Paleokastritsa, whose name is often referred to as "Paleo" by foreigners, is the major attraction on the west coast, with hotels spreading so far back along the approach road that some are a taxi ride from town. The original village at the end of the approach road is small, surrounded by dramatic hills and cliffs, profusely adorned by olive, fir and cypress trees. It has been suggested as a possible site of the Homeric city of Scheria, where Odysseus was washed ashore, discovered by Nausicaa and her handmaidens and welcomed by her father King Alcinous, although this is a claim shared by a number of other sites in the islands. From the turning to Lakones and the Angelokastro, a full 3km before the village proper, the main road is intermittently lined with hotels and businesses, as it gradually descends to sea level. Along the way there are bends overshadowed by jagged boulders, vegetation sprouting at seemingly impossible angles and tantalizing glimpses of the blue bays below. Eventually the road rounds the last couple of bends, passing Platakia and Alipa beaches to the south, and flattens out as it enters the diminutive village. This was once just a tiny fishing village and is still relatively low-key, with surprisingly few cafes, restaurants and shops on the main road or by the small bays to either side. Straight ahead lies an abruptly steep promontory, atop of which the thirteenth-century Paleokastritsa monastery overlooks the village. The area's other historic building, a circuitous 6km or so north via the villages of Lakones and Makrades, is the Angelokastro, one of the most impressive ruins on corfu island.

The Beaches
Paleokastlitsa has a series of average beaches scattered around its elongated coastline. Of the three surrounding the village, the sandy semicircle of Ayios Spyridhon, on the south side, is the longest and busiest, backed by the majority of the village's restaurants and cafes. It is also home to a plethora of sea taxis and kaikia, which tout for custom from the jetties at each end. The second, Agios Petros, a stony beach with clear water, beyond the car park, just to the north of the headland's neck, is preferable. The best of the three, however, is Anibelakia a narrower, relatively secluded strand reached along a short path beyond the Astakos Taverna.
Protected by surrounding cliffs, it's undeveloped apart from the German-run Korfu Diving scubadiving centre at the end of the cove. The centre runs daily trips (except Saturdays) for beginners and advanced divers to more than twenty sites, taking in reefs, arches and canyons. The professional outfit can also offer night dives, cave diving and advanced training. Typical charges are €50 for a single-tank dive, €200 for five. Other beaches a little further back from the village, but easily walkable, are Alipa and Platakia. The former, barely half a flat kilometre southeast of the village, is a fairly long pebbly bay, beside a small, little-used harbour. The latter, one bay further east, is not a lot further but involves going 500m back up the main road and then down some steps through the pines by the Dolphin Snackbar. It is narrower and the pebbles a bit larger but the water is crystal clear.

Boat Trips From Paleokastritsa
From the main Agios Spyridon beach, boat trips, usually €8-10 per person for half an hour, leave for a series of spectacular nooks and crannies on the surrounding bluffs, accessible only by sea. Principal among these beauty spots are the Blue Grottoes, a name much used for caves in the Ionians islands, and, most impressively, The Eye, where the sunlight shining through the hole in a partially submerged rock illuminates a patch of water below the surface so that it resembles an eye. The trip is worth taking as much as anything for the spectacular coastal views. The same group of boatmen also run a sea-taxi service to several neighbouring beaches, including Agia Trianda, Platakia, Alipa and sometimes Elli, right across the bay. Each is a pebbly cove filled with blue water, and served by beach bars and snack bars, either at sea level or on the slopes above.

Paleokastritsa Monastery
Daily 7am-1 pm & 3-8pm free, donations welcome.
On the rocky promontory above the beaches, the beautiful, whitewashed Paleokastritsa monastery (also known as the Theotokos monastery) is believed to have been established in the thirteenth century, though the current buildings date from the eighteenth. It is still home to seven monks The small monastery church has a number of impressive icons, including depictions of Saint George and the dragon and an atmospheric Last JudQement, while the ceiling features a woodcarving of the Tree of Life and a centrepiece painting of the Holy Trinity. The main panels of the iconostasis show a lifesize Christ, with SS Chrysostomos to the left and Spyridon to the right. On the same upper level there is also a museum (same hours), resplendent with further icons, most notably a beautiful Dormitiorr of the Virgin Mary, jewel-encrusted sil ver-bound Bibles and other impedimenta of Greek Orthodox ritual, as well as a curious "sea monster", with very large vertebrae and tusks, said to have been killed by fishermen in the nineteenth century.
The monks' humble cells and a wishing well - now accepting euros - complete the upper level. The cooler lower level, where a welcome breeze flows through the stone arches, contains an oil-press and the main monastery shop, selling homemade wine and oil, as well as books and the usual reproductions of icons and religious paraphernalia. The real highlight, however, are the beautiful paved gardens, a rich palate of bougainvillea, geraniums, marigolds and vines, affording spectacular views over the coastline. The oddest object, for a place of worship and reflection, is the jet-black cannon, ominously placed ten metres from the entrance.

The Angelokastro
Tues-Sun 8am-8pm €2-3
Paleokastritsa's castle, the Angelokastro, perched dramatically on an impossibly abrupt if diminutive peak, is in fact around 6km up the coast from town. There are signposted short-cut paths through open country from Paleokastritsa, but the main approach, and certainly the only one by car, involves doubling back to the Lakonesturning and heading via Lakones itself to the larger village of Makrades.
In the first village, Boulis, a simple taverna right on the main road does tasty grills and snacks or, on the road between the two settlements, cafe/restaurants such as Bella Vista and Golden Fox make the most of some of the finest views in the region to lure customers - though you will pay more for the privilege and the food quality is average at best. Makrades itself is a pleasant little village built in the Venetian style, with a curious tradition of roadside stalls, loaded with honey, olive oil and wine, whose energetic owners could probably sell refrigerators to Eskimos. The route to the kastro leaves via the smaller hamlet of Krini, 1 km southwest, where a more authentic meal can be had at the friendly Sunset family taverna. The road then dips round a couple of hairpin bends before terminating under I kin past Krini at the Angelokastro car park, which has an adequate restaurant/snack bar beside it, named Castelo St Antielo.
The castle
The ruined castle is a stiff ten- to fifteen-minute walk up a steep, stepped path from the car park, but the effort is rewarded by stunning, almost circular views of the surrounding sea and land - on a clear day, it's possible to see Corfu Town some 25kni away. This extraordinary vantage point is undoubtedly why its Byzantine builders and later Venetian developers chose the site. Indeed, the Angevins of Naples held out here for the best part of a year when the Venetians took over the rest of the island in 1386, and the fortress remained unbreached during the brief but destructive Turkish invasions of 1537, 1571 and 1716. Little now remains of the fort except for parts of the main north and east walls - the other two sides were naturally protected by the vertical drops. The only structures left within are three vaulted underground cisterns, the small church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel atop the highest point of the acropolis, some tombs and, cut into the eastern rock face, the tiny cave chapel of Agia Kiriaki, which still has some eighteenth-century frescoes.

Eating and Nightlife in Paleokastritsa
There isn't a huge choice of restaurants in Paleokastritsa, considering the number of visitors the town entertains; the best are listed below. Nightlife hangouts are even thinner on the ground: most people drink at the restaurant-bars in the village, such as the Corner Grill at the far end of the main beach, or those straggling back up the main road. The most relaxing place for a cocktail is the Petrino bar, a converted stone house with a small garden, 1.5km east along the main road from the village. By the Lakones turning is Pale okastritsa's one nightclub, The Palco Club, a small disco-bar with a garden, which opens and closes late.