The tiled roofs and tall houses of Corfu’s old town, a red-domed bell tower among them, and the mountains of the mainland across the strait

Getting married in Corfu & the Ionian Islands

A Venetian old town, green hills of olive and cypress over clear coves, and the islands of the Ionian Sea to the south.

Corfu, off Greece’s north-west coast and only a strait away from Albania, is one of the greenest Greek islands: hills of olive and cypress trees, clear coves on every side, and an old town that Venice ruled for four centuries — tall shuttered houses, narrow lanes, arcades and fortresses above the sea, a UNESCO World Heritage site. To the south lie the other Ionian islands: little Paxos with its harbours among the olives, then Kefalonia and Zakynthos, with pale cliffs above beaches of turquoise water.

Weddings here gather around a villa or an old country house among the olive trees, a garden over the sea or a small church on a headland — with dinner outside under the trees, and the old town’s lanes for the portraits.

The twin bays of Porto Timoni on either side of a green headland, on Corfu’s north-west coast at golden hour

The little white monastery of Vlacherna on its islet below Kanoni, Corfu, at dusk

Myrtos beach on Kefalonia: white pebbles and turquoise water below pale cliffs

Through the year

When to marry in Corfu & the Ionian Islands

May, June and September are warm and mostly dry, with the sea good for swimming from June. July and August are hot — the old town most of all — and the driest and busiest months. Corfu gets more than twice the rain of the Cyclades, most of it from October to March: the autumn storms begin in late September, and October can bring several wet days — the price of the island’s green.

January: Quieter
February: Quieter
March: Quieter
April: Quieter
May: Best
June: Best
July: Good with planning
August: Good with planning
September: Best
October: Good with planning
November: Quieter
December: Quieter

SpringThe island at its greenest, with wild flowers under the olive trees. Easter in Corfu town is famous: processions with brass bands and, on Holy Saturday, clay pots thrown from the balconies. April can still be showery.
SummerHot, bright days and warm nights, the sea at its warmest and the beaches at their busiest; a breeze off the sea cools many afternoons.
AutumnSeptember keeps a warm sea and fewer visitors; the first storms come in late September and October, and from November nets are spread under the olive trees for the harvest.

In numbers

Hottest month, average high: August · 31.1°C; WMO (NOAA)
Average high in the best months: May 23.8°C · Jun 27.9°C · Sep 27.8°C; WMO (NOAA)
Days with 1 mm of rain or more, best months: May 4.2 · Jun 2.1 · Sep 4.2; WMO (NOAA)
Sunset on 21 June: 21:11 (Corfu town); NOAA
UNESCO World Heritage: Old Town of Corfu (2007)

Weather station: Kerkyra, normals 1961–1990 · Checked 15 October 2026

Places

Where couples marry here

The kinds of places — ask your photographer which ones they know well.

Villas over the sea
Villas with gardens and pools on the hills above the coves — the ceremony, the dinner and the guests’ rooms in one place.
Olive groves and country houses
Old manor houses and estates among centuries-old olive trees, with long tables under the branches and lights strung through the trees.
Corfu’s old town
Venetian lanes, arcades and squares, the fortresses above the sea and the little monastery on its islet below Kanoni — for portraits before or after the day.
Coves and the other islands
Turquoise coves under green cliffs on Corfu’s west coast, Paxos’s small harbours, and the white cliffs and beaches of Kefalonia and Zakynthos — by boat or on foot.

Light

How the light falls

Ionian light is softer than the Aegean’s: more green, more moisture in the air and, on summer afternoons, a light haze. Corfu town faces east across the strait to the mountains of the mainland, which catch the last pink light; for the sun going down into the sea, go to the west coast. In late June it sets a little after nine; midsummer middays are hot and hard, so portraits belong to the morning and the last hour.

Travel

Getting there

Corfu, Kefalonia and Zakynthos have airports with direct flights from much of Europe in summer, and Athens is about an hour away by air. Ferries cross to Corfu from Igoumenitsa on the mainland and from Italy’s Adriatic ports; Paxos is reached by boat from Corfu or Igoumenitsa. The islands are far apart, so choose one for the whole wedding, and plan cars or a coach for the guests.

Photographers