Domes Miramare

Worth getting out of bed for

Spend your days at Domes Miramare exactly how the Onassis family would have wanted: lounging in the sun, taking alternate dips in the pool and the sea or sipping cocktails under the olive trees. Work your way through the massages and beauty treatments on the spa menu, then strike up a tune on the piano in the lobby (that last bit’s probably only advisable for the musically inclined, though a few bars of Zorba the Greek will do in a pinch). For a change of beach-scenery, head over to the soft, golden sands of Halikounas Beach on Corfu’s windsurfer-friendly west side (Alonaki restaurant will keep you very well fed and watered), get your kit off at Myrtiotissa nudist beach, or join the locals at the secret bar on Gardenos beach. Porto Timoni is a narrow headland with back-to-back beaches, which you can reach by pedalo (or, less romantically, a rocky path from Afionas). If you didn’t take the Miramaretta when you arrived, book in for a trip on the luxury motorboat to Corfu Town. Science, tradition and more than four-million olive trees go into making the oil at The Governor's Olive Mill (Ágios Matthaíos 490 84) – take a tour and learn how they do it. Hire a boat, grab a map, and set a course for the laser-blue water of the Paleokastritsa caves – and don’t forget your beach gear for basking in the coves nearby. For a daytrip, take the one-hour ferry to the sleepy island of Paxos, Corfu’s little sister; neighbouring Antipaxos is the baby of the bunch, an idyllic escape lined with white-sand beaches. Achilleion Palace in Gastouri was built for the Empress of Austria in 1890, and was later the summer home of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It’s every bit as majestic as you’d expect, with classical statues, gleaming colonnades, and immaculate gardens facing the sea.

Local restaurants

Townhouse café Sway (Kappodistriou 52) does all-day dishes alongside iced coffees and meticulously crafted cocktails; you can sit on the terrace or inside, where pendant lamps hang above the patterned tile floor. Classic Greek seafood doesn’t come much better than at Bacchus Taverna on Messonghi beach; go for the cheese-stuffed squid, then pick a fish, any fish. For a lazy lunch go to Bioporos (Vrakaniotika Lake Korission 490 80) – the entirely organic ingredients are sourced locally, so expect this-morning’s eggs from the adjacent farm, and traditional Greek bread fresh from the wood-fired oven. In the oh-so-pretty fishing village of Benitses, Nikos Bellos’ Klimataria is a date-night destination, serving market-sourced seafood with legendary house sauces.

Local bars

Caldera (Moraitika 490 84) is a beachside bar and restaurant with regular live music and fresh-fruit cocktails flowing late into the night.