Corfu · Greece

Kassiopi & the Northeast Coast

Corfu's villa heartland — Kalami, Agni, Nissaki and the bays the Durrells made famous

Kassiopi anchors the most quietly coveted stretch of coastline in the Ionian: the twenty kilometres of cypress-backed coves running southeast beneath Mount Pantokrator. A harbour village with a Byzantine castle on its headland, it has kept its fishing-port scale while becoming the service town for the villa country around it.

That villa country is a litany of small bays. Kalami, where Lawrence Durrell wrote The Prospero's Cell in the White House at the water's edge — still a taverna and villa today. Agni, three celebrated tavernas on one crescent of pebbles, best arrived at by boat. Nissaki's deep clear water below the olive terraces; Avlaki's breezy open beach; Kouloura's postcard harbour ringed by cypresses. The holiday here is measured in swims, boat moorings and long taverna lunches.

And the coast has one more distinction: it faces Albania across a strait that narrows to about two nautical miles. From a villa terrace at Kalami, the mountains opposite are the newest Riviera in Europe — thirty minutes away by ferry from Corfu Town, a natural day trip by private boat.

Book in Kassiopi

Villas in Kassiopi Book the ferry from Corfu

Why here

What makes Kassiopi.

The villa bays

Kalami, Agni, Nissaki, Kouloura, Avlaki, Kerasia: each bay has its own character and its own villas, from converted boathouses on the water to hillside estates in the olive groves. The best book out up to a year ahead for July and August.

Lunch by boat at Agni

Agni bay's tavernas — waterside institutions serving Corfiot classics like bourdeto and fresh-netted fish — keep moorings for guests arriving by sea. Hiring a small self-drive boat and pottering between bays for lunch is the northeast's defining ritual.

The White House at Kalami

Lawrence Durrell's 1930s home stands where the pebbles meet the water at Kalami — the ground floor a taverna, the upper floor still rented as a villa. Dinner on its terrace, with the strait darkening toward Albania, is northeast Corfu distilled.

Kassiopi harbour evenings

The village supplies what the bays deliberately lack: harbourfront restaurants, bars, boat hire and shops beneath the Byzantine castle. Fifteen minutes from any villa on the coast, it is the sociable counterweight to a week of quiet coves.

Discover

The addresses of Kassiopi.

Restaurant · Kalami

Lunch at the water's edge, in the house where Lawrence Durrell wrote

The White House, Kalami

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Restaurant · Agni

The prawn dish that makes boats change course on Corfu's northeast coast

Toula's Taverna, Agni Bay

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Villas

Your villa in Kassiopi.

Kassiopi

A brand-new stone villa above Kassiopi

Experiences

The days from here.

Corfu

Cypress coves, boat-in tavernas and Durrell's bay

Kassiopi, Agni & Kalami — a Northeast Corfu Boat Day

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Nearby

Neighbouring villages.

Greece

A Venetian capital in the Greek islands — arcades, fortresses and the corridor's grand harbour

Corfu Town

See the guide

Greece

Six coves, a monastery on the headland and the clearest water on Corfu's west coast

Paleokastritsa

See the guide

Destinations

The established elegance of the Ionian — Venetian streets, cypress coves and villa country

Corfu

Full guide — Corfu

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Sheltered swimming, taverna moorings, cypress scenery and privacy — the coast between Nissaki and Kassiopi was built by habit, not resorts. Families have returned to the same bays for decades, which keeps the area low-rise, high-quality and hard to book late.

About 35 kilometres — allow 45 minutes to an hour by car along the coast road. We arrange private transfers; once installed, most guests use a hire boat as their main transport between bays.

Small motorboats up to 30 hp can be hired in Kassiopi and the bays without a licence, and they are the classic way to reach Agni's tavernas or Kouloura. For faster RIBs, day cruises or the crossing toward Albania, we arrange skippered boats.

Yes. The Albanian coast is about two nautical miles across the strait at its narrowest. The practical route is the fast ferry from Corfu Town to Saranda (about 30 minutes); in season we also arrange private skippered crossings for Butrint, Ksamil and lunch on the Riviera.

Concierge

Put this into a trip.

Describe your dates and who is coming — we reply with villas, a boat for the coves, and the crossing to Corfu.

Kassiopi & the Northeast Coast

What makes Kassiopi.