Now as I mentioned in another review, I've been visiting Corfu since 2004, three times in Ipsos and once in Kavos, and I must say I definetly prefer Ipsos, it's still lively-ish but definetly more chilled out and calmer, with less madness going on!
I'm going to write this review about Ipsos beach and its surrounding area, all the things within a 10 minute walk...
* THE BEACH * Now since the review is the beach it's probably a good thing to start with the beach itself!! Ipsos has a long shingle beach, but don't let that put you off too much, surely it's all the better as your don't get sandy feet or sand in your clothes after a long session of hopping from water to shore.
There are sunbeds out and avaliable to hire daily on the Ipsos beach and are ok priced - six euros per bed, and you usually get an umbrella in the middle of the two, perfect for when it gets too hot and you don't want to end up looking like too much of a lobster!! If your not a beach babe though, don't bother with the sunbeds get a lilo and lay on that on the beach, not worth spending out for a sunbed for an hour or so (which is what we usually ended up doing and then becoming bored and moving off elsewhere!)
Now as I said, the beach is shingle but for some unknown reason after a couple of metres into the water, you are on sand. So, definetly by the time you are knee deep in the water you'll be on sand, so then you wont have to worry about hurting your poor little feet on anything!
* THE WATER * The sea water in Ipsos is absolutely gorgeous. It is crystal clear until you go much further out, and very reassuring if your a bit wary about swimming where you dont know what's swimming with you! You can see all the little fish swimming around you, although obviously they dont come too close.
If you go swimming early in the morning (I'm talking about 6 or 7am) you'll see the much bigger fish closer to the shore which is always a giggle.
* THE WATER SPORTS * On the corner of the Ipsos beach you will find a couple selling watersports. I reccommend taking out a pedalo for a couple of hours, it's really cheap, I believe 12 euros for 2 hours and they discount you more if you go out for longer. You can take the boat out along the rocks and explore the little caves (well,look at them maybe not in them) and won t have to please other people (like if you go on a guided tour and you have someone constantly chatting about the history of Corfu). You could also take your boat to one of the many smaller, almost tiny, stretches of beaches and pull it up carefully - dont lose it! - for a spot of sunbathing... Maybe check first with the owners though I wouldnt want you to get into trouble!
Other more mad
water sports include the banana boats, which are crazy!! The feeling is almost terrifying but definetly worth doing, if just so you can tell your mates about it afterwards! I must admit I only tried this once, the first time I visited the Island and haven't been brave enough to do it since, after I heard the horror stories about it! It was really safe to do, I can't remember how much it was unfortunately but it wasn't mega expensive, and was definetly worth it for the experience.
Para gliding is also avaliable (no I didn't try that!) as well as countless other water sports at reasonable pricing. Definetly worth checking out for all you extremeists out there!
* THE BEACH SELLERS * There's a nice young bloke who walks up and down the beach selling CDs, but hes no hassle and is very friendly, no threat at all and doesn't become offended if you dont want anything, he will still stay and have a chat if you want. Occasionally you'll get people selling fruit like watermelon but there are signs advising you not to buy so it's probably best not to - they are still friendly enough and wont hassle you. Nothing to worry about in this department!
* THE EXCURSIONS * There are a number of different excursions you can book up (dont go through your rep whatever you do, unless you like paying an extra 15 or 20 euros purely for a smile!). The bar crawl seems to be the most pointless as surely you can walk from bar to bar alone without having to pay??
~~Boat trip & Beach BBQ I went on the boat trip and beach BBQ last year and found it to be quite good, although there were a lot of older people and families there, we were the one of the only groups of young'uns. The trip was ok, but definetly nothing special. The food again was ok but we probably could have done better ourselves. Worth it for the experience maybe but I wouldn't do it again. Give it a 4/10, if that helps. Not worth wasting a day of a short holiday on, in my opinion anyway.
~~AquaLand This was brilliant. For around 25 euros you get entrance to the park as well as a coach ride up there. Aqualand consists of a wide variety of different slides, a huge wave pool, lazy river, pirate adventure and much much more. You can hire lockers while your there, but we just made sure we didn't take anything valuable and left our bits on the sunbeds whilst we went in the water and everything was still there when we got back, bit of a gamble maybe! The wave pool was my favourite part, risk of drowning though (lol!). Food quite expensive, so maybe take your own bits, and your own water.
~~Corfu Town Dont book through your rep, get the bus yourself or go to one of tthe cheaper booking shops and you can get there for about 4 or 5 euros. Restaurants quite good choice, and the shops are different, but not as cheap as you might expect. A lot of fake gucci's, etc. Worth a look, but not worth spending a whole day up there. Best time to go is at night. (after 5ish)
Now there are other excursions avaliable which I haven't taken part in. These include horse riding, scuba diving and a trip to another waterpark. There are also countless other boat trips avaliable including to paxos and albania, they leave from Ipsos beach itself and can be booked from near enough all of the booking shops along the beach front
* THE LOCATION * Ipsos beach is located opposite a long strip of bars, clubs and restaurants which is perfect for when you get a bit peckish, or bored. There are also booking and gift shops within 10 minutes of you, wherever you are on the beach, and supermarkets always closeby. The beach is located next to a road so it can be a little noisy, but you hardly notice it when you get down there - well I didn't anyway!
* THE RESTAURANTS * We'll start with Dino's, which is right on the corner at the beginning of the strip, if you was to face the beach and turn to the left and slightly around the corner. This is a lovely little diner, which also has a bar. We went there for breakfast every morning last year - it sells full english and Continental breakfasts! Lovely friendly staff, and very clean. 9/10
Nibbles!! Now this was perfect for everything, sandwiches, toasties, gyros, rolls, baguettes and hot food aswell, but cor I do miss those baguettes! The staff are lovely, and Nibbles is open 24 hours, you'll find a big rush of people coming in after Hector's at about 6am, what a peak time, eh? 10/10
Queen Victoria, situated just off of the main strip. A lovely little pub/restuarant and the staff will do everything to make you feel welcome. They sell everything, full English, roast dinners, fish and chips (real cod!) and pretty much everything else. They also have a little swap swop for books, stick one of your oldies in and get a new one out for free, save your 20 euros for a crappy book from a gift shop! Lovely staff, clean, friendly and helpful. Also very very very cheap! Another 10/10!
Tweetie Pies, located just next to Dino's is like a fast food restaraunt with extras. You can get pizzas, chips, toasties, etc for very good prices. Clean and friendly, but not as interested in people as some of the other places. Good food nonetheless, give it a 7/10.
There's no places in Ipsos that I disliked eating at, although the Indian restaurant didn't have as good standards as some of the others at that particular time. Those above were definetly my favourites, and you'll miss out if you don't visit them!
* THE BARS * All of the bars I'm about to mention are right on the beach front, and are mostly open throughout the day up until about 3 in the morning..
The Temple Bar is first on the strip and is a lovely, friendly, Irish bar with some crazy staff who will get you up pole dancing, singing karaoke, and dancing on the tables, or even on the bar without thinking twice about it. You'll love it in there they'll make you feel welcome and if you get to know them will keep an eye on you throughout the rest of your holiday. Go in there first and they'll tell you the places to go, avoid, etc.
Alcoholic's Anonymous is a crazy bar/club with some amazingly funny workers - they are all so friendly and mad!! It doesn't really get busy until about half 1am, sometimes 2, so don't be put off if you go in earlier and it's dead!
Cocoon is another good bar, with good PRs and bar staff who keep you chatting and will happily tag along with you to the clubs after they finish work, keeping you amused along the way. Good selection of music, most of the time!
Dirty Nellies is another wicked Irish Bar, but it has a slightly more formal atmosphere with more shows going on than anything else. Very popular and can sometimes be hard to get a seat! If your after a chat with mates I'd go to the Temple rather than Nellies, cos you wont be able to hear each other!!! Nellies is definetly better for crowds though, and its hypnotist show was amazing last year!
Shooters I enjoyed, we went there a couple of times and the staff were quite friendly, but not as over the top as other places. It was a good place to start the night but I wouldnt stay in there all night.
All of the bars were friendly and the staff were helpful and not foreceful at all - no threatening PRs who dont understand English trying to force you in their bars!
* THE CLUBS * I have visited most of the clubs on the Ipsos strip and can reccommend Hector's above all the others. I have found this to be the safest and best club out of all of them - there are usually a lot of tourists and staff from other bars in there, and the bar staff will keep an eye on you just in case anything does go wrong. A good mix of music, with some strange stuff sometimes finding it's way on. Opens at around half 12 but doesn't get busy until about 3am, so don't even bother til then going in as you'll just get bored!
Monacos I went in once and didn't go back there, it was an OK place and quite lively and fun, but I found it a little unsettling, probably as most of the people in there were natives & Italians that would talk to us in English and then back to each other in Greek/Italian as if they knew something we didn't!! Bit scary, so we headed back to Hectors! A good night probably if your in a larger group.
Montecristos was much the same, and we were advised not to go near the place, so a word of warning to you all!! Hector's definetly the best and safest place out of all of them.
* THE PRICES * ~~Sun beds Quite cheap compared to some places and good if your going to use all day, if not probably best not to bother and lay on the stones, or using a lilo!
~~The restaurants Very good prices - me and my boyfriend went there this year and we were paying an average of 10 euros a night (about £7-8?) for a good meal with soft drinks. Bargain! Most places were like this, we never paid more than about 7 euros each per meal.
~~The bars You dont have to pay to get into any bars which is good, and they often give you freebies to get you in, usually some watery-fruity shots but hey its better than nothing. The drinks when you get in there aren't as cheap as you'd think, an average of about 3.5 euros for a little bottle of WKD or smirnoff ice, and 4 euros a cocktail, so cheaper if you stick to the cocktails for 50 cents extra, their nicer and they have a lot more in them!
~~The clubs Usually you wont have to pay to get in, but sometimes its about 5 euros a night, e.g. if you enter Hectors after about 3.30am. Their usually pretty relaxed though and I've never paid to get in there in 3 years, so I doubt you'll have to! Drinks in the clubs are the same as in the bars, shots are cheaper but go easy so you know what your doing!
~~Food/drinks The food and drinks you can buy in supermarkets is ok priced but its really so cheap to eat out that you might as well do that instead. Invest in a couple of huge bottles of water, which are only a couple of euros each anyway, a loaf of bread and some butter and have toast in the mornings, and eat the rest out.
~~Sun cream, etc. Buy before you go! Even cheap sun creams over there are about 15 euros a bottle, stuff you can get for a couple of quid back at home. Books are very expensive, so hit the charity shops before you go aswell! Same with mosquito spray, disposable cameras... all the touristy bits that shops know people need to buy and so will have to pay the prices.
Ok, I think I've pretty much covered all of Ipsos beach and more there! Hope you enjoyed reading it, it definetly brought me back some good memories!
Go there!
Love Bex X x X
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