotic pool of deep blue water surrounded by electric-blue edges like the iris of an eye. It's further…
1.12 MILES
Hourly boats from the Old Port make the 10-minute crossing to tiny, thickly wooded Vidos Island (€4 return), immediately offshore. The island is the final…
Nearby Corfu Town attractions
0.05 MILES
Via battered old instruments, photos and scores, this entertaining little museum tells the story of Greece’s first-ever marching band, which performed at…
0.05 MILES
This town house has been remodelled to illustrate the daily lives of a fictitious merchant family from the mid-19th century. Enthusiastic guides make the…
0.07 MILES
Somewhat specialist, but oddly fascinating, the Banknote Museum occupies the upper floors of what was in 1840 the first-ever all-Greek bank. It traces the…
0.08 MILES
The Spianada, the broad park adjoining the Old Town, was cleared by the Venetians to allow a clear line of fire from the Old Fort. During the 19th century…
0.09 MILES
Pilgrims and day-trippers alike throng this Old Town landmark. As well as magnificent frescoes, the small 16th-century basilica holds the remains of Corfu…
6. Palace of St Michael & St George
0.11 MILES
Beyond the northern end of the Spianada, the smart Regency-style Palace of St Michael and St George was built by the British from 1819 onwards, to house…
0.11 MILES
At the eastern (seaward) end of the front terrace of the Palace of St Michael and St George, the Municipal Art Gallery II holds some fabulous exhibitions…
0.11 MILES
A pretty park and flower garden dedicated to writer brothers Lawrence and Gerald Durrell (Gerald also became a world-renowned naturalist and…