Corfu with children: seven stops that work

A beach that photographs well and a beach that works with a four-year-old are rarely the same beach. The first has a dramatic drop into deep blue water. The second has thirty metres of shallows, shade by eleven, and somewhere to buy a sandwich without moving the car.

This is the second list. It is the one we give to families on the phone, and it has not changed much in twenty years because the geography has not.

What makes a beach work with small children

Three things, in this order.

• Shallow water that stays shallow. Not "it shelves gently". Actually thirty or forty metres before it reaches an adult's waist.
• Shade that arrives before the heat does. A beach with no natural shade needs an umbrella by half past ten, and the umbrella rows fill first.
• Food and a toilet within sight of where you sat down. Everything else is negotiable and this is not.

Seven that work

Dassia. Long, flat, shallow, and completely unremarkable to look at, which is why it is never crowded in the way the pretty ones are. Tavernas along the whole back of it. The default answer.

Gouvia. Sheltered by the bay, so the water is flat even when the north-west is blowing. Shallow a long way out. A good afternoon when somewhere else has been too choppy.

Barbati. Pebbles rather than sand, which some children love and others refuse. Very clear water and real shade from the trees behind, the only one on this list where you may not need an umbrella.

Agios Stefanos (north-west). A wide sandy bay with almost no drop. It is a drive from most places, so pair it with a full day rather than a morning.

Roda. Shallow, sandy, and set up for families to the point of being obvious about it. Not the prettiest bay on the island. Nobody under seven has ever cared.

Kalami. Small, and it can fill by noon, but the water is extraordinary and the tavernas at the water's edge are patient with children. Go early.

Messonghi. Warm shallow water, a river mouth to explore, and enough length that you can always walk away from whoever is playing music.

The two we are asked about and do not recommend

Porto Timoni is the photograph everyone has seen. It is also a twenty-minute walk down a steep path and a considerably harder walk back up in the afternoon heat, carrying whatever you brought. With children under about ten it is a bad afternoon waiting to happen. We would rather tell you that now than at the top of the path.

Canal d'Amour at Sidari has undercut rock and sudden depth. It is genuinely lovely and it is not a small-children beach.

Practical things that make the day easier

Corfu's roads are narrow and its drivers are quick. A car seat is not optional and hiring one that fits your child is harder here than it should be. We fit child and booster seats free on every transfer and tour. Say the ages when you book, not on the morning.

Aim to be on a beach by half past nine and off it by one. The afternoon is for a shaded lunch and, if everyone is honest, a sleep. Going back out at five is the best two hours of the day and almost nobody does it.

Bring more water than you think and buy the rest on the beach rather than carrying it. Every one of these beaches has somewhere to buy it.

If you are here for a week

You do not need seven beaches. You need two that work, close to where you are staying, and one long day somewhere further out that everyone remembers. Families who try to see the whole island in a week spend most of it in the car, and the children remember the car.

The vehicle, and the day someone else drives

A buggy, a cool box and a fortnight's luggage do not go in a saloon with four people already in it, which is why the fleet page lists bag capacity next to seat count and the transfer planner refuses a vehicle that will not fit rather than letting you find out at the kerb.

If you are on the east coast, the easiest beaches on this list are inside the Dassia and Gouvia transfer fare, and the day where somebody else drives and parks is the Coastal gems day, which is built around two swims rather than a list of sights.