This blog was written by our son Fred and his partner Louise:

We set off from sunny Bristol with our almost 3 year old and 5 month old baby, at 8am on Wednesday morning.  Once at Paddington, it's just a few stops underground to St Pancras International Station, before our 11.30am train to Paris du Nord.  Once through security at St Pancras, the station was very busy and no seats available so we were thankful that a French couple gave up a seat so that I could feed our 5 month old not sitting on the floor!

Once on the Eurostar, we were pleased to have table seats shared with a kind lady who helped us to pack up our little toys at the end of a quick journey!  We arrived in Paris around 2pm French time and headed straight for the AirBnB which was located near Gare de Lyon Station (across Paris - important to note if doing both the Euorstar and Milan train on the same day). 

Luckily, there was a good play park near the AirBnB so our toddler could burn off some energy before delicious falafel in the Jewish quarter.

The next morning, our train for Milan left at 7.30am.  There were good food options (especially for vegetarians) in Milane Centrale Station so we were fuelled for this 4 hour 40 journey.

The train was a busy one!  The tickets we had bought meant no seat reservation for our toddler and we had the added 'fun' of a second family being allotted to our table.  The price difference varied for family tickets vs 2 adults but when we do the trip again we would definitely look to pay the difference!

The train reaches speeds of 300km/hour and only stops a few times, meaning impressive distance is covered fast.  The onboard cafes on all trains are very reasonably priced, with a pizza and bottle of water costing 8E and the coffee was enjoyable too. 

Once in Milan, our AirBnB was a very short walk away before finding another park (a very long walk away) and heading on to the metro system to central Milan to see at least the outside of the very impressive Duomo and have some delicious pizza not far from the main square.

Then on the Friday, soon to be known as 'epic Friday', we headed to Brindisi on a 7am train.  For us, this meant a 25 minute change over in Bologna and a total journey time of 8.5 hours.  Again, no reserved seat for the toddler and a slower second train on this day.  However, the train became less populated as it journeyed down the coast and actually became quite spacious - made even better by our toddler napping successfully for a few hours!

Our ferry for Igoumenitsa departed at 11pm that evening so we had a few hours to wait in rainy Brindisi.  Once more, pasta was consumed by all of us, before a helpful local woman ushered us onto a bus labelled AP.  After a (mildly terrifying) Italian bus driver took us to the airport and back to where we started, we were very happy to learn the route did continue onto the ferry port.  There's a small bar/shop at the terminal which provided much needed ice lollies and cold beers.  We were able to board the boat at 9pm and were prioritised due to having young children so that we were in our very comfortable cabin quickly.

We woke up at 8am Greek time as we pulled into Igoumenitsa.  We took a short taxi ride (about a mile)  to the local port for a crossing Corfu.  We hadn't pre-booked the ferry crossing to Corfu as travelling in May, we could be certain to buy tickets for the next available crossing.

Then it was on to beautiful Villa Loukia (www.villaloukia.com, @villaloukiakassiopi) for a brilliant week of relaxing with family!

We certainly found the journey an adventure, especially with small children and it is not the cheaper option as compared to aeroplane.  It is important to us to think carefully about our CO2, made even more so when travelling with 2 little people!  By our rough calculations, our travel method caused 230kg of CO2 emissions, whereas flying would have been 2300kg.

Next time we are eyeing up the sleeper train from Stuttgard to Venice, meaning a longer ferry down to Greece.  Another adventure to be had!!

As I write this we are currently on the train back to Milan.  Left Corfu on Thursday morning and will be back in Bristol on Monday afternoon.  Of course, if you have the time you could take a week to travel down, breaking your journey in Paris and Milan or Stuttgard and Venice.  Lots of possibilities for adventures!

Louise & Fred

17th May 2025

Very unusual to have a 2 week availability in August - so grab it while you can.  Email me direct for a price.

Do please plan ahead in order to avoid disappointment .  I have already taken bookings for 5 weeks of 2025.  Get your preferred weeks secured early.

Villa Loukia is wonderful and we have now visited five times, which is the best recommendation that we can give. Every detail, for a magic holiday is covered , from the initial booking to the tearful farewell. The internal spaces and external areas and pool are immaculately presented. Kassiopi is a great little town with the harbour still used by local fishing boats, pleasure cruises and small daily hire boats. There are numerous restaurants and bars to cater for any taste or budget. Already booked for 2025.

Best Wishes

Barry and Val

Villa Loukia is looking forward to another busy season this year.  With the exception of some late April/early May availability, we are fully booked.   We already have 5 weeks of 2025 reserved, so it is worth booking ahead.   The weather right now in April is amazing - spring flowers, lush olive groves, spring lambs, blue skies and full sun.  It doesn't get much better than this!

April 2024

Three of these 4 families went straight home and re-booked for 2024 - one for 2025!   I think that says it all.  

First guests for 2023 have just left their review.  Clearly happy with their choice!  Think this guest must be a writer...  

For the first time in 15 years, we have not sent out one of our Villa Loukia Christmas Cards.  A family tragedy in late November set back all the normal planning.  So instead I am doing the first Villa Loukia newsletter!

I am writing this on December 21st - it is 15 years to the day since we bought the very basic villa, without a pool or garden, just built in the olive grove above Kassiopi.  What an adventure the past 15 years have been.  We have met and had contact with so many people from different countries and from all around the UK .  Loukia has provided holidays to couples, groups, and growing families alike.  It has seen big birthdays celebrated, anniversaries and even a honeymoon.  And some guests have come back year after year.  And for us, new friendships have been created.

Whilst I was at Loukia at the end of this season in late October, I went through all the many thousands of photos that we have taken, cataloguing the way Loukia has evolved and improved over the years.  I have made an album of the adventure, which you will be able to see in the villa next year.  

2022 saw Villa Loukia back to 'normal' following the two pandemic years.  Many of our guests this year had been waiting a long time for their holiday, as Covid had forced many postponements.  It was lovely seeing guests confidently travelling once more and without testing, masks and PLFs!  Let's hope those days are firmly behind us.

Nick and I have worked very hard creating the Villa Loukia of today and so we are always so pleased when guests contact us soon after arriving at Loukia with messages like this one:

Well. Wow. This is absolutely lovely! The villa looked great from the pictures but in real life it’s 10 times better!    Just confirming we are in ok. VERY happy with everything. It feels like a very loved house. Also - you will probably think we are totally bonkers - but what is your availability looking like next summer!?   

That really says it all!  

We are all facing difficult times this winter, so having holidays to dream about is always a good way of getting through the winter.   I have good availability for 2023 with the exception of June and August and I have taken a booking for 2024.  Planning ahead does guarantee you the weeks you want and at the previous year's price.  Also the best deals on flights are always when they are first released.

The booking platforms (with the exception of Simply Owners which is free) seem to become ever more costly for our guests, so booking direct is the most cost effective way.  Next year, I want to find a way that you can do an instant booking directly with me (for those of you who don't prefer the personal touch!) - more news on that when it happens.

We continue to strive to make holidays at Loukia as sustainable as they possibly can be.  We made 61.5% of the electricity used from our solar panels this summer and I once again offset the carbon used in running Loukia and all guest flights.  In addition we have just planted a further 9 cyprus trees in the olive grove.  

We had our first guests arrive by train and ferry this year from London - will try and get a blog done about their experience early next year.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best Wishes

Lucy

Once again we have offset the carbon used in everyone's holidays at Loukia this season.  This includes flights, electricity (we made 61% of what we needed from the PVS), car transport, staff etc.

In addition we are just buying 9 large Cyprus Trees to be planted in the olive grove over the winter.

Thu, 12 May, 12:48 

Hi lucy,

Just a short message to say how much we loved the villa.
Inside and out it was spectacular. Your eye for detail is superb.
AND THAT VIEW
Being an avid cook, I found the kitchen to very well equipped and did a LOT of cooking.
The bedrooms were also fantastic and a good night's sleep after a night of partaking in Kassiopi is very important!
As you know we’ve been coming to Kassiopi since 1981 and it’s great to see that the standard you are showing just warms the heart.
Keep up the great work.
Regards
Keith 

1.     Energy:  During 2021 Villa Loukia used 9684 kwh of electricity.  However, Villa Loukia also created 8588 kwh of energy from her Photovoltaic roof panels.  This means the total number of kwh used to run Villa Loukia was just 1096.

2.     We have offset the electricity used and all flights connected to the villa (ie the flights taken by all guests).  This comes to a total of 28 tonnes.

3.     To offset other omissions created by the cars hired, cars driven by staff, laundry and the general running of the villa, we are planting 2 new Cypress Trees and 2 fast growing Paulownia trees in the olive grove.  They are reported to absorb 10 x more C02 than other trees.  We are doing this in collaboration with Vassilis Sofitis of www.poolsandgardens.gr.  If this is successful, then we aim to extend this planting next autumn through Villa Loukia’s olive grove.

4.     From 2023 we plan to start charging for the use of the pool heater in low season (April/early May or late September/October) .  Often the pool is heated even though the guests are not using it which is not good environmentally.  We feel that bringing in a charge will focus people’s minds as to whether they really want it heated or not.  Obviously for most of the season the sun does a perfect job of heating the pool naturally.

5.     At Villa Loukia we remain committed to recycling and the use of eco-friendly products wherever possible.

6.     Our offsetting policy is at our own expense and is a personal pledge to creating a better future for our granddaughter, Imogen.

Really recommend e-biking in low season.  S-Bikes in Acharavi have really good bikes and will supply you with maps and routes.  

Sat, Aug 01 – Sat, Aug 15, 2020

Fantastic Villa

This is an absolutely fabulous villa. We stayed with 4 teenagers and Kassiopi is perfect to leave them safely in town after dinner. Mostly they walked back but taxis were available. The villa is very well equipped with everything you need and then a bit more. All of very high quality. Having stayed in many Homeaway villas I would say this is the best. The owner is very COVID conscious and safe - for example the dvd library was not in use ( but you didn’t need it as there are so many films available on the tv) and there is also extra cleaning etc. The shops were also COVID aware. I would highly recommend a visit even in this pandemic. Finally the view from the upstairs balcony is unbelievable and has to be experienced.

23/8/2020 at 18:34

From the moment we walked through the door, it was obvious this was the best villa we had ever stayed at. There were so many lovely touches, the view was amazing, the pool was delightful, the beds were so comfy, in fact, it was so good we are going to try and go back next year. 

I cannot think of enough superlatives to describe this villa! Beautiful inside and out, incredible views, spacious, extremely well equipped, comfy beds, well maintained pool and gardens, spotlessly clean, every extra you could think of, from phone charging sockets, Sky TV, table tennis to large and fluffy pool towels, lilos and outside drinks fridge! We loved the fact that it is Eco-friendly with solar panels, and separate recycling, and working towards being completely carbon neutral.

The owner Lucy is incredibly helpful, from the initial enquiry, through the whole booking process, and was always speedy in replying to any queries we had.

I would heartedly recommend this villa. We are hoping to book for next year! Many thanks x

'Kassiopi is a delightful little village with a great selection of restaurants clustered around the harbour. Villa Loukia, on the hill behind, is a great place to stay to enjoy it all. The villa has been fantastically equipped and the layout is perfect for a family or small group of friends. Many little extras set it apart.. luxury linen, towels and toiletries are provided and the air con and fitted mosquito blinds are brilliant. Lots of idyllic outside seating areas to enjoy the amazing views over the sea. The pool is a good size and fluffy pool towels are provided. You will need a car though. The owner Lucy was a pleasure to deal with and provided lots of helpful information. Would most definitely recommend.'

Villa Loukia was originally built in 2007 by the extremely charismatic Andreas  Vlachos.  However the upgrading work of 2016 and 2017 has been completed by Chris Giannoukas.  We can not speak more highly  of Chris and his team.  I have never seen men work so hard or listen more carefully to what the client wants.  He has to be one of the finest builders on the island.

Villa Loukia has been mainly furnished with hand-made items made by local craftsmen.  All the iron furniture in the bedrooms and some in the living room was made for us by the wonderful Kostas Mastrantonis.  His work  receives many compliments.  We have also recently discovered Corfu Glass and they have hand crafted all our wall lights - an example is above. 

When it comes to the art in Villa Loukia that has come from our village back in England.  Above the fire place is an Elizabeth Dalziel photo of a corn flower, taken in the olive grove at the villa.  A Tina Hunter painting hangs at the bottom of the stairs and the ponies at the top of the stairs were painted for me by our eldest son, Robbie.  I hope to add to this collection.

I am a cat lover - I have two gorgeous Bengals back in the UK.  But cats on Corfu are wild.  If they are fed through the summer then they suffer in the winter when all the guests (and food supply) are gone. The cats are also a big nuisance if they are hanging around villas  - they bring disease and fleas, sit on all the cushions leaving them dirty, etc.  And of course some of our guests might be cat intolerant. It only takes one guest to feed them for the cats to stay close to the villas.  So please please don't!  We don't generally have a problem at Villa Loukia because we do not encourage them.     If you want to help the  cats on Corfu then please leave them alone and help through one of the many charities such as agni-animal-welfare-fund.co.uk or corfuanimalwelfare.com.   Thank-you!

We love it when people choose Villa Loukia to celebrate a big life event.  So far we have had guests celebrate a 1st birthday, 18th, 40th, 50th and a 90th (and lots of smaller number in between)!  We have also had a 25th wedding anniversary and a 45th.    But we still haven't had a honeymoon.....   Easter and Christmas have however both been celebrated at Villa Loukia.  It is also not unusual for 3 generations of one family to choose Loukia.  And of course we have had lots of teenagers celebrating GCSE and A level results in August.    Do let me know if you are celebrating something important!