Kanoni, Whitewashed Vlacherna Monastery, Mouse Island and Mon Repos Palace

Extending for four kilometres directly south of Corfu Old Town between Garitsa Bay and the shallow Halikiopoulos Lagoon is the lush, archaeological Analipsi (Kanoni) Peninsula, the site of the ancient 8th-century BC Corinthian city of Palaeopolis (Ancient Kerkyra). Linked to San Rocco Square in town every 20 minutes by Blue City Bus #2a, this peninsula holds both the royal botanical estate of Mon Repos and the single most famous view in Corfu at Kanoni.

1. Kanoni, Vlacherna Monastery (17th Century) & Mouse Island (Pontikonisi)

Stand on the cliffside café terraces of Kanoni (named after the French artillery battery placed here in 1798) and look straight down into the turquoise mouth of the lagoon:

• Vlacherna Monastery (Free Entry, Walk Across on Foot): descend the short flight of steps from Kanoni to walk out along the narrow stone sea-causeway onto a tiny rocky islet completely covered by the snow-white walls and red-tiled bell arch of the 17th-century Convent of Panagia Vlacherna.
• Taking the 5-Minute Wooden Boat to 'Mouse Island' (Pontikonisi): right from the Vlacherna jetty, small wooden kaiki boats shuttle passengers every 10 minutes across the channel to the cypress-covered emerald islet of Pontikonisi ('Mouse Island'). In Greek mythology, Pontikonisi is the Phaeacian ship of Odysseus turned to stone by an angry Poseidon. Climb its white stone staircase (which looks from afar like a white mouse's tail) to the 11th-century Byzantine Chapel of Pantokrator.
• The Famous Airplane Spotting Footbridge: walk 100 metres west of Vlacherna onto the long pedestrian cement footbridge spanning the lagoon to Perama, which passes literally 100 metres in front of the threshold of Corfu Airport's runway so landing jets roar low directly over your head.

2. Mon Repos Palace & The Ancient Temple of Artemis / Kardaki (Halfway to Kanoni)

On your way to or from Kanoni, step through the gates of the 258-acre Mon Repos Estate (free park entry). Built in 1831 as the summer villa of British High Commissioner Sir Frederick Adam for his Corfiot wife Nina Palatianou (and the 1921 birthplace of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), the neoclassical villa houses the Palaeopolis Museum, while shaded forest paths lead down to the 5th-century BC Doric Temple of Kardaki overlooking the sea and the peaceful swimming pier of Mon Repos Beach.