Things To Do in Nissaki

As church festivals go, this one really rocks. The Nissaki locals turn out to celebrate the event with traditional music and dancing in the church grounds. You can join in the fun and tuck into spit-roasted lamb washed down with retsina. Don’t forget to stop by and pay your respects to the pastor, who’ll give you a piece of special festival bread in return.

The husband-and-wife team here serve home cooking at its best. In the kitchen, Anna Maria prepares everything from scratch – pastry for pies, fresh dips like hummus and tzatziki, spicy sausages, the lot. Meanwhile her husband, Vangelis, is a man who knows his meat. He grew up in a family of cattle breeders and his outdoor spit roasts on the tree-lined stone terrace are hard to beat.

Scramble over a patch of rocks to the east of Nissaki’s 30-odd-metre-long beach and you’ll find a little jetty designed with just one purpose in mind – watersports. Banana boats, water-skiing, wakeboarding and parasailing are all for hire here. If you’d rather go underwater, though, you can snorkel for octopuses, crabs and starfish in the rocky crags at either end of the bay.

Some of the seafront tavernas have been run by the same family for generations so you’ll get home-cooked food made to age-old recipes. You can tuck into classics like stifado – beef with shallot sauce – and prawn saganaki, a dish baked with tomato sauce and feta cheese. And a glass of the local retsina washes it all down rather nicely.

Forget pumping bars and foam parties – Nissaki by night is all about relaxing in one of the beachfront tavernas, enjoying the starlit sea views over a bottle of wine. If that’s not lively enough for you, you can always take the 20-minute stroll along the coast to Barbati, which has a main strip that’s crammed with buzzy bars.

Paleokastritsa is one of Corfu’s most popular beauty spots – and handily it’s just over half-an-hour’s drive along the coast. You can explore the caves in its 5 pebbly bays by boat, or take a hike into the steep green valleys behind the town to discover the 13^th-century castle ruins. And the place has lots of tavernas for relaxing over a glass of crisp wine.

Shopping is small-scale in Nissaki. You’ve got a couple of supermarkets on the main road for picking up picnic supplies and holiday essentials. But the resort has an ace up its sleeve with its beachfront gift shop, The Loom. The place is set in a 400-year-old house and everything sold here – from knitted jumpers to painted ceramics – has been hand-crafted locally.

In Nissaki, they’re not fussed about foam parties. In fact, the nights here are totally chilled – they’re all about relaxing over a bottle of wine or 2 in the tavernas. If you want to take things up a notch, you can head to Barbati, about a 20-minute walk west down the coastal road. The main strip here is packed with late-night cocktail bars and sports bars.

Nissaki Beach has clear, calm waters, so it’s a great place for a spot of scuba – if you’re lucky, you might see octopuses, morays and sea turtles. There’s a diving school right in front of the cove that caters for all levels. If diving’s not for you, you’ll find other watersports including parasailing and waterskiing.

You’ll have to tackle the steep hill up the main road to get to this cosy little bar at the top of the village, but the cocktails are well worth the climb. The owner, Kostas, used to be the village baker, but he now uses his mixing skills to create mojitos and cosmopolitans. It’s a top after-dinner hangout, with soft lighting, comfy sofas and the odd rock and reggae night.

Stroll along the waterfront and you’ll come to a handful of family-run tavernas, serving up carafes of inexpensive fruity local wine and delicious Corfiot dishes like chicken souvlaki and prawn saganaki – a casserole with tomato sauce and feta cheese. And as you’d expect, fresh seafood also takes centre stage on menus here.

Once a sprawling sheep-herding community, the mountain village of Old Sinies is now a crumbling ghost town. Wandering around its deserted stone cottages and churches is a wee bit spooky. To pick up the trail, head north along the road to Vinglatsouri then follow the well-marked route. It’s a bit of a steep one, so don’t forget the sturdy shoes, picnic and water.

Visitors flock from nearby resorts to Nissaki’s beachfront gift shop, The Loom, which is in a 400-year-old house. A world away from the usual line in tourist goods, this sells quality hand-woven fabrics, painted ceramics and gifts made from olive wood. You’ve also got 4 supermarkets here for basics like bread and sun cream.