Ferry to Igoumenitsa – A day trip from Corfu

Corfu is without doubt a beautiful and mesmerising island but a little contrasting scenery never did a traveller any harm. If you happen to be on Corfu wanting to fill your holiday itinerary with diverse, interesting and exciting days out then taking a ferry with your car from Corfu Town to Igoumenitsa on mainland Greece would mean that at least one day fulfils such itinerary aspirations.

The ferry leaves at hourly intervals but setting off early will give you a full day to make the most of such a worthwhile and fun adventure. The excitement starts as soon as you climb up on the boat’s deck to lounge about in the sun for the two hour crossing, which has great vistas in all directions.

When you arrive at Igoumenitsa after meandering through the town of a while you may want to follow the road to Ioannia to experience this part of Greece’s especially stunning scenery. The road will take you over high mountain plateaus, its rocky and jagged peaks contrasting starkly to the lush and rolling landscape of Corfu.

The 94 kilometre-long wild mountain road of hairpin bends and breathtaking viewing points takes you all the way to beautiful town of Ioannia. Ioannia is 700 metres above sea level and snow lies on the ground for much of the year. The town is almost surrounded by a crystal clear lake.

It is the old part of Ioannia, which is nestled by the lakeside that is particularly worthy of a visit. After you have satisfied your curiosity at the simply stunning Ioannia, push on a further 54 kilometres to Metsova and you’ll be in for another travellers’ treat.

The road to Metsova is even narrower than the Ioannia road but is well worth the effort. The food on offer in this mountainous Greek town is excellent with local wild boar or mountain sheep being the popular meat of choice. It is also recommended that you try the local goat’s cheese especially the smoked variety washed down with a local crisp white wine known as Alverof.

A further drive up to the village of Zagori to see the world’s deepest gorge is possible and recommended for obvious reasons but this would leave the driver with an awful lot of driving to do to get back in time for the ferry back to Corfu!