Corfu - Lush Green Countryside Fringed by Glorious Beaches
Corfu has more to offer than just beautiful beaches, venture inland into a whole other world and into another time. Take a drive to the top of the highest mountain, 906m Pantokrator and see its frescoed Byzantine chapel and the dazzling vision of all Corfu wrapped in the azure blue Mediterranean Sea. On the way down, stop at Old Perithia, the island’s loftiest village, mostly ruins now but still has a faraway dreamy feel. For more down to earth mortals you'll also find a couple of excellent tavernas for lunch and a chilled Mythos beer. This area is perfect to see Corfu’s famous wildflowers, including many orchids - well worth a visit just to linger and enjoy the stunning views.
Want something more then why not take a walk along the spectacular cross-island Corfu Trail - Corfu's long-distance walking route. Established in 2001, it runs from Arkoudillas at Corfu’s southernmost tip to Cape Agia Ekaterini at the island's northernmost point. Since the most dramatic scenery and the biggest concentration of highlights are in the north of the island, the Corfu Trail takes walkers in a south to north direction. If you don't fancy the whole 220kms then you can just walk the section nearest to your hotel.
In Homer, the shipwrecked Odysseus was rescued by the Princess Nausicaa on Corfu’s west coast at Palaeokastritsa, where steep cliffs, golden sands and lush headlands are pure poetry. Pack a picnic and hire a small boat to find a cove of your very own, then relax watching the sunset—it will take your breath away.
The island capital, Corfu Town, offers a unique mix of Venetian, French, British and Greek architecture and is full of bougainvillea-draped lanes crying out to be explored. In the enormous seaside esplanade, sip a tsin tsin birra (ginger beer) and watch the locals play cricket – two quirky relics that recall Corfu's half century of British rule. Stroll down the elegant Liston (modelled after Paris’s Rue de Rivoli) and buy sun-ripened melons in the San Rocco Square market and visit the often-overlooked Museum of Asian Art, housing one of the world’s top collections – Corfu is full of unexpected wonders.
One of my fondest memories of Corfu Town is whilst walking in the moonlight back to our hotel and being awestruck to see fairy lights flickering in the trees; on closer inspection they proved to be thousands of fireflies dancing in an olive grove. We sat there for a couple of hours, utterly enchanted: Prospero himself couldn’t have woven a better spell. And not for the first time on Corfu, we were reminded of something author Gerald Durrell wrote in My Family and Other Animals: “Gradually the magic of the island settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen".
Corfu offers something for everyone from tranquillity and timelessness to lively nightlife and everything in between - Corfu Town makes a fabulous 3 or 4 night short break and I'd personally recommend staying at Corfu Palace Hotel.