The Kavos Greece Guide

Kavos is a small town in Corfy, Greece, "The Emerald Isle" or it is  known as "The Greek Ibiza."

 

Airport

If you are going to Kavos during June - August, I would advise to wear a comfortable T-Shirt before you get on your flight from the UK. Ok, people will might think you're a bit weird for getting on the flight with a thin T-Shirt and shorts/skirt especially if it's freezing outside, but as soon as you get off the plane at Corfu Airport the heat hits you. All the people getting on the flight with Eskimo clothes on will wish they had done the same. Especially waiting for their suitcases. Trust me Corfu airport is one hot annoying place. I know this from experience. Some people wear big coats, crazy!! Remember you are going to the med not Manchester. Your bodies natural central heating system still thinks your in England so you tend to sweat naturally.

Alcohol.

In Kavos booze is very cheap, the cheapest decent bottle of beer is AMSTEL 500ml, this costs around 0.65 Euro which is around 40p in English. Be aware that you can buy booze during the day and before you go at night from the supermarket, you can buy crates of beer at a cut down price. Also with most supermarkets and shops, if you bring the crate back with the empty bottles intact they give you some of your money back, this is around 3-4.5 Euros (2-3 quid). Ok its not much but put it this way 4.5 Euros is a couple of drinks. Amstel collect the bottles and reuse them. So keep that in mind instead of lobbing the empty bottles off the balcony or in the bin.

As for bottles of any other label I am unsure about the price, remember that any bottles you buy in the UK are brewed in the UK. Most of the labels bottles e.g. W.K.D, Barcardi Breezer, Hooch & UK popular labels have to be imported from mainland Greece so you will be expected to pay that extra. Some supermarkets are open late night in Kavos, so if you're gagging for a beer buy its cheaper to buy from the shop than the bars and clubs, and a lot quicker to get served.

Good UK beers on tap are quite rare in Kavos, because the importation costs are high.....however the Scorers Bar do Boddingtons and Caffreys on tap also the Face bar, expect to pay around £3 pint though.

What is a good idea is to buy lots of crates and get hammered on your balcony before you go out. Make sure you give the beers a few hours in the fridge, because warm beer/bottles will give you a nasty stomach ache. The heat out there is HOT!, so prepared to wait a while for them to cool down. Some supermarkets don't refrigerate their bottles, this is because they are in crates, so get the booze in a few hours before you go out. As for wine, I never looked at the price, though I'm sure its very cheap. All med wines are cheap and popular.

Always keep topped up with bottled water in your apartment, because you don't want to come back to your apartment totally smashed to realise that you're going die of thirst during the night/early morning. NEVER drink the tap water, no matter how thirsty you are, some guy last year caught legionaries disease through drinking the med tap water. This is the most extreme case, but most of the time you are at risk of getting the sh**ts or becoming ill for a few days. So remember it's worth going back out to find a bar that sells bottled water (all bars do). Bottled water in Kavos from the supermarkets is ridiculously CHEAP, so stock up with lots.

Food.

If you are going to Kavos self-catered (which most people do) then you can eat out very cheap. For a full English breakfast you can pay around £1.40 - £3.20, that includes full English breakfast with a drink. Their are a few good restaurants in Kavos that do good breakfasts, however an English Breakfast abroad never tastes anywhere near as good as home in the UK. It's easier to eat out rather than stock up your own grub for the morning, however in the afternoon I tended to go to the supermarket and buy food to take back to my apartment to cook up.

If you want some grub coming back from your Kavos raving beware of what you purchase from the takeaways, Kebabs are dodgy in the UK, so at a holiday resort they are going be far more dodgy, you don't want to have food poisoning like I did for two days. Just be careful and see if the meat is cooked properly, because the takeaways are going to be hammering the food out if their is a big queue and some of it isn't going be cooked 100% just the same as the UK. Don't let this put you off, their are some very good takeouts in Kavos...just be aware.


Money

I can't advise anyone on how much to take to Kavos, it depends if you are a big spender, a small spender or a stupid spender. On average £600-£700 should do you a good time for 2 weeks if you don't go stupid. However £600-£800 should see you a mint time if you've got the cash. I personally would take 50% of my cash in Travellers cheques (don't knock them), you can get then exchanged off your local exchange easily and at least you are insured if you lose them or have them stolen. Remember nobody keeps found travellers cheques that somebody has lost, but they will keep money. You will be able to keep your passport safe in a deposit box if you wish (your rep should mention this), this is much safer than keeping it in your apartment. In the extremely unlikely case of a robbery while you are gone you don't want your passport stolen, also your money 'so' consider Travellers cheques. Get your cash exchanged at Thomas Cook for the best deal.


Mopeds (scooters)

I think all the guys know that when they get to Kavos they want hire the mopeds. These guidelines are for more the lads than the women, seen as though the women are much more sensible with them. Right ok here is the low down, most of the accidents that happen in Kavos are motorbike related (just thought we would mention that). You can loan a scooter for as little as £8 a day, that is 9-5 PM, however if you pay for what you get...if you are willing to pay £12 - £15+ squid then you will get a higher cc engine. If you have not ridden a motorbike before then hire the lowest cc to get use to it and a more powerful one the next day when you are much more confident. If you go for the powerful bike first with no experience, you will most certainly come off it sooner or later. You can hire the crosser bike that has gears and a clutch, they are one of the fastest but also the more dangerous and noisy. Beware that if you crash the bike you will have to pay for the damage, when you loan a bike they take your passport so you will have to bring it back if you have crashed one in a ditch. I knew one guy who had crashed 2 bikes in a day, it added up to around £500 quid in fines. If you're prepared to take that chance and go wild on a bike, remember the consequences that if you crash you will receive a free broken neck and bike repair cost. Before you loan the bike check the brakes are working correctly and the steering. If you don't and your brakes are nakered, it will be too late to realise when you are driving down a road and you realise your brakes a mashed just before you hit the back of a car...game over.

Other than that the bikes are amazing and you can view Corfu to its full beauty rather than stay in Kavos. Go down some of the Corfu outback to have a heck of a bike ride.


Dodgy Del Boys & Flower sellers.

Beware of the Gypsy Del Boys and Rose Flower sellers who walk the streets of Kavos trying to flog you gear such as laser pens that don't work and glow in the dark sticks. If you are prepared to buy something off them always haggle, you can knock them down to peanuts. This also works with the roses they sell, always haggle. Beware of the little scroats that walk with them, most probably their kids...that can pick pocket in bars and street when it's hammered. *NEVER! let them hold your wallet or purse to let them pick out how much they want to charge you.* Also never hand the little scroats your wallet or purse because they will just run off with it.

Dodgy designer labels.

Kavos shops are flooded with fake Ralph Loren and DKNY gear such as caps, belts and tops. Well I can't knock some of the gear because the fakes are very good ones, I bought a DKNY cap for £4 quid which is a exactly the same as the original for £40. You cannot tell the difference. As for the clothes I don't know, I wouldn't chance it incase they fade in or dye in the wash. But from the looks of them they are very good fakes. By far better than UK fakes.

Sunburn

I don't need to tell you how hot it is in Corfu, If you are pale skinned when you go over, through lack of UK sun go for a factor 15 and no less for the first few days. Always remember to put it on as well, because if you go out in the sun for more than 30 minutes without it you will most certainly peel and burn which will ruin the rest of the holiday (sunstroke even). Don' worry about taking lots of lotion as well, the shops in Kavos sell good labels.

Mosquito Repellant

Personally nothing works fully to keep mosquito's out of your room, whether they be plugs, repellant or the mosquito candles. These just keep them at bay. You can only prevent yourself from being eaten alive. Everyone seems to go for the plugs which are quite effective...though the plug I used last year was pants, the mosquito's were sat on it laughing, saying 'is this all ya got mate!'. I would personally go for the plug and after sun repellent lotion. Some people don't get bitten once while they are on holiday, mosquito's go for a blood type..so you may not even get touched whilst in Kavos...on the other hand you might be a 4 course meal so always take the plugs just incase, I think Superdrug do one for a around £5 with a good supply of repellent tabs for 2 weeks. If you have one from a past holiday, you can by the tabs from the supermarkets for around 0.6 Euros (40 pence) a box. The Corfu tabs are a lot more affective than the ones sold in the UK.

Taxi's

Before you set off in a Taxi, always sort of out the charge before hand. Remember haggle! haggle! haggle!. You will always get your price down from what he charges.


Never try and take some substances over with you, trust me. At the end of the day it's not worth having a criminal record and being ring raided over a few pills.