The ferry brought us from Saranda, Albania to Corfu, Greece, from where we headed to a small village called Liapades. This island promised us a week of relax, swimming and fantastic food. We were ready to have our first swim on arrival, but things went a bit wrong.
Getting to the village
We chose a small village called Liapades as our last sea destination. To get there we were supposed to take a bus from the bus station. The ticket cost was around 2 Euro per person. The first quest was to find the bus station we needed.
People didn’t speak much of English, but everyone said that we needed a green station. Turned out that there is a bus line called Green busses and the station they use is basically the main bus station. It was located a bit further from the city centre.
We walked there within 30 minutes. Upon arrival we were informed that the last bus to Liapades departed at 4 pm. At that same time we left Saranda, so we had absolutely zero chances to catch the bus from the beginning. We asked if there were any other options we could use, but the woman at the counter said we had none.
Trying to find a solution we asked for another bus that passes a couple of kilometers from Liapades, from where we could just walk.
The woman at the counter looked at her watches and said “This bus has left just… now. So you can’t get this one either”. By that moment we’d been at the station for 10-15 minutes and would be actually able to catch this bus if this woman offered us this option as an alternative.
So we went outside and found taxis that were patiently waiting for the clients. They knew they were in a great position and it didn’t make any sense to bargain: there simply were no alternatives.
So we took a taxi from Corfu town to Liapades for 40 Euro. We paid 10 times more than for a bus. That taught us to make a better research on the transport before we buy tickets.
Our apartment in Liapades in Corfu, Greece
The ride to our place in Liapades took around 20 minutes. The night has already started, so we didn’t see much on our way. We rented a part of the house that belonged to the owner of the Costa steakhouse. It was easy to find.
The apartment consisted of two rooms: one bedroom and one kitchen with a sofa. We had also a small kind of terrace with a view to the parking lot in front of the steak house. The place was located right next to the bus station of Liapades. We used it later to go to Corfu town. This was very convenient.
The owners had several cats. One has become our good friend. Her name was Koala and she was 20 years old. She got this name because when she was young, she could climb any place. Koala visited us every day. She was completely deaf, but she enjoyed our company anyways.
The nearest supermarkets were around 10 minutes from us and the way passed a cemetery. During the day it was ok, but at night it was completely dark. Only candles at the graves shone in the darkness and made the whole experience a bit creepy.
There also was a little garden in front of our terrace and the chef of the steakhouse took herbs and fruit from there. We saw some ready figs on the tree, but we thought it was inappropriate to take them. So we took them on the way to the beach d back, where fig trees didn’t belong to anyone 😀
Beaches and sea of Liapades in Corfu, Greece
Liapades has two main beaches. One – Liapades beach – is easy to reach (you just go straight along the road until it ends), it is more popular among tourists than the other one. Name of the second beach is Rovinia, and you gotta work a bit to get there.
The path to Rovinia ascends and descends quite steeply. By the time you reach the beach you will have quite some calories burnt. However, it is totally worth it. Since it is harder to get, there are less people. The scenery is wonderful. We swam all around the shore.
Not far from Rovinia beach there is a hidden beach for those who like to enjoy the seaside holidays naked 😉
There are many options to hire a boat. The water is crystal clear and has an amazing color. There was a lot of fish that followed us. At some point it was a bit annoying, because we felt chased 😀 But anyways, we enjoyed our time at the sea in Liapades a lot.
Corfu town
One day we decided to spend in the Corfu town. For this we took a bus right next to our place. The ride took around half an hour.
There was a funny (not for the poor women) episode. The driver probably hadn’t announced arrival to Liapades, so two women stayed in the bus and went back to Corfu. Somewhere around halfway there the driver realized it. He stopped the bus, came to these women and asked “Liapades?” They said “Yes” And he screamed “you have problems with your head!”
After that he continued driving and calling someone on the phone. In the end he put them off somewhere where they supposedly could get a bus in the right direction. We hoped they made it.
In the Corfu town we mostly just walked and enjoyed the architecture and views. We checked many souvenir shops, bookstores, food places. The weather was hot, so we didn’t really have much energy to do a lot of tourism.
Once we bought everything we wanted, we took the bus back.
General impression of Liapades in Corfu, Greece
We enjoyed our time in Liapades in Corfu, Greece. It is a quiet place with beautiful beaches and amazing water. The village of Liapades is small, but cosy. Even though it was different from the classic image of Greece with white houses and blue roofs, it had everything we needed for a good rest.
The weather was comfortable, people were friendly and food was delicious. What else could we desire? 🙂