Friday 27 April 2012

The Falling Costs of Holidays in Greece and Corfu?


No idea if this article is accurate, but there appear to be some tempting package holiday discounts on offer.

I am also uncertain about Simon Calder's price estimates in this article in The Independent.

To quote Mr Calder:
"In Corfu, says the Post Office, a beer costs €4.50, compared with just €2 in Spain. But before you cross Greece off your holiday wish-list, note that no quantity is specified. From my exhaustive research on the subject, beer in Greece tends to be served in jumbo, thirst-quenching half-litres, while the standard measure in Spain is halved: a measly 250ml, hardly worth getting out of bed for, and unsurprisingly cheaper than that pint in Corfu.
How much was that beer, again? In the Corfiot resort of Sidari this evening, any bartender trying to charge €4.50 for a foaming pint of Mythos (that's Greek beer, not insect repellent) will see all his customers vanish to Shaker's Bar, where the same drink costs €2.
Likewise, the "cup of regular filter coffee" priced by the Post Office at €2.50 is a nonsense: any sensible visitor will sip proper Greek coffee in a kafeneio, and is unlikely to be troubled for more than a euro."


It obviously depends what kind of beer you drink, and what type of coffee you like. Much as I enjoy an "elleniko, metrio" or a Mythos, I do enjoy a filter coffee and an occasional bottle of Corfu's excellent (superb!) brand of Royal Ionian beer from the micro-brewery in the north of the island. You can very easily spend Euros 3.50 for a coffee, or 4.50 for a bottle of beer.
But you can keep your table or sit for as long as you like and watch the world go by. You're paying for occupying a prime seat on the Liston (or by the sea) as much as for the drink itself. It's worth it!

As with everything else in life, you have to know where to go, and what to buy.

If you have a taste for fresh fish, for instance, you're better off staying in England. In Greece it's never been cheap. A friend once pointed to a decent-sized one in the display case at a fish taverna, without thinking to ask the price, and I think it set him back around 100 Euro.

Update, The Guardian

3 comments:

  1. hi there,
    we love Corfu but we love Paxos as well, with the small paradise Antipaxos

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  2. Hi!

    Paxos is one of my favourite places in the world.
    I hope to come soon. What's the current situation with the Delphini and frequency of reliable transport to and from Corfu for visitors who are not part of holiday change-over groups?

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  3. well this year everything is ok, until now. but a month ago we had serious problems, but after discussion with the politics everything is ok.

    ReplyDelete