The resort lies at the southern tip of the Kanoni Peninsula overlooking the two little islands of Vlacherna and Pontikonisi (Mouse island).
The view of Vlacherna, with its little convent and its solitary cypress tree, and of Pontikonisi, with its thicket of trees and its chapel, is probably the most photographed in the Ionian Islands, an enduring visual symbol of modern Corfu. The sounds accompanying this scenic delight are less soothing: Corfu's airport runway slices across the adjoining lagoon, Chalkiopoulou, a few hundred metres away.

There is precedent for sound and fury, however. Kanoni is so named from being the site of a gun battery, first established by the French during the British blockade of Corfu from 1810 to 1815. Today, a Russian cannon, installed about 30 years ago to add color, stands on the viewing terrace by the café and gift shop overlooking Vlacherna and Pontikonisi. Winding steps lead down from the terrace to the little harbor, from where Vlacherna is reached along a causeway.

The Convent of the Virgin Mary here has a fine little Venetian belfry. Boats ferry visitors to Pontikonisi and run to and from Corfu Town.
The little Byzantine Church of Pantokrator on Pontikonisi, said to date from the 11th or 12th century, has a characteristic octagonal dome and cross vaults, and a three-sided apse. Inside it is sparse and unadorned except for marble wall plaques recording past royal visits. The islet is one of the many candidates for being the ship turned to stone, by a jealous Poseidon, on its return from ferrying Odysseus to Ithaca.