Shopping

Corfu town has so many shops selling jewelry, leather goods, olive wood objects, and handmade needlework that it is impossible to single out one or another. If you're looking for needlework, the stores along Filarmonikis (off N. Teotoki) may have something that pleases you; prices are generally fair and uniform.

I would never recommend a trip to Corfu just for the kumquat liqueur, but this Chinese fruit has been cultivated on the island since the late 1800s and the liqueur makes a unique treat -- or gift, if it doesn't appeal to you!

Standing out from the many standard souvenir-gift shops, Antica, 25 Ayios Spiridon, leading away from the north end of Liston (tel. 26610/32-401), offers unusual older jewelry, plates, textiles, brass, and icons. Gravures, 64 Ev. Voulgareos, where the street emerges from the old town to join the new town (tel. 26610/41-721), has a fine selection of engravings and prints of scenes from Corfu, all nicely matted. Originals (taken from old books or magazines) can cost 150€, reproductions as little as 10€. The elegant Terracotta, 2 Filarmonikis, just off N. Theotoki, the main shopping street (tel./fax 26610/45-260), sells only contemporary Greek work: jewelry, one-of-a-kind pieces, ceramics, and small sculptures, some by well-known Greek artists and artisans. Nothing is cheap, but everything is classy.

There's no dearth of ceramics in Corfu, but we like the Pottery Workshop, 15km (10 miles) north of Corfu on the right of the road to Paleokastritsa (tel. 26610/90-704), where you get to observe Sofoklis Ikonomides and Sissy Moskidou making and decorating all the pottery on sale here. Whether decorative or functional, something will certainly appeal to your taste. Two kilometers (1 1/4 miles) farther along the road, on the left, is the Wood's Nest, offering a large selection of olive wood objects just slightly cheaper than in town.