The best music video locations in Corfu, from alleys to cliffs

The best music video locations in Corfu sit surprisingly close together: Venetian alleys in the Old Town, two fortresses, pale cliffs on the west coast and olive groves that look like nowhere else. With good planning, one shoot day can hold two or three different looks, as long as you organise the light and the paperwork first.

I have made music videos for artists including Endinos, RichKid and Thanos Kaloudis, and every one started the same way: with the track, then the places. Here are the looks Corfu offers, what each one gives a song, and what to sort out before the camera rolls.

Music video locations in Corfu, look by look

Old Town alleys and Venetian facades

The Old Town of Corfu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it already looks like a set. Narrow kantounia, washing lines strung between shutters, faded ochre and rose walls, stone steps that turn a corner and disappear. It suits intimate tracks, walking performance shots and anything with a night-time mood of shadow and warm street light. When you need width, the arcades of the Liston and the squares around them open the frame.

The catch is people. In summer the alleys are busy all day, especially when cruise ships are in. The hours between first light and the shops opening are when the streets are yours, and winter evenings are quiet too.

The Old and New Fortress

The fortresses give you stone, scale and sea in a single frame: tunnels, ramparts, gates and long views across the town's rooftops. They are protected monuments, so filming there needs permission from the Ephorate of Antiquities, and the conditions are theirs to set. Apply well ahead and confirm crew size, equipment and hours directly with them. Don't build the whole concept around a fortress until you have the answer in writing.

West-coast cliffs

The west coast faces the open sea, which means sunsets and big sky. At Cape Drastis in the north-west, pale clay cliffs and rock fingers run into turquoise water. Above Loggas beach at Peroulades the cliffs drop straight to the sand, and around Afionas and Paleokastritsa the coast folds into bays and headlands. These are wide-lens places for a lone figure, wind in the clothes and the chorus. Keep the whole crew well back from the edges, because the clay is soft and breaks away.

Olive groves

Much of Corfu is covered in old olive trees, with twisted trunks and silver leaves, and the light under them falls green and broken. A grove works for folk and acoustic songs as well as hip-hop, for performance or for a small story. Most groves are private land, so ask the owner first. From late autumn the nets go down under the trees for the harvest, which can be a gift or a problem depending on your story.

Beaches out of season

From late autumn to spring, Glyfada, Agios Gordios and the long western beaches are almost empty. Grey skies, rough water and nobody in the background suit a moody track perfectly. In high summer the same beaches fill with sunbeds by mid-morning, so if you need summer colour, shoot at first light.

Mount Pantokrator

The island's highest mountain shows a different Corfu: bare rock, low scrub, wind, a monastery and a cluster of antennas at the summit, and on clear days the mountains of Albania across the water. The road up is narrow and winding, so plan for travel time and a smaller vehicle. In winter it can be cold and cloudy at the top while the coast is mild.

Here is one I directed, Thanos Kaloudis' Telos, to give you a sense of how I like to work with mood and light.

Planning a music video shoot in Corfu

Permits

Streets, monuments, beaches and private land each come with their own rules. Monuments go through the Ephorate of Antiquities, public spaces through the municipality, and private places through the owner. If a drone shot is part of the treatment, it falls under EU and Greek civil aviation (HCAA) rules, and Corfu Town sits right next to the airport. Check what is allowed before the drone shot becomes the hook of your concept.

Light

Summer midday light in Corfu is hard and white: faces squint and walls burn out. I plan the exterior shots for the first two hours after sunrise and the last two before sunset, and save midday for the shade of the alleys or for interiors. The east coast gets the sunrise and the west coast gets the sunset. For timings, see my guide to the best sunset spots in Corfu.

Timing

Late spring and early autumn give warm light, green hills and fewer people. Summer gives colour and crowds. Winter gives drama and empty streets, along with the risk of rain, so keep an interior or a covered location in reserve.

Crew size

In the alleys, small wins. A director who also operates the camera, a gimbal or handheld rig, one portable light, a playback speaker and someone to watch the kit is often enough to move fast and stay out of people's way. Bigger set-ups belong on private land or where you hold a permit. A bigger crew also means more cars, and parking near the Old Town in summer is a project of its own.

Choosing your locations

Start from the song, not the postcard. Pick two locations that are close to each other and that contrast, such as an alley and a cliff, or a grove and a beach. Then build the schedule around the light rather than around the map.

When I write a treatment, the locations come after the listening, never before. You can see the full process on my music video production page, and if you are curious how I run a set, read behind the scenes of a commercial shoot in Corfu.

Updated: 8 November 2026