Herman Mittelholzer — your blogger

 

Location:
Situated in the far North West Corner of Corfu, Arillas boasts some of the best sandy beaches on the island. The gently shelving beach, contained within the beautiful sweep of the bay, is ideal for families with children, and individuals and couples seeking a laid-back, relaxing, beach holiday without hustle or noise. Lie back on the beach with a good novel, soak up the sunshine in one of the seafront cafés or float out into the clear waters of one of the cleanest Blue Flag beaches in Europe, while basking in the typically 25-30°C average of the island's daytime temperatures between May and October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring:
If exploring is more to your taste, then Arillas is a good place from which to start your journey. With San Stefanos to the north and the giant horseshoe bay of San George to the south, spectacular views from cliff-top cafes and bars, plus plenty of cliff paths if you prefer to explore on foot, Arillas offers a fine location to base yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating out: Bars and Cafes:
VENUE REPORT: Akrotiri Lounge Bar and Café
Locally, try the cliff-top Akrotiri Louge and Bar on the south side of Cape Stefanos. The Akrotiri only opened for business in 2010, but has already established itself as one of the must-visit places to sit, relax and enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail until the small hours of the morning. The Akrotiri doesn't close until the last customer has left. Indeed, from the writer of this report, I would suggest that your Arillas holiday would not be complete without at least one visit to the Akrotiri.
venue tested: several times over a 3 month period.

 

VENUE REPORT:
Down the hill from Akrotiri is the Gravia Coffee and Snack Bar, where, ideal at lunchtime, you can sit for as long as you wish and soak in the breathtaking views along the entire sweep of Arillas Bay and the Gravia Islands. While taking in the view and sipping your coffee, you should perhaps try one of Gravia's superb fresh salads or, what is fast becoming a local legend, their unique oregano herb-sprinkled potato chips.
venue tested: several times over a 3 month period

 

VENUE REPORT: HELLEN'S Cafe AND CREPERIE
If you are on the beach and in desperate need of coffee, then I would not recommend that you scale the precarious sandstone cliffs of Arillas to the Gravia, but drop into one of the cafes on the seafront. Hellens, next door to Alex Supermarket is a good example of a typical Arillas seafront cafe. Run by George, as well as the usual array of drinks, baguettes and sandwiches, you will be able to enjoy breakfast all day long. Breakfast comes in 2 sizes, Big George or George Junior. If breakfast is your most important meal of the day then the Big George will definitely fill you up, while Junior George is a cut down version. Big George will get you 2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, an outcrop of mushrooms, a sausage, 2 hash browns and grilled tomato. To help wash it down both versions come with a choice of either coffee or tea plus fresh orange juice, which can help you in polishing off the accompanying toast and jam. If you make it you first meal of the day, as you are really supposed to, you possibly won't need to eat again until late evening. And, in the unlikely event that you are still hungry, well… you can eat breakfast all day!
*And, how much will this cost you? €5.00, £4.17p for Big George and €4.00, £3.34p for Junior.
- date of test: 18/9/2010

 

Eating out: Restaurants
One thing you will definitely be spoilt for choice for in Arillas, is good places to eat. A major reason Arillas is so popular with its cosmopolitan clientele is because it is impossible to find anywhere bad or even average to eat. Along the seafront are a number of restaurants offering a wide variety of Greek and continental culinary treats, as well as offering hand-made burgers for those with perhaps less adventurous palettes. All the restaurants I surveyed provided vegetarian options on the menu, and even if the options were limited, Greek salads are, in any case, among the best you will taste anywhere.

 

VENUE REPORT: AMOURADA RESTAURANT AND TAVERNA
On the corner, opposite the Vassilis Supermarket, at the junction that leads to San Stefano, you will find Amourada Restaurant and Taverna.
Surrounded by a trellis of grape vines and round arches Amourada serves a wide menu of Greek dishes and specialises in fish. Be prepared though, the food here is not only good, but the portions served are generous and you may have trouble standing up from your seat after your meal.
The Amourada is also one of the places where you can enjoy a bottle of Corfu Beer with your meal. Brewed locally by Arillas' own micro-brewery, it's a super ale by any standard. The brewery also offers tours with, apparently, plenty of sampling involved. I have never done the tour myself, but if you like really good beer, need I say more!
*Average meal cost: €15 - €20 (starter, main course and wine or beer)
venue tested: several times over a 10 year period.

 

VENUE REPORT: ARILLAS PIZZARIA
Up the main road from Amourada, across the junction signposted to San Stefanos, you will discover a Pizzeria (yes, just called Pizzeria) who cook using their own wood burning pizza oven, fuelled with wood pruned from olive trees. Their freshly made pizza bases are thin, crispy, and in my opinion, perfectly cooked. Pizza is another good option if you are vegetarian and you don't want to keep strictly to eating salads and potato. Service here can be a little slow at times, especially when busy, since everything is freshly prepared and cooked. However, persist, it will be worth the wait. On my test visit I declined a starter, but was provided anyway with sliced toasted pitta bread with an olive oil dip. For main course I had a pepperoni with chilli pizza, washed down with a bottle of German lager - alas they had sold out of Corfu Beer. I don't generally order dessert, but I was given, on the house, a plate of sliced fresh watermelon to finish my meal. A really pleasant surprise!
*The whole meal came to a total of €11.50. £9.60p.
- date of report: 18/9/2010.

 

VENUE REPORT:  THALASSA RESTAURANT
The Thallasa Restaurant is on the beachfront next to the Horizon Hotel. Here I tried the Chef's Special that consisted of fillet pork in a blue cheese and beer sauce. I wanted a starter of spicy cheese dip, but alas, they had sold out. Serves me right for arriving to eat at 10pm. Nothing else in the starter menu appealed to me, so I skipped one altogether. The Thallassa has a very relaxed ambience where you can enjoy the sound of the Med lapping against the beach in the background. Meals are all served with warm bread rolls accompanied by pats of garlic butter and olive puree. Relaxed it is, but the service was just how I like it. Attentive, but no waiters hanging around continually asking if you are enjoying your meal, generally in the middle of a mouthful. My liquid weapon of choice was, once again, a bottle of Corfu Beer, bitter - why change a good habit - the pork fillet, when it arrived was beautifully presented and the portion was perfect. Not too much, not too little. Best of all, it was delicious!
How much did this all cost me? €14.50 (main course, warm rolls and beer)
- date of report: 19/9/2010.

 

VENUE REPORT:  KOSTAS ON THE BEACH
Kostas on the Beach is next door to Thalassa Restaurant and has a similar menu, offering Greek dishes nicely prepared and presented. The restaurant has an open section at the front allowing you to enjoy an outside feel while being well sheltered from the occasional September rain shower. And when I say shower, I mean a rain shower with drops the size of marbles. Luckily these are quite rare, even late in the season, and often when there are storms they politely happen at night, resulting in the most spectacular pyrotechnic displays. However, I digress - back to Kostas.

Here I ordered a light starter, soup of the day, and was given the choice of either tomato or chicken. Tomatoes in Greece are always good, so I decided to try the chicken. This turned out to be a light chicken stock containing pieces of fine cut chicken with chopped vegetables, and came, like next door, with warm rolls, garlic butter and garlic puree. The taste wasn't overpowering and on top of the whole thing floated a large sprig of one of the most aromatic basils I have ever tasted. This not only added to the flavour, but the aroma as well. Delightful. For main course I ordered Stiffado, a Greek stew but one comprising large pieces of slow cooked beef. This particular version was served in a sauce laced in whole black peppers, with rice, green beans and boiled vegetables. My only complaint, the vegetables were a little overcooked and would have been much better had they been steamed and crunchy, especially the broccoli. I washed this down with the mandatory bottle of Corfu Bitter - come on it was almost my penultimate night and it isn't available at home. But this little gripe was nothing to worry about, since the service was friendly, unobtrusive and the waitress was gorgeous, in a Geena Davis sort of way.
And the cost: €15.50 (starter, main course and drink)
- date of report: 22/9/2010

 

VENUE REPORT: BROUKILS
Perhaps keeping the best for last, next door to the pizzeria is the best Greek restaurant in Arillas, and possibly one of the best on Corfu.
Brouklis serves a variety of traditional Greek dishes like stiffado, souvlaki, and moussaka, and is run by a local multi-lingual legend called Dimitris. If you are German, French, Italian, English or Greek he will happily switch languages at the drop of a hat, take your order or share local news with you, faultlessly, in your native language.
For Brouklis, though, the genuine pleasure comes in eating their food. Nowhere on the island will you find better prepared genuine Greek dishes, cooked to perfection and served in a salubrious, relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Perhaps the ideal way to select from the menu is simply to ask Dimitris to choose for you. However, when choosing your starter don't miss out on trying either the mussel or prawn saganaki. My preference is for the mussel version, where every mouthful is a savoury masterpiece.
*Average meal cost: €17 - €22 : £14.19 - £18.37p (starter, main course, wine)
venue tested: several times over a 10 year period.

My personal eating-out recommendation: don't leave for the airport without eating at Brouklis.
*prices based on currency average exchange rates during 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nightlife and entertainment:
Arillas is a quiet and mature holiday location and an important appeal for many is its absence of clubs or discos. If this type of entertainment is what you are seeking for a night out during your North West Corfu visit, take a taxi to Sidari (about €8), where there is plenty of noisy night-life. Arillas caters for most types of visitor, and if you do feel compelled to keep up with the latest football or cricket match, or watch one of the latest movie releases on a big screen, then there are a couple of bars on the main road to the seafront offering widescreen projection TV and Sky Sports. Not to my personal taste, since I prefer my holidays to be Newspaper and TV-free, but for the screen-addicts among you, it can provide a novel opportunity to watch the latest movies, currently showing only at the cinema at home, in one of the video-bars on a giant screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Car and Bike Hire:
Car, scooter and quad-bike hire are available in the town and is highly recommended if you want to see more of this part of the island. Typically, the cost ranges from around €12 per day for a scooter hire (inc. third-party insurance) with car hire rates starting at around €25 per day. If you want to be a little more adventurous, try hiring a quad-bike. Quad bikes, on average, will set you back around €26 per day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currency exchange;
Arillas has no cash machines, so if you have only brought your plastic cards with you, you will not be able to pull your Euros from a hole in the wall. San Seafanos provides cash machines and is a good brisk walk away. If, however, you have brought cash with you, then there are plenty of places to exchange it for Euros. Arkokal Travel, who also rent bikes and sell excursions will happily change your currency, and the Marina Hotel also has a currency exchange available. In my experience I have always found I get a better rate of exchange in resort, rather than at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Local Charm
One of the truly special charms of Arillas is that it is a mature, safe, friendly and cosmopolitan resort where the local Corfiots take a special pride in their well-founded reputation for honesty and friendliness. I lose count, over the past 10 years, how many times I have left my iPod and smartphone on the beach, covered merely with my beach towel, wandered a half-kilometer down to the town seafront for coffee at lunchtime, and never even worried about whether my stuff would still be there when I got back. It always has. In more than ten years of visiting Arillas I have never wasted a second of my holiday on worrying about having anything stolen, despite my admittedly precarious attitude to security. Arillas is simply not that sort of place.