Arillas - September 2002
Corfu Island, Greece

  In 2002 we decided to have a holiday in the Greek Islands for a change. Obviously, it was a popular year as quite a few of our friends also picked various Greek Islands for their summer break that year. It was our first trip to the area, we'd planned to go to Kefalonia, but when we actually went to the travel agents to book, we changed our minds because the available hotels didn't have pools and were too far away from the village life which is part of our evening enjoyment. Corfu looked good, the village of Arillas in the North West corner looked remote enough and seemed to offer all of the facilities we needed including convenient flights from a local airport so we booked and a few weeks later off we went.

  Arriving in the dark, it was a bit difficult to make out much about the sea front, a bit untidy but it had a beach, loads of restaurants and a couple of bars, what more could anyone need for a nice relaxing holiday. The next day, we had a good walk around to get a feel for Arillas and it turned out to have a nice beach, small, good sand and quite popular. The sea was full of sand and a bit cool from the bad weather they'd been having recently but it was all looking pretty good to us.

  The Kaloudis Village Apartments are at one end of the sea front, set back from the beach about 100 yards. They have their own pool with a bar and restaurant, "'Splish Splash" by name but known as "Billy's" by everyone, including the owner who's a local called Billy! The pool was a bit cold for swimming, although some days it was so hot that the pool was the best place to be. On other days we went down to the beach where the water was very warm, especially after the unseasonal storms of the first few days had cleared away. We ate at Billy's a few times, good local food as with most of the restaurants in Arillas. We also ended most nights having a couple of drinks at the bar. Billy's had entertainment some nights, such as pool tournaments, bar-b-ques, bingo etc, it's a busy and popular place. One night, whilst eating, we were visited by the very large cicada pictured climbing up the leg of the chair, before a cat chased it away.

  During the first few days, we had some pretty bad weather, with winds and rain so heavy that we couldn't see the beach from our balcony. One night of thunderstorms was so spectacular, the balconies were all full of people trying to get good pictures of the storm and the lightening. We didn't get any good shots, so here's a couple of pictures of the storms building up. We were outside during one heavy bout of rain, soaked to the skin in minutes and dry in the sun a couple of hours later. The sea was pretty rough during the storms, and kept changing colour as it picked up sand close to the shore. After it all cleared away, the shoreline was a mess but within a couple of days the sea settled and became flat calm and warm enough to swim again.

  We spent lots of time walking around Arillas, just getting some exercise and taking in the local scenery, stopping off for a beer or a coffee or some lunch whenever we felt like it. Longer days out include some nice walks over the cliff tops in both directions, heading for either Afionas and Agios Georgios in one direction or San Stefanos in the other direction. These pictures how the headland beyond Afionas, a very pretty village but easy to get lost in when you're looking for the path onto the headland. We got picked up by a local dog who seemed keen for the walk but didn't seem to have any better ideas than us when it came to route planning...

  One of many very pretty houses on the outskirts of Afionas.

  In the other dircetion, San Stefanos is a bigger town than Arillas, although there didn't seem to be as much to do there, not that Arillas is exactly over run with entertainment! The beach at San Stefanos is much bigger and there are some good bars and cafes along the main streets although not much overlooking the sea front itself. For a good lunch, try the 'Gyros Platter' at the '2 Stars' restaurant on the main road into San Stafanos from the harbour end. Afterwards, have a walk to the harbour, some nice fishing boats and very picturesque, a lovely place to watch the sea wash up and down and relax even more than you already are. It sort of sets you up for the steep walk up to the top of the headland and back over to Arillas.

  Because we went for a quiet, relaxing holiday, we were more than happy to just stick in Arillas and go for walks, do some sun bathing and do plenty of eating and drinking. However, we felt that we ought to see some of the island so we hired a car from one of the places in Arillas, there are a few to chose from. We drove up to Mount Pandokratoras, spectacular views over the Greek mainland and Albania, only a couple of miles away across the sea. After that, we toured around the coast stopping off at the harbour town of Kasiopi where we found a cafe selling some of the best chocolate ice cream ever made. The route back to Arillas took in Roda and Sidari, where we had a walk around and did some souvenir shoppping. Kassiopi and Sidari are much bigger and busier than Arillas, perfect if you want the lively sea front towns with lots of nightlife.

  Our hire car for the day, a Fiat Punto. Left hand drive, narrow roads, Greek roadsigns and a slightly dodgy map made for an interesting day out, you need to experience it at least once during your holiday.

  The accomodation at the Kaloudis Village is simple and good. We stayed in the 2 storey block with balconies overlooking the sea on one side and views over the pool and Billy's out of the other side. Cleaned virtually every day, the apartments are small 'studio' style rooms with enough facilities to be comfortable even when we had a couple of days of bad weather. There are also some full size apartments and a three storey block overlooking the pool.

  We spent most mornings and evenings on the south facing balcony, breakfast at one end of the day and Gin & Tonic or Ouzo at the other end of the day. Very pleasant it was too...

  There are lots of places to eat along the sea front and round some of the other roads, ranging from simple cafe / bars to quite posh restaurants, these pictures are in the Arilla Inn, very good food and sheltered on those nights when the weather was bad. Every place we ate had a good selection of local style food as well as more English style snacks, there was even a very good Chinese restaurant and a Pizza Restaurant.

  Once the weather settled down, the skies turned blue, the sea settled quickly and became equally blue. The days were hot and hazy, the evenings cool and pleasant. The sea was a great temperature for swimming and the beach was OK for sunbathing although a bit small and so a bit crowded at times.

Digital cameras make it so easy to capture panoramic pictures, this is the view from the back of our apartment.

  If you want to find out more about Arillas, there's lots of websites. Start with www.arillas.com and see where you get to ...

Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.